Departing Labour MP Louisa Wall's successes seemed to come in spite of her party, rather than because of it, Sam Sachdeva writes
By some measures, Louisa Wall’s time in politics could be seen as a Labour Party success story.
The former Black Fern’s career as an MP pre-dates all but four members of the party’s 65-strong caucus (Jacinda Ardern included) while her role in passing same-sex marriage legislation stands as one of the more striking accomplishments of the past decade.
Yet the abrupt nature of her departure from Parliament, having never served as a minister and with the wounds of a controversial deselection still fresh in her mind, means it is hard to shake the sense her very real achievements came in spite of Labour, not because of it.
Announcing her resignation on Tuesday, Wall cited “events during the 2020 election” as sparking the decision to hang up her boots.
That appears a thinly veiled reference to Arena Williams’ successful selection challenge in the Manurewa electorate Wall had held for nine years, with a margin of victory never lower than 6400 votes.
With claims of overreach from Labour’s national headquarters, the threat of legal action loomed over the selection process – only for the stoush to be resolved by Wall’s ‘decision’ to run on the list and leave the way clear for Williams.
While dissatisfaction from local volunteers was cited by those agitating for change in Manurewa, the more significant issue seemed to be the allegation she was not regarded as a team player by some within the party.
Even her advocacy and bill for same-sex marriage, now embraced by a number of conservative politicians who opposed it at the time, created unrest within the ranks: several Labour MPs publicly suggested the legislation could lead to the party bleeding votes at the 2014 election, while Wall later told Stuff of an altercation with a senior male colleague who asked: “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
A suite of legislative wins
But she has appeared largely immune to such attacks during more than a decade in politics, and even without a ministerial warrant has racked up a suite of legislative wins to show exactly who she is.
On top of gay marriage, member’s bills to more easily prosecute so-called “revenge porn” and to reinstate safe areas around abortion clinics made it into legislation, while a bill to better protect journalists and their sources seems set for similar success.
While Wall did benefit from the luck of the member’s ballot, the strength of her bills which were pulled out compare favourably with those of MPs before her, those related to ‘lost luggage’ and otherwise.
Outside of the debating chamber, in 2013 Wall took on Fairfax Media (now Stuff) over its publication of allegedly racist editorial cartoons; while the Human Rights Review Tribunal then the High Court ruled against her, both concluded the drawings were objectively offensive.
More recently, she has been one of a precious few MPs in New Zealand willing to take on the Chinese government over human rights abuses, last year accusing the CCP of harvesting the organs of Uyghurs and Falun Gong members.
That claim appears to have struck a particular nerve with Ardern and Labour: the Prime Minister distanced herself from the remarks, and shortly afterwards Wall was denied a party speaking slot in a debate on a suicide report she had helped produce (National eventually granted her one of their own spots).
While Ardern did have some praise for Wall in the media statement announcing her resignation, describing her as “a hero to many”, the lack of reaction from the wider party seemed telling.
Less than a handful of caucus colleagues had paid tribute to her on social media as of Tuesday evening, outstripped markedly by the plaudits coming from MPs in other parties.
Of course, some of that came from opposition politicians taking aim at the Government - National’s Chris Bishop said Wall had “achieved more as a MP than almost all [Labour] ministers” – but there was genuine appreciation as well.
One of the less likely parliamentary partnerships has been Wall’s work with National MP Simon O’Connor as New Zealand representatives on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.
A former trainee Catholic priest and the liberal lesbian who legalised gay marriage would seem an unlikely fit, but O’Connor has made clear his respect for Wall.
“One of the things I admire, and why I can easily work with Louisa, is she's consistent - so consistently different to my views, but I can respect that consistency.”
Even in some invective from a far-right activist on Twitter came a glimmer of insight: “She was a very effective Labour MP, and therefore one of the worst.”
While the advent of MMP has had many benefits, it has concentrated parties’ power at a central level while leaving us with no end of sycophantic politicians – of all stripes – willing to ask patsies and defend their boss’s screw-ups to the dying end.
It is hard to know exactly why Wall has never risen up the ranks, although her response to The Spinoff when asked about her supposed divisiveness gives some hint as to why her approach may rankle with some.
“If you give me the ball, don’t tell me how to run the ball. It’s my ball, I will choose.”
By the end, she seemed to know that approach would not earn her a spot in the starting XV: speaking alongside O’Connor in that interview with Newsroom, she said with a laugh: “We both would have loved to have been ministers, and Simon may and, who knows.”
But contrary to Ardern’s claims of an abundance of talent within Cabinet, it isn’t hard to imagine Wall as a superior replacement to several ministers past and present.
It is also an interesting thought experiment to wonder how Wall might have fared in a pre-MMP environment, with electorate MPs more emboldened to go against their party on significant issues.
In recent years, one of Parliament’s more effective select committees has been foreign affairs, defence and trade, where Wall’s willingness to ask tough questions has seemingly earned the respect of National MPs who may have otherwise been tempted towards gamesmanship.
While the advent of MMP has had many benefits, it has concentrated parties’ power at a central level while leaving us with no end of sycophantic politicians - of all stripes - willing to ask patsies and defend their boss’s screw-ups to the dying end.
As one of the MPs willing to speak out when warranted prepares to leave Parliament, we are all the poorer for it.
