On Tuesday, in an act of peak petty tory vindictiveness, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee threatened to retaliate against Te Pāti Māori for being Māori by revisiting the question of Parliament's dress standards and forcing everyone to wear ties again. Which is about what you'd expect from a former schoolteacher at a stuck-up toff school. Today, the Greens' Ricardo Menéndez March has pointed out the obvious problem with this:
"I do caution against any one Speaker trying to be the fashion police because we do have an intergenerational parliament with several cultures and backgrounds and trying to conform to a very specific dress code will only diminish that representation."And he's right. Aotearoa has changed massively since Brownlee was born. And because we changed our electoral system, the people represented in Parliament have changed to, to better reflect our society. Our Parliament should reflect those changes - at least if it wants to remain relevant to and legitimate in modern Aotearoa. And that means accepting that not everyone in Aotearoa, or everyone elected to parliament, is a white man who wears capitalism's uniform of a suit and tie. But then, part of the problem is that a significant faction - let's call them "National" - refuse to accept those changes, and also think that it is OK to force everyone to wear their uniform regardless of political belief. That we should all be forced to display allegiance to values and culture we do not share, to conform to their way of doing things."If voters don't like how a party is presenting, they can punish us on election day," he said.
Menéndez March said any changes to the rules will need to be clearly spelled out, and putting someone in a tuxedo was no guarantee of improved behaviour.
The polite thing to say here is that that is not appropriate in a liberal and democratic society. But I'd rather put it another way: fuck that, and fuck them. If they wan tto wear a foreign uniform to show that they're good little serfs, then that's up to them; but no-one else should be forced to dress like a bootlicker.
And if Brownlee goes through with his threat, Menéndez March has shown us the perfect way to protest it: wear top hats and tails like its 1910. Make parliament look as ridiculous, irrelevant, and out-of-touch as Brownlee is. Malicious compliance all the way. Which should also include constant points of order complaining that the Speaker is not wearing a wig and robes like he should be, or that his tie is crooked, or tied with the incorrect knot, or that the Prime Minister and his cabinet are wearing ill-fitting blue sacks. Parliament can waste a lot of time on that bullshit if Brownlee wants it to. and he is absolutely asking for it if he pushes ahead on this.
Or, he can just leave people the fuck alone and stop trying to police their clothing choices, like a normal person. His choice.
