Why this photo of a politician feeding a baby has gone viral
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A House Speaker from the New Zealand Parliament has been pictured feeding milk to a newborn toddler from his official chair while presiding over a debate. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The image has since gone viral online, and pictures Trevor Mallard holding the baby of a fellow parliamentarian, Tāmati Coffey. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me,” Mr Mallard said in tweet with cute photos of baby Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey attached.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr">Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me. Congratulations <a href="https://twitter.com/tamaticoffey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tamaticoffey</a> and Tim on the newest member of your family. <a href="https://t.co/47ViKHsKkA">pic.twitter.com/47ViKHsKkA</a></p>
— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1164026068078125057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2019</a></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Congratulations [Tāmati Coffey] and Tim on the newest member of your family.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Coffey, a Labour MP for the New Zealand seat of Waiariki and Smith, welcomed his son into the world last month - making him and his husband one of the only gay couples in the country to have found a surrogate and gained access to IVF. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The images gained over 11,000 likes online with warm responses and a flurry of praise to both the speaker and the Kiwi parliament for supporting the new father. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Thank you for normalising the family unit," one person wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We need to see more of this. Workplaces need to adapt to enable this behaviour."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is not the first time the New Zealand speaker has shared his important chair with a newborn. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In November 2017, the three-month-old baby of Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime got to have a cuddle with Mr Mallard as well. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">New Zealand’s attitude towards babies in parliament is a stark contrast to those in other countries. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kenyan MP Zuleika Hassan was ordered to leave the parliament after she brought her five-month-old baby into the chamber. </span></p>
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