Brooke van Velden profanity in Parliament

The story so far

The row followed a Labour MP quoting that newspaper column during Question Time in a pay equity debate, and the column used a derogatory term to describe female ministers.^{15 May 2025} Labour rejected claims of poor political judgment, but leader Chris Hipkins admitted the incident had distracted from the legislative issue.^{15 May 2025} Hipkins accepted responsibility for the MP's use of the term, and the incident has sparked debate over how offensive the word is, with one report saying it was the first recorded use of the slur in Parliamentary transcripts since 1990.^{15 May 2025}

Latest

Hipkins has since said it was a mistake to quote the column, and that the incident has become a distraction from Government pay equity changes.^{15 May 2025}

Key moments

1. 14 May 2025Van Velden uses profanity in the House while protesting a column
2. 15 May 2025Labour defends referencing the column but admits distraction
3. 15 May 2025Hipkins accepts responsibility for MP's use of offensive term
4. 15 May 2025Report says it is first recorded use of slur in Parliament since 1990
5. 15 May 2025Hipkins admits quoting the column was a mistake

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.