Ah, New Zealand. You do alright.
Not content with having just a kick-arse Prime Minister, the Kiwi government is going viral once again for its love of babies in the parliamentary chambers.
Labour MP Tāmati Coffey brought his baby son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey to parliament on Wednesday after he returned from parental leave, which is sweet enough on its own, right?
In Australia, Larissa Waters became the first person to pass a motion in Australia while breastfeeding. Post continues below video.
But photos of parliamentary speaker Trevor Mallard cradling and feeding during a debate have taken the cake and gone sufficiently viral because, cute.
Though he was busy presiding over the parliamentary debate, Mallard was more than happy to share the babysitting duties, with photos shared by the speaker on social media showing him quite content multi-tasking.
Baby Tūtānekai was clearly a hit among Kiwi MPs, with a number sharing their excitement on Twitter.
Tūtānekai was born in July via surrogate to Coffey, the MP for Waiariki, and his husband Tim Smith.
“He’s here. And he came into this world surrounded by his village,” Coffey shared after his son’s birth. “Mum doing awesome. Dads overwhelmed at the miracle of life.”
When father-of-three Mallard was elected Speaker of the House in 2017, after Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government was sworn in, he vowed to make NZ Parliament a more family-friendly place.
In November that year he held Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime’s child Heeni, who was three months old at the time, while members debated a bill to extend paid parental leave to 26 weeks by July 2020.
Here in Australia, Greens senator Larissa Waters made history when she became the first politician to breastfeed her baby on the floor of Federal Parliament in 2017.
In September 2018, Ardern’s three-month-old daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford made worldwide headlines when she and her dad Clarke Gayford joined Ardern in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. UN staff even made Neve her own ID.
Top Comments
My first thought was that the childcare arrangements must have fallen through and this was an absolute emergency to have to take a baby (that is not being breastfed) into the workplace. I am sure many other parents whose childcare falls through wish they had the luxury of taking their child into work and passing the baby to colleagues to help look after. Does seem unnecessary and a photo op/stunt.
If one has a baby but doesn't publicise the fact, does that baby really exist? Nothing says LOOK AT ME I HAVE A BABY like taking it to work and making it (and by extension, oneself) the centre of attention.
The 'Kiss the Baby' photo op for politicians is now moving into Parliament as well as the community. I find this disingenuous .