An Ernest Hemingway book is titled 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', but at Parliament today the bells rang for no one.
Traditionally in Parliament bells ring to alert MPs of the 2pm sitting - but today - for the first time in evidently anyone's memory - they simply did not sound.
Their chimes usually take on a background performance on television news, ringing in the background as MPs are grilled on the black and white tiles outside Parliament's sitting chamber. Audible across parliament, the bells signal to members to enter the parliamentary chamber and take their seats.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson expressed some confusion about the unusual silence while speaking to reporters before entering the House, saying "there are no bells today, for reasons I cannot explain".
The issue was addressed once MPs were in Parliament, with Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere asking Speaker Adrian Rurawhe if other "provisions" would be put into place to make sure MPs knew to come to the House.
"Even though most members should know that the House sits at two," he said.
Rurawhe said the Office of the Clerk - which provides specialist parliamentary procedure and legal advice, as well as secretariat services to the House - had not been aware of the issue until the bells failed to ring.
“Apparently this has not happened in anyone’s memory so there’s very little we can do right now."
He said it appeared the number of MPs in the House were "similar to a usual Thursday". Sitting Thursdays are quieter than Tuesdays or Wednesdays, with party leaders often out of town.
1News understands there was a fault with the bells which is being repaired and will be tested after the House rises.
Historically the bells were used most to signal a division - vote - on a bill, as before 1996 MPs went into lobbies marked "Ayes" and "Noes" to vote. The bells signalled to MPs to be present for the vote.
According to the Parliament website, the 1957 Labour Government had a majority of one vote and nearly lost its first vote in the chamber when MP Warren Freer, who was in the shower, did not hear the bells.
"The embarrassed Freer said that if he had known he ‘would have been present – soapsuds and all’. National’s Roy Jack had also been caught out, the official story being that he had gone downtown to buy some toothpaste."
The first bells were rung by hand, in the 1870s they were replaced with electric bells, and in 1987 electronic versions were put in place.
The Green Party drew some controversy in 2019 when then-MP Gareth Hughes suggested the bells be replaced with birdsong.
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