New Zealand lawmaker's speech goes viral as she shuts down fellow MP with an internet slang

New Zealand Green MP Chloe Swarbrick (Wikimedia)

Chlöe Swarbrick, a New Zealand lawmaker, who is all of 25, shut down her older colleague at a Parliament session held on November 5, by using the slang “OK boomer”.

She was about speaking about the ills of climate change during a debate held over the ‘Zero Carbon Bill’, which aims to make New Zealand free of carbon emission by the year 2050 when an older parliamentarian started interrupting her.

“In the year 2050, I will be 56 years old. Yet, right now, the average age of this 52nd Parliament is 49 years old,” Swarbrick said.

The moment she mentioned her age in the speech, Todd Muller, an older lawmaker who also happens to be the Opposition spokesman for climate change, could be heard disturbing her. To shut him up, the young gun retorted with a quick “OK boomer”.

Now, “boomer” is a slang with derogatory connotations, usually used to refer to a person born between the years 1946 and 1964. Members of the newer generation, especially the millennials, use it to express their disdain towards the elders of this generation for their opinions dissociated with the realities of the present world.

However, until this incident, the usage of the term was restricted mostly to social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok.

Without a doubt, her reaction drew the ire of several of her colleagues and netizens who regard the term as discriminatory and ageist. Muller too took to his Twitter handle to mock her.

I’m wondering whether in 2050 when @_chloeswarbrick hits her mid-fifties, will she still be the millennial force for change or will she quietly reflect that those Gen X’s knew a thing or two. I, of course, will be very focused on the next cup of tea. https://t.co/1LufTzKxjF

— Todd Muller MP (@toddmullerBoP) November 6, 2019

I’m a Boomer and it’s time for our generation to do our part to defeat climate change. Ok, Boomers?

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(Did I do that right?) https://t.co/qimzF2yN92
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) November 8, 2019

So millennials were supposed to be okay with boomers writing a million articles about how we're destroying industries, but they're mad about "Okay, boomer"?

— Drake (@TrailerDrake) November 8, 2019

boomers when you say “okay, boomer”: pic.twitter.com/V1fWwvKPsY

— Akayatak (@akayatuk) November 9, 2019

As a boomer I am intrigued by this #okboomer thing. We didn't trust anyone over 30 well into our 50's and one of the terms of endearment for our elders was "establishment pigs". All in all, it could be worse. OK boomer is okay, boomers.

— Tom Bodett (@TomBodett) November 9, 2019

Queen @_chloeswarbrick responding to heckling with “okay boomer” in Parliament pic.twitter.com/rflaLGwhaq

— Max (@max_tweedie) November 5, 2019

Very good to see Green MP @_chloeswarbrick's "OK Boomer" retort in the NZ parliament is now recorded in Hansard for posterity. pic.twitter.com/k1hlUQU3Jq

— Toby Manhire (@toby_etc) November 5, 2019