Overview

• On June 5, Parliament voted to suspend Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi for 21 days each and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days, during which they receive no pay and cannot vote.
• The suspensions stem from a November 2024 protest in which the MPs performed a haka and tore up an ACT Party bill that sought to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi.
• A parliamentary privileges committee recommended the bans in May after finding that the unapproved haka interrupted proceedings and risked intimidating other members.
• Although the haka is a central Māori ritual not banned in the chamber, parliamentary rules require prior approval from the Speaker for any performance.
• The Māori Party criticized the suspensions as suggesting that Māori identity threatens democracy and pointed to persistent indigenous disadvantage in New Zealand.