New Zealand House Speaker Babysits Colleague's Newborn During Parliament Debate
A New Zealand lawmaker took some time out of his busy schedule to babysit a colleague’s newborn during a Parliament debate.
Trevor Mallard, the speaker of New Zealand’s House of Representatives, cradled and bottle-fed 6-week-old Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey, the son of Labour MP Tāmati Coffey and his husband Tim Smith. Mallard rocked the child to sleep and fed him while carrying out his regular duties on the Parliament floor on Wednesday.
“Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me,” Mallard tweeted.
Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me. Congratulations @tamaticoffey and Tim on the newest member of your family. pic.twitter.com/47ViKHsKkA
— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) August 21, 2019
Photos of the adorable moment from quickly circulated on Twitter, with many people applauding Mallard.
“New Zealand... you might be a small country, but you have a huge lesson to teach the world! Great photo!” one Twitter user wrote.
Another added: “More of this in world politics, please.”
This isn’t the first time Mallard has taken over babysitting duties. In 2017, Mallard held Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime’s 3-month-old daughter Heeni while Parliament debated extending paid parental leave.
Scroll below to see more reactions to Mallard’s adorable moment with Tūtānekai.
This is sending a great message that men👏can👏take👏care👏of👏babies👏 too. There's no need to be afraid of holding and feeding a baby. He looks so comfortable. Wonderul! 💖
— The Amazon is on fire (@JaccHiHey) August 21, 2019
This is what a real man looks like.
— Sanity (@1stgrace108) August 22, 2019
Thank you for normalising the family unit. We need to see more of this. Work places need to adapt to enable this behaviour.
— Rachael Egan (@ljudzia) August 21, 2019
What a powerful and soulful picture!!!
A lawmaker @tamaticoffey in New Zealand brought his baby to the parliament after coming back from paternity leave. The House speaker @SpeakerTrevor babysat for him during a debate. pic.twitter.com/KaqMyIYhdv— Rema Rajeshwari IPS (@rama_rajeswari) August 21, 2019
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.