The Youth Parliament Walkout

Winona D’Costa reported last week:

Going into youth parliament not a single Youth MP could have predicted that there would be a walk-out during a fellow Youth MP’s speech.

Speaking on the recent passing of the Definition of Marriage Amendment Bill , Kura Waller Youth MP for Te Ururoa Flavell chose to take a stand against the bill.

In protest the majority of the Youth MPs walked out during Kura’s speech. This goes to show that Youth MPs really did receive the whole experience of being a real MP walk-out included. Like any regular politician she bravely carried on voicing her opinion despite staring at a now almost empty debating chamber.

I think those Youth MPs who walked out made a bad mistake, and undermine exactly what Parliament is for – to debate issues and views. Unless someone is up there advocating genocide or the like, you should listen to what they say, and if you disagree with it – respond to it.

Walking out is a sign of intolerance.  I thought the speech by Kura Waller was pretty ridiculous as she claimed the Lion King said gay people can’t reproduce (it didn’t, and they can) and she also said she was never told by her kuia and koroua that being gay was OK – which is more hostile to gays than what the Pope recently said. So I thought her speech was pretty bad, but again the far far far better response would have been a Youth MP responding to the speech than an intolerant walkout.