The Green MP on his path to parliament – and to a One Pint pinnacle.

Floating through Pint of Order in a black cape, Lawrence Xu-Nan has an elegant and yet understated way about him. The Green MP has had big shoes to fill, having entered parliament in March 2024 following the death of Efeso Collins, but he’s sought to rise to the challenge. Xu-Nan made the most speeches in the House last year, is a curious and committed fixture of scrutiny week and the justice select committee, and his dedication to his work includes a “no drinking on sitting days” rule, which is why he’s sipping soda. Maybe more MPs could learn a thing or two from him.

Within his parliamentary cohort, Xu-Nan has also claimed the most important title of all: everyone’s favourite pub quiz team member, at least in the One MP, One Pint literary universe. So, what makes him part of the perfect draft? “Often people see me as the kind of person who asks a lot of questions,” Xu-Nan explains. “Growing up, my favourite show was QI with Stephen Fry. I love learning, I love the random bits of knowledge, and I take a lot of joy out of watching that show and seeing how people simply love learning.”

But he understands the gravity of the OMPOP honour. “I’m very humbled to be in high demand.”

Xu-Nan was one of those kids fascinated by ancient history who grew up to be a  “very nerdy” head librarian in high school, then went on to study philosophy at university before getting a PhD in Egyptology. He reckons he was a “reasonable tutor” while working at the University of Auckland, covering Ancient Greek history and Egyptian hieroglyphics. As well as hieroglyphics, English and Mandarin, Xu-Nan has dabbled in German, French, Danish, Polish, Bahasa Indonesia and “a tiny bit of Arabic”.

He’s pretty deft at explaining linguistic theory at length, but where Xu-Nan really lights up is when he gets on to his love of gaming. He’s a longtime World of Warcraft fanboy who would dedicate 35 hours a week to gaming while he was studying; his favourite Pokémon is Ninetales and he’s a member of the Greens’ unofficial gamers caucus, alongside Ricardo Menéndez March.

Gaming still provides a good decompression from work life, as does watching Twitch streamers, especially the ones who do those high-speed Sims 4 builds. “Things in parliament can be so hectic, and with my ADHD brain, I just want to do things that are familiar, so I’ll watch the same thing over and over again,” Xu-Nan says. “If I want to wind down and not think, I’ll put something like that on and that’ll help me fall asleep.”

His classical history knowledge sure is impressive, but maybe Xu-Nan’s real strengths are being overlooked. Who’s to say he doesn’t deserve to be New Zealand’s first minister for gaming?

THE SPINOFF PUB Q+A

How much should a pint cost?

I think it depends on who produced it and then the quality of the pint. If you have something like a small family brewery that puts a lot of heart and soul into it, they should charge a price that reflects the passion and the work that goes into it. But in terms of a standard pint, I don’t think it should be more than $5.

Do you have a karaoke go-to?

‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters; that song resonates with me a lot. And I think with everything the teaching profession is facing, that chorus – “we’re going up, it’s our moment, together we’ll be golden” – resonates with how I want teachers to be feeling.

But growing up, it was Evanescence, ‘Bring Me to Life’. I used to work at a karaoke bar, and the most requested song was ‘The Gambler’, without a doubt. I think it’s because the way it’s used in sports.

Favourite place to get a drink in Aotearoa?

At the University of Auckland, there’s the Old Government House which has a bar which is mainly for PhD students and staff.  I used to work at that bar as well, and it holds a lot of memories for me as a PhD student.

Which three MPs would be on your pub quiz team?

I’m looking for people who are logical and sensible, and people who complement things I don’t know much about. One of my weaknesses is sports, so I would say people like Chlöe [Swarbrick], Steve [Abel] or even Chris Bishop. Duncan Webb knows a lot of things and can speak to a lot of things. And another one with a very good and analytical mind is Chris Penk.

Which MP from across the aisle would you most like to share a drink with?

Funny enough, I’ve shared a drink with quite a few people from across the hall. There are many people I want to have a drink with, because I think once you have a drink and sit down and talk about things, you do find that you’ll probably have more things in common than not. There’s a level of performance that happens [on the public stage].

Honestly, I’d love to sit down with all of the education spokespeople; let’s just hash it out and talk about things. So, Erica [Stanford, education minister], David [Seymour, associate education minister], Willow-Jean [Prime, Labour spokesperson] – ideally it’s just a nice group setting, no cameras, let’s just chat about what we want to see in terms of education. 

Is there an alcohol-related law you would like to change?

The Greens have previously talked about alcohol advertising in sports. But I think one area that hasn’t been talked about, is growing and has a worrying trend of alcohol advertising is esports. Esports is incredibly big, and New Zealand doesn’t have a lot of great regulations or legislation around esports, and that’s an area where we could do a lot more.

Look at the League World Championships, or things like Marvel Rivals and Fortnite. You’re seeing more both in terms of alcohol and product placement in certain games. That’s something we should we having a good look at.

What’s a policy area we’ve been nursing without finishing the glass?

One of the things I find peculiar is how much our funding around learning access and support are not baselined. They are very much ad-hoc, and based on the whims of each budget, and whoever is in government. That includes how we fund support staff and teacher aides … It’s something that’s been troubling our education system for a long time, and I would love to see this being baselined.

What qualities make a good drinking partner?

Being not so serious and not taking yourself so seriously. Being able to have a laugh and have fun and be OK with that.

Have you ever had a Schnapps election moment where you regretted your political instinct?

There has been a couple of moments where I have to retract an amendment last minute because I realised how I interpreted the legislation and how it should be amended is different from our party policies. I’m getting better at it, but there was one at the end of last year where I thought, “I need to withdraw that.”