Video taking off 26x its usual first day

Hipkins regrets Gerry Brownlee's lost chance for a parliamentary farewell

RNZ's widely watched press-conference clip shows the Labour leader acknowledging the personal cost of an election defeat for outgoing National MPs.

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RNZ Story of November 10, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 71,669 views a day, 26 times a normal first day on this channel (2,709).

Hipkins acknowledges outgoing National MPs | RNZ

Chris Hipkins wishes Nicola Willis and her family well, recalls a constructive working relationship with Chris Bishop, and acknowledges Paul Goldsmith's difficult departure. Then he adds someone the reporter's question had not mentioned: Gerry Brownlee.

The Speaker receives the longest tribute in RNZ's Short about outgoing National MPs. Hipkins, Labour's leader, says they have worked closely together for much of his parliamentary career, including negotiations across the House. His assessment is straightforward: Brownlee keeps his word when they make a deal.

Hipkins also acknowledges that being Speaker is difficult, and that his own side has given Brownlee a hard time in the role. What troubles him is the absence of a proper farewell after such a long parliamentary career. Brownlee was first elected in 1996.

To leave without being able to say goodbye to Parliament, Hipkins says, is "a bit rough".

The clip drew roughly 72,000 views in its first day, more than twenty times RNZ's usual start for a Short. Its subject is not the coalition arithmetic running through the broadcaster's other election coverage, but what the result means for people leaving public office.

Hipkins extends that recognition to Willis too, describing the finance portfolio as a hard job in any government before offering his good wishes.