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22h ago

Parliament passes record-length suspensions for Māori MPs who performed haka protest

The decision follows a privileges committee ruling that the haka protest intimidated colleagues, intensifying debates over Māori representation.

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New Zealand lawmakers, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, center at second row, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, center in front row, and Rawiri Waititi, bottom right, who received lengthy suspensions from Parliament for a protest haka they performed last November, watch as other legislators debate their proposed bans in Wellington, New Zealand Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
Police stand guard as protesters gather on the grounds of New Zealand Parliament, as they demonstrate against what they consider as government encroachment on freedoms, in Wellington, New Zealand, August 23, 2022. REUTERS/Lucy Craymer/File Photo

Overview

  • On June 5, Parliament voted to suspend Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi for 21 days and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven days, marking the longest bans ever imposed in New Zealand’s legislature.
  • A parliamentary privileges committee concluded that the trio’s November 2024 haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill could intimidate members and forced a 30-minute halt to proceedings.
  • The protest erupted when Maipi-Clarke tore up a copy of the bill, which sought to redefine the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and was subsequently defeated in April.
  • While suspended, the MPs will lose pay and voting rights, and opposition Labour and Green parties have condemned the penalties as disproportionate, proposing censure instead.
  • The sanctions have reignited tensions over Māori cultural expression in the House and underscored broader debates about Indigenous rights and parliamentary rules.