The Prime Minister has called out Mana Party leader Hone Harawira as one of the MPs "taking the mickey" by not showing up in the House.
But Mr Harawira says he's one of the hardest working MPs in the country.
Parliament has adopted a roll call and absentees will need to report to their party whip or the Speaker to explain themselves, while serial waggers will face being publicly outed in a weekly journal.
The changes come into play from today, which is the first sitting day of Parliament for the year.
Minister Jo Goodhew, who once sat on a governance group for school truancy, says the change is entirely appropriate.
"Just choosing to not be in Wellington because you can't be bothered this week is not okay," says Ms Goodhew.
"I think it will be having your name published, and then having various people ask you 'why weren't you there' [that] is more likely to bring you into line."
MPs could also face suspension by the Speaker if their attendance drops too low.
John Key says there may be some MPs, ministers and party leaders who legitimately may not be able to be in the debating chamber on parliamentary sitting days because they are on official business.
"But I think there have been situations where some MPs frankly are taking the mickey and they've treated the place with not enough respect. They don't turn up and they should be held to account.
"Realistically there are 121 MPs that are here to represent the people of New Zealand and, unless there's a good reason, they should be there. We're talking about stock standard, garden variety backbench member of Parliament – come here and do your work."
When pressed about which MPs he believed were "taking the mickey" and not turning up to Parliament, Mr Key replied: "Hone Harawira is an obvious one".
But Mr Harawira, who was away from Parliament for 68 days last year including for Nelson Mandela's funeral services in South Africa, disputed the claim saying he has had no unauthorised leave of absence.
"Every day that I've been away has been approved by the Speaker's office."
"I haven't been slacking off. In fact I consider myself to be one of the harder working members of this House," he says.
Mr Harawira says as an MP for one of the bigger electorates in New Zealand and a leader of a political party, he needs to travel for meetings around the country and overseas.
He maintains he is in the House for every bill that is important to the Mana Party and analysis is done on legislation before the party’s vote is presented on its behalf by the Green Party.
Mr Harawira believes he does not have to be in Parliament every sitting day to be an effective MP.
3 News/RadioLIVE
source: newshub archive
