Green MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament and could face further disciplinary action after a complaint was made of intimidatory behaviour toward Minister Matthew Doocey tonight.
Genter walked across the debating chamber to Doocey, waved a booklet and spoke angrily to him while getting close to his face.
The incident happened at about 8pm, while Labour’s Nelson MP Rachel Boyack was speaking and followed some interjections between Doocey and Genter. It was visible in the background of the footage on Parliament TV.
“Miss Genter. Miss Genter, please resume your seat,” demanded the chair at the time, Barbara Kuriger.
“It’s not appropriate to get out of one’s seat to go and have an argument with somebody on the other side.”
Speaker Gerry Brownlee had to be recalled to the debating chamber to deal with the issue after National’s whip Scott Simpson asked Kuriger to do so.
Simpson said in Parliament that he had never seen anything like it, describing it as a “serious, intimidatory physical attack upon another member.”
“To have a member rise from their seat, stride across the house and then confront in a most intimidating manner a member of this Chamber, I think is utterly unparliamentary and warrants further investigation and sanction.”
Brownlee was called back in and Simpson urged him to sanction Genter.
After some other MPs spoke, Genter stood and said she would like to apologise, saying she had been trying to show Doocey some information in a booklet.
“It was the last thing I wanted to do was to intimidate anyone in this House. What has absolutely motivated me was a desire to share information that I believed would be of benefit to everyone in this House. And I’m very sorry if in my passion to do so, I was intimidating. That was not my intention.”
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