Transcript
Pacific parliamentarians joined a delegation from the UK parliament to share knowledge and experiences from across the Commonwealth.
Around 30 members and officials from Bougainville, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Tonga and Vanuatu made it to Wellington for the workshop.
A broad range of parliamentary practices were on the agenda, from protocols to ethics and accountability.
The British MP for Gravesham, Adam Holloway, says the programme encourages rigorous discussion around the Westminster system.
"What the Westminster system does is it brings a little bit of order to chaos, but I mean, it's always rather chaotic when you're trying to come up with laws and with policy when you've got a huge range of different people and different sorts of opinions."
He says discussions were as fundamental as establishing the role of an MP.
A member from Bougainville's autonomous regional government, for Tinputz District, David Braun brown Vatavi says it was a useful opportunity to meet MPs from around the region, and gain insights on how they balance the various commitments their roles demand.
"How do we cope with my roles and responsibility as being a member, and how do I have time for my constituency? Choosing between this being a member and also I am active in parliament and in my office and also having time for our people."
There were workshop sessions on how best to represent constituents, and how to work with civil society groups.
The Tonga delegation comprised the MP Losaline Maasi and a new clerk Samiu Latu.
Mr Latu says he had been focussing on new skills and techniques to help streamline parliamentary processes.
"So far we've learned some methods from the UK government, even here from New Zealand, of ways to actually... how to address these issues and actually work in our government."
Mr Latu had just come from a session on the role of clerks in enhancing financial and legislative scrutiny.
An MP from Kiribati says he has picked up some helpful tips on how to get information out to constituents while in opposition.
Kirata Temamaka is the member for Kiritimati Island and says because the government controls the media in his country, it is only their perspective that is conveyed.
He says this is unhelpful for a Westminster-style democracy.
"In order for people to make a better judgement in the election next time, you have to give them two sides of the story to make it balanced so they can elect a better government next time. Right now, there is only one side of the story that is being told."
Mr Kirata says members of the workshop have shown him ways of creating his own media channels to help share the opposition's perspectives.
