A man sitting in the public gallery at Parliament tried to launch himself over the balustrade and into the debating chamber this afternoon.
The 54 year-old-man was shouting abuse about Work and Income and was heard saying “John Key…he’s an a***hole”.
The diplomatic protection squad managed to restrain him before he jumped and he was subsequently arrested by police for breaching the peace.
A police spokesperson says the man is from Wellington and health authorities are currently assisting him.
Labour leader Phil Goff was in the middle a speech about the minimum wage when he was interrupted by the Speaker and screams from MPs watching the man.
Politicians moved from their seats and yelled “move, move, move” to others sitting below.
Prime Minister John Key appeared to blame Labour for the jumper, shouting out “shame on Labour” during the incident.
Mr Goff was not pleased at Mr Key’s assertion saying it is an “absolute disgrace” that the Prime Minister placed the blame at the Labour Party’s feet.
After the man was taken away, the Speaker ordered MPs back to their seats so question time could continue.
“Members will please take their seats thank you and a big thank you to the security guards. Will the Sergeant at Arms please be involved and ensure that things please return to normal. Thank you Sergeant,” the Speaker said.
But the man continued to shout and MPs were still unsettled but the Speaker continued.
“Order, order! I’m on my feet. We have had enough interruption in the chamber – the member has been removed,” he said.
But the words “scumbag” were heard from either the chamber or from the gallery and members in the chamber remained unsettled. .
Mr Goff stood to speak and commended the work done by security but then took aim at Mr Key.
“Mr Speaker, can I acknowledge the work done by security in preventing that sad incident and say that it’s even sadder that the Prime Minister tried to blame that on the Labour opposition and I think, Mr Speaker, that that is an absolute disgrace.
The Labour Party's blog Red Alert was immediately updated by MP Brendon Burns. He had this to say:
"Extraordinary events in the House minutes ago. A man got over the rail in the public gallery above where some of us sit and appeared all set to drop into the chamber. Some of us leaped out of our seats. Somehow, someone, perhaps a member of the public, pulled him back, assisted by staff, one of whom may have been injured.
"The man was yelling about John Key and Work and Income. John Key looked across at Phil Goff and Annette King and said something like “You should be ashamed of yourselves” – as if Phil or Annette had engineered this.
"When the House returned to business, Phil made reference to what Key had said and suggested he should apologise. Key sat there looking embarrassed but said nothing.
"Then some Nats took exception to what Phil had said! A group of them left the Chamber shouting at Labour MPs. We responded.
"Point is: the man was clearly acting beyond self-control. Security did a great job. We all got a fright. It should have stayed there. To suggest responsibility lay with Labour is a disgrace."
Fairfax Media spoke to Auckland lawyer Matthew Piper who had been sitting next to the man who tried to jump.
The man made a small speech before he ran towards the barrier.
"Obviously trying to propel himself over onto Labour backbenchers at which point the security guards acted very quickly to come and grab him," said Mr Piper.
"He continued to struggle after he was pulled back over and was making kind of lots of noises about various injustices, no one could really understand."
The Prime Minister has been escorted out of Parliament by his security detail and an ambulance and emergency response vehicle are waiting outside the Beehive.
''It was impossible to get a clear picture about what was going on but it was clear he was unhappy about something. It was very hard to tell from down on the floor what his issue was. But he was three-quarters over that brass rail," Leader of the House Simon Power told Fairfax Media.
3 News