Making complaining about MPs less scary

Parliament has a long-held reputation for bad bosses and even worse behaviour. One solution is a new independent role to hear complaints.

Parliament has a long-held reputation for bad bosses and even worse behaviour. The former Speaker Trevor Mallard commissioned outside advice on how to fix the problem.

One of the many recommendations of that advice - the Debbie Francis Report - was the creation of a new role; the Independent Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards. The Commissioner is Lyn Provost, who was previously Auditor General and Deputy Commissioner of Police.

Lyn Provost describes the Independent Commissioner role as a reserve power. "If people have got a problem that they can't get satisfaction , they can come to me."

Her role exists as an opportunity for appeal if the usual complaint processes don't solve the issue.

"In order to get to me, the person has to have exhausted all employment or other disciplinary processes, they have to have either gone to their employer, or, in the case of MPs who do not have an employer, the whips disciplinary system has to have been invoked and gone through... The complainant would come to me and say, 'I've done this, and I still have a problem with it'."

She doesn't cover everything in Parliament though. The most public behaviour - from MPs in the debating chamber - is not within her jurisdiction. That is the Speaker's purview.

Provost's role is particularly focussed on MPs and the people that work around them (whether in electorate offices or at parliament). There haven't always been great processes around MPs because they don't really have normal employers and cannot easily be fired.

Parliamentary problems...

"It is difficult for people in this place to make those kind of complaints, because there is a massive power imbalance between a staff member in an office and a Member of Parliament. Making a complaint against your boss is hard, making a complaint against a Member of Parliament is really hard. It's also often very public. It is challenging, but we should do our best to try and make this place the best place to work that we possibly can."

One possible reason MPs have a poor track record as bosses is a lack of experience in having staff. MPs come from a wider range of experience, but many have never had to manage staff. Add to that the stress of politics, and possibly sometimes a misguided sense of power or authority.

...and some fixes

Each intake of new MPs receive an induction and training from Parliament and their party, now including tips from Lyn Provost…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details