'To love is to move towards freedom': Parliament's newest MP makes their maiden statement

By Louis Collins for The House*

After a decision-making process that felt like it went on forever, last month the Green Party invoked the 'waka-jumping' provisions of the Electoral Act.

As a result, Parliament's third biggest party is back to having 15 MPs, with the arrival of former teacher Benjamin Doyle, replacing Darlene Tana.

Whether you're the new kid at school, or in your first week at a new job, a good way to quickly become comfortable is by telling people about yourself. For MPs, the maiden statement works nicely for this.

New members tend to stick to the formula of talking about their background and upbringing, outlining their ideologies and values, and making clear what their aspirations are as an MP.

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

Doyle, who made their maiden statement on Wednesday, passionately shared their background and identity. Despite belonging to multiple communities, they intended to choose no favourites.

"I am a descendant of the Earth, a mokopuna of Te Tai Tokerau, an uri [or descendent] of Ngāpuhi. I am a parent, a lover, a friend, a comrade. I am a teacher and, more importantly, I am a learner. I am a gardener, a writer, a devotee of adequately funded arts, and a dedicated advocate for tangata me te whenua.

"I am proud to be takatāpui-queer; non-binary, which means that my gender is expansive and fluid, not muzzled by the strict confines of a suffocating binary. If my pronouns confuse you, here's a tip: just use my name. If the way I dress causes you concern, I say to you: be more concerned by the contents of my mind than that of my wardrobe."

Among the many values and aspirations they spoke of, Doyle emphasised the importance of love.

"Radical love does not look like prisons or military boot camps for children. It does not look like people sleeping on the streets or being kicked out of emergency housing. Love does not look like drilling for gas and oil in the habitats of critically endangered species or mining conservation lands or upon wāhi tapu. It does not look like animals being raced to death for profit and pleasure of bets, or like banks investing in the illegal settlement of stolen lands.

"Love does not look like sitting idly by, while people in slavery are mining for cobalt in the Congo, or [while] innocent people [are] being murdered in a genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. To love is to move against domination and oppression. To love is to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others."

You can watch Benjamin Doyle's maiden statement here.

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