Parliament's debating chamber sits empty Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
An increase in support for MPs' mental health seems possible following Golriz Ghahraman's resignation, with politicians from left and right alike turning their attention to it.
Ghahraman resigned on Tuesday after being accused of shoplifting from stores in Auckland and Wellington, saying stress from the job and previously unrecognised trauma had led her to behave out of character.
Mental health experts supported her stance of being upfront about her mental health struggles as an explanation - but not a justification - for her behaviour.
They called for more to be done to support people's mental health at Parliament, pointing to other recent incidents of extreme stress in what is an often antagonistic, high-pressure and highly public environment.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey has been part of a cross-party group aiming to do just that, but - asked about MPs' mental health in light of Ghahraman's comments - said there was no easy answer.
"We need to do better about how we address... the stress in all work environments," he said. "People are more and more open to their mental health needs now, but when they need that support, that timely support's not there.
"We need to normalise the conversation in New Zealand as well, and people need to be a bit more open about how they're feeling."
His opposite number from Labour Ingrid Leary said she was keen to make boosting support at Parliament a priority.
"The Parliamentary House needs to be in order if we are to be able to support NZ-wide initiatives on mental wellbeing," she said.
"Abuse is levelled at politicians of all political stripes, however, it's particularly personal, involves more threats of violence and is often sexualised towards women and even more so for women of colour.
"Evidence suggests some of the normalisation of abuse is imported from populist politics funded overseas; certainly the media and social media have a role to play in ensuring their story gathering is not vulnerable to gotcha journalism and dirty politics agendas."
She pointed to a longitudinal study at Otago University that had been examining long-term trends.
"The cross-party Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) group which I co-chaired held discussions about increasing concerns in this area over the previous Parliamentary term. I'll be sure to put this on the agenda as the Opposition spokesperson on mental health and Labour member of that cross-party group."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, speaking to reporters at the party's caucus retreat in Christchurch, said looking after his MPs' mental health had been a key part of his leadership from day one.
"To make sure that we bring a caucus together that actually functions as a team, that actually supports each other when each of us are going through tough times - the people that are going to matter are the people in that room."
He said the party would be spending three or four hours tomorrow going through how they could work together.
"If you're going to build world-class high-performance teams you have to make sure you create the culture that actually enables people to be their whole selves at work, but importantly work with others in that team as well.
He said National had its own support system of buddying MPs with one another, but did not commit to any specific new measures.
He also acknowledged women were subjected to worse abuse from members of the public than men.
"In terms of the abuse that women in particular get, I think gendered abuse is a lot worse."
He said that was why he had supported the work of the Debbie Francis review and ensured his MPs had training at 7am to ensure they were creating a supportive culture.
ACT leader David Seymour said he had asked his own party to support one another in the wake of Ghahraman's resignation.
"I think it's really sad, and the only thing I've told ACT's MPs is look out for each other - because this can happen, and obviously it's wrong but also you've got to take her at her word that she was in a pretty stressed situation.
"There have been cases in the past of people doing this as a result of being unwell, and so our message within ACT is just a reminder to look out for each other."