22 August 2019 09:02 pm
One of New Zealand’s top lawmakers is getting international acclaim after he was filmed cradling a fellow lawmaker’s new baby during a debate in parliament.
Trevor Mallard, the speaker of New Zealand’s House of Representatives, smiled as he held the baby and fed him with a bottle while presiding over a parliamentary session. The baby makes gurgling noise at one point when Mallard announces that one lawmaker’s time to speak in the debate has expired.
Mallard posted a photo of himself on Twitter holding lawmaker Tāmati Coffey’s one-month-old boy. “Today a VIP took the chair with me,” he tweeted. He congratulated Coffey, a fellow Labour lawmaker, and his partner on the new member of their family.
It was Coffey’s first day back from paternity leave. Another lawmaker posted a photo of Coffrey holding his newborn, to which Coffrey responded, “I JUST LOVE HIM!!”. (Foreign Media)