‘If it was a toxic workplace, I wouldn’t be here’

It's every person's right not to be bullied but to live in a safe and violence-free environment, Labour MP Barbara Edmonds says.

Her comments follow claims by Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children and Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, that she has been bullied in Parliament due to her ministerial responsibility for the Government's contentious Section 7AA repeal and boot camp policies.

Chhour broke down in an interview with Stuff's ThreeNews last week saying the Beehive doesn't feel like a safe work environment for her.

Edmonds told Pacific Mornings' William Terite that Parliament is a "robust place, a debating chamber".

Children Minister Karen Chhour says Parliament feels like an unsafe work environment for her. Photo/RNZ

"You hear some pretty big gaffes and some laughter in the House. Over time, I've heard comments being shouted towards our way, towards my way in Parliament," she said.

"We have rules. We need to maintain an appropriate level of decorum. We have to follow those rules. And when we don't follow those rules, the speaker intervenes.

"In relation to Minister Chhour and what her concerns were, we still need her to do her job. We will still be questioning her and holding her to account.

"For example, with the boot camps, she's held bent on pushing the boot camps, but she's failed to give confidence to hundreds of providers across the country, especially off the back of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care, that the children that are going to go through those boot camps are going to be safe.

"The Prime Minister failed to provide that assurance as well. I'm not going to speak about what her personal views around what she believes is happening to her. That's obviously something for the Speaker, but we will still hold the ministers and members to account as we normally do under the rules."

Bullying, harassment, or discrimination is unfortunately reasonably common in the workplace.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee says no formal complaint has been made. Photo/RNZ

A WorkSafe study suggests that one in three New Zealand workers report bullying.

Workplace bullying is persistent mistreatment that happens in the workplace. It can include behaviours such as verbal criticism, personal attacks, humiliation, belittling, and exclusion.

Chhour told Stuff that recent debate around policy had shifted to personal attacks.

"I can’t control what the public is saying about my personal traits around being Maori enough or not being the right kind of traumatised person, hearing it from other MPs, that shouldn’t be allowed. I’m still a person.

"I’ve asked for an apology, that’s all I wanted, and I didn’t get one and that’s so disrespectful," Chhour said.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee has been publicly criticised over his inaction, a move that's been seen to break with parliamentary sitting.

In Chhour's case, Brownlee has been accused of inconsistent rulings and letting trivial matters stop MPs answering questions in the House.

He has also been criticised for letting the Opposition get away with it.

Brownlee told Parliament that no formal complaint has been made with the new Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards Lyn Provost.

Watch Labour MP Barbara Edmonds' full interview.

He said Provost, a former auditor-general, had not received any complaints about standards since the role was created, in August 2022, in response to a Debbie Francis investigation into Parliament’s culture.

Francis, the consultant who conducted the original review in 2019, returned to check up on progress in July last year.

She found that Parliament had made some big steps forward since the damning conduct and culture review in 2019, but significant problems, including staff feeling unable to speak up, persisted.

She warned that the gains made were from the efforts of individuals and parties, but might not survive once those people moved on to other work.

Meanwhile, the Children's Minister has outlined new priorities for Oranga Tamariki.

Chhour had earlier called OT a "cash cow" for external community service providers who she said were not delivering on their promises.

Chhour, an abuse survivor and in care as a child, has asked Oranga Tamariki to properly assess the hundreds of contracts with external service providers, which she said were valued at more than $500 million.

Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi has criticised Chhour for her comments about service providers, describing them as "offensive".

PSA has also urged Chhour to withdraw the statement, saying the minister had not provided any proof to her claim that OT allowed "money to slide through the cracks".