Parliament's watchdog against bullying - 'I hope it's having some impact'

Parliament's watchdog against bullying and abuse has found some workarounds making her more accessible - but some are calling for more investment into supports.

The first Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards, Lyn Provost gets paid between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. MPs on Parliament's Culture Committee planned out the role in time for Provost's appointment at the start of last year.

For transparency, complaints are made in writing and the MP being complained about is told as soon as possible who has a problem with them and why. The complainant must also have exhausted any resolution process their employer offers.

It means the Commissioner is a last resort - with formal complaint a daunting prospect, particularly for staff with concerns about the behaviour of their boss, or the MP they work for.

This goes some way to explaining why zero formal complaints have been laid in Provost's 18 months on the job.

Some changes have been made to her role, however, including taking over the former Haumaru Integrity Line, an anonymous tip line set up in 2022. It was shut down early in 2024 after receiving just three calls in two years.

"Those lines, I've seen them and I have used before in my previous career - they're often not very well used. And for whatever reason, that's the reality."

Those calls now go directly to her, and she says she's spoken to up to 20 people about their concerns at Parliament.

"Sometimes I just need to listen and help them shape up their thinking a little bit, and then provide them advice as to whether they should go to an agency, whether they should come to me immediately, or any other options that are available to them.

She considers it a part-time role, despite the changes meaning she's on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 364 days a year.

"I'll say 364 ... I would consider it a failure if I get a caller on Christmas Day."

Other changes include allowing people to approach her more informally to raise more general concerns, seek advice on what to do, and learn what supports are available.

She thinks her mere presence also helps keep politicians and their staff from acting out.

"I think my face now reminds people about their behaviour, of just being seen there," she says. "I hope it's having some impact but I'm not expecting everything to be perfect in such a short time."

It is a constantly evolving process, she says.

"There are certainly people ... who won't be speaking out, who won't be using the mechanisms available to them. And it's kind of my job and the role of the agencies and the parties to actually have in place a system that makes people comfortable to deal with issues, rather than to live with things that make them unhappy coming to work."

The parties' whips are responsible for discipline, and serve as another way for MPs to resolve their differences.

National's Scott Simpson says the Commissioner's role has been positive and the situation has improved, including the more informal approach.

"I think that performance around Parliament has potentially improved, now that doesn't mean there aren't less-than-perfect things occurring at the moment but I think a greater level of scrutiny and just knowing that the office exists... I think that of itself is quite helpful.

"She hasn't actually been inundated with work, that's good news, that's great. So as a way of actually making it easier, and less problematic for people to engage, I think having that direct contact option is a very good one, it's a positive step."

Greens musterer Ricardo Menéndez March said some effort had gone into improving the culture but there were ongoing problems, with MPs serving larger numbers of constituents - further adding to the intensity and stress of the job.

"We welcome the Commissioner making herself more available and recognise that it is important to have a role that is there to provide guidance and support."

ACT's Todd Stephenson is a first-term MP and said he had not noticed any issues within the party.

"We take a very, I think, professional approach particularly for dealing with staff and how we manage them. I have been surprised I think probably more about the behaviour that some of the MPs exhibit towards each other ... obviously ACT's been pretty vocal this year where we think some of our MPs have been signled out."

He said the Commissioner's more informal approach was probably a good move.

"Obviously ACT wasn't necessarily in favour of the forming of this position, but now that it's in place, I think she is trying to make the most of the role ... I think the idea of people being able to informally approach her is a good one."

However, he also said ACT would want the role to be reviewed again in future, and pointed to the lack of formal complaints as a reason to question if the role was valuable.

Calls for more funding

The Commissioner role was set up in response to the 2019 review into behaviour at Parliament by laywer Debbie Francis.

She reported back on progress three years later, and found significant improvement, but she says there's more still needed.

"People are trying really hard on all fronts: parties, agencies, the individual members themselves. Work done in caucuses has been impressive. I think there's been a lot of really great, well-intentioned work, and it's been to the spirit of my recommendations in addition to the letter of them.

"But to take it to the next level, and to ensure that the gains they have made are sustainable, they have to spend more money on all this."

She says the first, best line of defence against bullying and harassment is great leadership, but there are few resources in Parliament to invest in leadership development for MPs, Ministers, and their staff.

"I mean, these are crazy difficult jobs - arguably the most demanding jobs in New Zealand - but they don't have the benefit of the sort of professional development that most of our corporate CEOs or other leaders of large, complex workplaces would have.

"Members as well are not well funded in terms of offices to afford or invest in their own support, such as coaching, party leaders' offices and whips' offices are similarly underfunded to provide things like in-depth HR support, especially in the cases of small parties."

She also said that while it was valuable to have the Commissioner answering the phone, that would not be the answer for every situation, and more avenues of complaint were needed.

"I have every faith that this will be being extraordinarily well handled, but I would just argue that it needs supplementation," she said. "Not every channel will suit every person. Not every person in the parliamentary workplace will be sufficiently confident or empowered to pick up the phone to an independent commissioner."

Menéndez March backed that stance.

"Parliament as a whole has remained chronically underfunded because, for some reason, politicians have decided that it is just not politically tenable to champion greater funding for Parliament," he said.

"When we have a Parliament that is too focused on conflict between MPs rather than resolving this conflict so we can serve our constituents then we end up underperforming. So we would welcome additional funding for the role but also for Parliament more broadly."

National's Scott Simpson was not so keen, however.

"There are always calls for more funding for everything. It's one of the challenges that every government has," he said. "I think there is already quite a wide range of training options for both Parliamentary Service and Ministerial Service employees, but also there is plenty of opportunity for MPs ... and their teams to avail themselves of the existing training options.

"We could always do better but I'm not sure that the immediate solution is necessarily just throwing more money at it. As I say, I think people have individual responsibility to themselves but also to the team of people that they work with in a professional capacity.

Todd Stephenson suggested any further funding should be coming out of the political parties' coffers.

"Not everyone coming into Parliament does have people management experience or are used to dealing with staff, but I think parties really need to take more responsibility.

"Parties have enough funding at the moment, and certainly with ACT we're always asking 'do our staff need more training, do our MPs have the right support', and making sure we put that in place."

Provost said she thought there were enough complaints mechanisms available, but there should be more early focus on behaviour.

"What I'd like to personally see is the emphasis upfront, which is starting to happen, the standards of behaviour ... I guess the colloquial way of saying it is prevention is better than cure.

"Say a person is finding it difficult to work with another person ... I would go back to the behavioural statements and say, well, respect is one of the behavioural statements. You need to think about your relationship in terms of respect on both sides."

However, she said the question of whether more pastoral care or investment was needed was "a really hard thing to actually comment on at present", and she planned to review the whole system after three years into her five year term.

That report will come in 2027.