Joys of lockdown life for hard-working MPS
Away from Parliament, MPS busy
Offices of Western Bay and Rotorua-based MPS are being flooded with calls from constituents concerned about Covid-19 and how to navigate the Government’s response.
The huge volume of questions has left MPS feeling busier than ever as they adapt to largely working from home in the national lockdown.
Workdays included attending meetings via video or teleconferencing, catching up with colleagues, keeping up with fastchanging Government edicts, and progressing non-virus-related business where possible.
Coalition MPS were proud of Government decision-makers’ nimble responses to issues reported by backbenchers around the country, while Opposition MPS were taking seriously dual roles of working alongside and scrutinising the Government response.
All, however, reported finding more time for family and even a few unexpected joys in isolation.
We caught up with the local representatives to see how they were adjusting to the new normal.
Simon Bridges Tauranga MP, Leader of the Opposition, based in Tauranga
The National Party leader has been highly visible this week as chairman of the epidemic response committee set up to scrutinise the Government’s response to Covid19 while Parliament is in recess.
He said he was splitting his time between his family bubble in Tauranga with his wife, three children and father-in-law, and weekly solo trips to Wellington for his chairman role.
“It is essential I am at Parliament for this where I have the resources, internet – which is variable at home – and can focus on this important task of asking the questions New Zealanders want answers to and improving our nation’s response to Covid-19 for the good of our country.”
He was staying physically distant from anyone he saw at Parliament and staying by himself when in Wellington.
“While I don’t think any of my family is glad to be cooped up home 24/7 there are some small joys in more mealtimes together and some games and storytimes that wouldn’t otherwise have happened.”
Todd Mcclay
Rotorua MP, National, based in Owhata
Helping arrange medicine deliveries for elderly or ill people and supporting people with relatives stuck overseas were among the matters Todd Mcclay’s office has dealt with during the lockdown.
Mcclay, who was isolating at home with his wife and two of his four children, said his office had questions from workers, businesses and members of the public.
“There’s . . . a lot of uncertainty around essential services and businesses – who can open and who can’t, both the public wanting to know why, for instance, butchers can’t open but a supermarket or dairy can, and businesspeople.”
Mcclay was expecting to do some limited travel to Wellington for “specific work reasons” and was following all safety, hygiene and distance protocols.
His household had settled into a routine, he said, which for him included walking the dogs and occasionally talking to people at a distance.
Ta¯ mati Coffey
Waiariki MP, Labour, based in Rotorua
Ta¯mati Coffey has a busy isolation bubble, with his sister, her partner and his mum and dad joining him, his partner and their baby boy, along with three dogs.
“We are locked down, there is nowhere to escape to, so we are having to talk to each other, which is new, and we are eating together, which is also new.”
He was starting each day with a walk around the block with his partner and son, before getting to work at the kitchen table.
Coffey said the types of questions he was getting from constituents were changing each day.
Last week there was concern about Rotorua’s homeless and this week there were many queries about the wage subsidy.
Coffey said he was “setting a good example” by staying at home for the lockdown, and had also managed to find time for a few chores, including a minimalisminspired cleanout of his wardrobe.
Todd Muller
Bay of Plenty MP, National, based in Pyes Pa
Todd Muller said being home had given him an “immense appreciation” of the work his wife did as a stay-at-home mum.
Muller, whose bubble included his wife, three children and his mother, said he was finding many elements of the “enforced slowdown” quite rewarding.
“I’m not sure whether I should be feeling guilty [about that].”
“I did 187 flights last year, and to put an emphasis on it currently I’m obviously doing zero.”
He said he was hugely busy with work but that it was interspersed with being able to take short breaks and play on the trampoline or toss a ball with the kids, or watch an American football game.
He was keeping an eye on challenges with the kiwifruit harvest. Companies were adapting to hygiene and distancing guidelines, but the trade-off was a harvest a third slower than usual – a challenge that would become more acute as the picking and packing window closed.
Jan Tinetti
List MP, Labour, based in Tauranga
An ironing board has become a makeshift desk for Jan Tinetti, with two separate isolation bubbles in lockdown in her home.
Tinetti said her son and his partner arrived home from London last week and were isolating downstairs, while she, her husband and youngest son took the upstairs.
With her usual office downstairs, she was making do.
“Who knew there would ever be a day I would enjoy working at the ironing board?”
She had more time in her day without the need to commute between meetings or to Wellington.
One day last week she managed eight remote meetings – “I never would have been able to fit all of those into one day before.”
Having her adult children home was a blessing, as was the opportunity to walk every day – one of her goals in her recovery from breast cancer.
Fletcher Tabuteau
List MP, New Zealand First deputy leader, based in Rotorua
Reading and Youtube Fail
Army videos are providing Hamurana-based MP Tabuteau with moments of light relief between meetings of Parliament’s epidemic response committee.
Tabuteau was one of 11 members of the committee, which has met twice remotely.
He said he was self-isolating at home with his wife and two daughters.
His eldest was hastily retrieved from Wellington just before the lockdown started.
His days were work focused, between select committees and – with his under-secretary for foreign affairs hat on – fielding questions from other MPS about Kiwis stuck overseas and talking to ambassadors.
He was busier than he thought he would be with work, but had still fitted in a supermarket shop and walks in his neighbourhood.
“I love reading, and I like watching Youtube Fail Army video clips, like everyone else, when I need a laugh.”
Angie Warren-clark
List MP, Labour, based in Pa¯ pa¯ moa
Angie Warren-clark has never worried too much about food, but now it’s a big part of each day as she enjoys being able to eat with her husband.
“Every morning it’s: ‘what’s for dinner?”’
The Labour MP, who also counts two cats in her bubble, said she even made stock from fish frames leftover from her husband’s last pre-lockdown catch.
Warren-clark said she was spending work hours responding to questions – many from employees asking about the wage subsidy – and working on local issues such as homelessness and domestic violence.
Her two adult daughters live in Australia and have lost their jobs in recent weeks, so she was relieved the country had made Kiwis eligible for some Government support.
She was forcing herself to take technology breaks and enjoying walks on the nearby beach, where people were making good efforts to maintain a safe distance.
Clayton Mitchell
List MP, New Zealand First, based in Mount Maunganui
An hour a day of “solitary confinement” for each member of Clayton Mitchell’s six-person household is helping keep them sane through the “groundhog day” lockdown.
Mitchell said his bubble included his wife and their three teen/tween kids and a teenaged niece.
His routine involved morning exercise, followed by work with an hour-long break in the afternoon where everyone in the house found a spot in the house to themselves to do their own thing before coming together for dinner.
He said he took his children out of school a week before the lockdown and “pulled up the drawbridge” so had been in isolation longer than most.
In addition to finding answers to questions for people, he also had a phone tree of party members to stay in touch with and was spending time thinking about what the post-coronavirus “rebuild” would look like, including how to find work for 250,000 displaced hospitality and tourism workers. A big part of that would be getting local tourism moving again, he said.