Green MP Benjamin Doyle has delivered a blistering final speech in Parliament, describing it as “the colonisers’ house” built on systems of “exclusion and control”, as they stepped down after just 10 months in office.
Doyle (they/them), one of the shortest-serving MPs in New Zealand’s history, resigned earlier this month following intense scrutiny over resurfaced Instagram posts and the wave of violent threats that followed.
“This place is hostile and toxic, especially if you are not a cis straight white man with a blue suit and a briefcase, but most of all it is not fit for purpose,” they said in their valedictory speech on Thursday evening.
“It was built on the basis of exclusion and control, on taking, hoarding and guarding power. The colonisers’ tools will never dismantle the colonisers’ house. It’s taken me 10 months to truly comprehend what that means.”
Doyle entered Parliament in October 2023, replacing Green MP Darleen Tana. According to a New Zealand Herald analysis, Doyle’s tenure is the shortest of any MP to voluntarily leave Parliament in the past 125 years.
“A Price I’m No Longer Willing to Pay”
Despite previously resisting pressure to resign — vowing in April not to be “disappeared by hate” — Doyle reversed that decision this month, citing the toll on their wellbeing and family.
“While I do not accept that change is impossible from the inside, I have come to learn that it comes with a price — of violence and hate towards my people. This is a price I am no longer willing to pay.”
They spoke candidly about the personal cost of political life:
“No person should have to remove their child from school due to threats to their life. No person should have to avoid going to the supermarket or the letterbox because they have been advised that doing so could expose them to violence.”
“No person should have to tell their parents they can’t attend the next family event to ensure their safety and privacy is not compromised.”
A Deep Love for Community — But Not at All Costs
Doyle said they returned to Parliament despite being warned it was unsafe, driven by commitment to kaupapa and the wellbeing of future generations.
“Sometimes love is hard and means making sacrifices. Sometimes it means putting the kaupapa first… But no love is more compelling than that which we hold for our tamariki.”
“I cannot continue to put this work before the needs of my own child.”
They said their decision to leave does not mean the fight is over — rather, it continues beyond the walls of Parliament.
“This System Was Built — and So It Can Be Rebuilt”
Reflecting on the colonial roots of Aotearoa’s political structure, Doyle argued:
“This is a political system imposed upon this land and its people from a colonial empire which sought to name, claim and maim [and] is never going to honour Te Tiriti.”
“It will never recognise the dignity of all life or seek justice for the poor and oppressed… This system was built, and so it can be rebuilt.”
Doyle ended with a call for transformation:
“The revolution begins in our hearts and minds, but there it must not remain. It must rise up from the land, from the people, from love and vision and hope for something infinitely better… If not for us, then for our children.”
