Awkward moment live TV interview goes off the rails after Ally Langdon praises senator for bringing her baby boy to parliament
An interview with senator Corinne Mulholland has been derailed live on air after Ally Langdon praised the politician for taking her baby boy into the chamber with her.
Mulholland halted her chat with Langdon on A Current Affair on Thursday after realising she needed to ‘go and vote’ immediately despite being mid-way through the interview.
The senator later returned to finish off the chat in which Langdon grilled the politician on her decision to bring her baby son Augie with her while addressing parliament for the first time on Wednesday.
Mulholland was elected as a Labor senator for Queensland in this year’s May federal election and brought her son with her to highlight the struggles of working parents.
Speaking parliament, she said: ‘I stand here tonight, holding my young son, as you can see, with his bedtime fast approaching.
‘I am praying that Augie and I make it through this speech unscathed, so God speed.
‘Augie is here not as a symbol, but as a powerful reminder of why I am here. I’m a wife and a mum from the outer suburbs of Queensland.’
Langdon asked the senator to explain further about why her baby boy was a ‘powerful reminder’ to her colleagues in parliament.
Senator Corinne Mulholland was being interviewed with her baby boy Augie when she had to halt the chat live on air to go and vote. A crib is seen behind her in her parliamentary office
The senator brought her son Augie with her while addressing parliament for the first time on Wednesday (pictured)
Ally Langdon waited patiently for the senator to return and finish the Nine News interview (pictured)
Mulholland replied: ‘The job of the politician is not dissimilar to many other working mums out there where we need to work around the clock and we need to make it work.’
In the background, a bell could be heard ringing out, which Mulholland explained was a reminder that she needed to go and vote.
‘There was a moment when you handed [Augie] over to a colleague last night, and I loved the message that it sent that it takes a village,’ Langdon continued.
‘But there was a part of me watching Augie in parliament where I thought, won’t it be great when this doesn’t make news, when it’s not unusual?’
The senator agreed and said what drives her is working towards helping other mums have flexibility in the workplace.
She then cut off the Nine News presenter and explained she had to interrupt the interview to vote immediately.
Mulholland asked Langdon to wait on standby while she voted.
Mulholland (pictured with Anthony Albanese) was elected as a Labor senator for Queensland in this year’s May federal election
The news presenter awkwardly looked at her watch as she waited for the politician to return.
A short while later, Mulholland resumed the interview with her baby boy as Langdon jokingly asked: ‘How did Auggie vote on that one?’
‘He let me vote this time, he let me proxy for him,’ the senator replied.
The news presenter pointed out Augie’s appearance in parliament marks progress after Victorian MP Kirsty Marshall was asked to leave state parliament for breastfeeding her 11-day-old daughter back in 2003.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s two-year-old was also kicked out of the senate in 2009.
