David Parker served under three Labour prime ministers. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
One of Labour's longest-serving current MPs - David Parker - will resign from Parliament, but not to enter local politics.
Speaking to RNZ Nights' Emile Donovan, he laughed off suggestions he might now throw his hat in the ring for the Wellington mayoralty.
"No, no, I said earlier, if I ever go into local politics, please someone come over and shoot me."
Serving under three Labour prime ministers, Parker held senior ministerial roles like trade, climate change and associate finance, and twice served as attorney-general.
Yet some of his biggest political contributions have ended up thwarted - both by the current coalition government and his own party.
He was behind the now-scrapped overhaul of the Resource Management Act and resigned from his revenue portfolio in 2023, after Chris Hipkins rubbished his wealth tax policy.
However, he maintained that wasn't the reason he was walking away.
Parker said the job of government was never done and recently he had been forced to reflect on its relentless nature, with an overseas work trip echoing a job he had more than half a century ago.
"I got back, and you're jetlagged and had to get up at 4.30am to leave home at 5am to catch an early plane to Wellington," he said. "I reflected on the fact that 50 years before, I had a milk run - in 1975, getting up at 5am - and I thought, 'Gee, do I want to do this much longer?'"
Reflecting on the past 23 years in politics, he said the dominant feeling was gratitude, maintaining it was an incredible privilege to be elected by fellow New Zealanders.
"It's hard work," he said. "There's some negative stuff, but it's also an amazingly positive experience, because you come to understand the vast majority of New Zealanders live good lives, raise good families and pay their taxes... and make our country the place it is."
Announcing his resignation, Parker cited his previous life as an entrepreneur and its inherent creativity, and said, while politics did not necessarily squash innovation, it had its ceiling.
"Political parties are democratic orgnisations, and in the end, ideas get up or fail by a vote of one. I wouldn't describe that as curbing your creativity, but there are limits to what you can do."
He said although debates could descend into infantile mud-slinging between opponents - "in a way that embarrasses us all" - behind closed doors, that was not usually the case and said Parliament was generally a courteous place.
Parker would not be drawn on his failed bid for the Labour leadership in 2011 - "shoulda, woulda, coulda" - but he did not hold back on social media giants, describing their platforms as among the world's "great evils" and a threat to democracy.
"I believe the West made a mistake allowing those providers to be irresponsible," he said. "We've got these megalomaniacal tech billionaires, who are very greedy and selfish, and who are selling a dangerous product, which is undermining the mental health of young people."
He said the ability to promote misinformation and propaganda online struck "at the heart of democracy".
Despite the increasing polarisation and instability he saw in the world, he said he wouldn't dissuade a young person from entering politics - although he recommended getting some life experience first.
"It's a hard game, but it's also immensely rewarding, because you are entrusted with important decisions and you have the opportunity to shape the future.
"I've worked as hard as I could and tried to do my best, and I've found it a fulfilling thing to do."
