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3mo ago

New Zealand Parliament Set to Approve Record Suspensions for Māori MPs Over Protest Haka

Three Māori Party lawmakers face unprecedented penalties for disrupting a vote on the Treaty Principles Bill, with suspensions expected to be confirmed by a parliamentary vote today.

FILE -Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, right, and her colleagues from Te Pāti Māori, talk to reporters following a protest inside Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay, File)
Te Pati Maori co-leader Rawiri Waititi (r) takes part in a march to demonstrate against the incoming government and its policies, in Wellington, New Zealand, December 5, 2023. REUTERS/Lucy Craymer/File Photo
FILE - A protester against the Treaty Principles Bill sits outside Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay, File)
Attorney General Judith Collins speaks to media before question time at Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand, Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (AAP Image/Mark Coote) NO ARCHIVING

Overview

  • The Privileges Committee has recommended suspensions of 21 days for Māori Party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, and seven days for MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke.
  • The suspensions stem from a protest haka performed during the first reading of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill in November 2024.
  • The committee cited the MPs' actions, including crossing the chamber floor and gestures deemed intimidating, as contempt of Parliament.
  • The Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi, was defeated in April following widespread public backlash and mass protests.
  • The Māori Party has condemned the penalties as excessive and a suppression of Indigenous protest, while the ruling coalition is expected to approve the sanctions.