Overview

• Oriini Kaipara of Te Pāti Māori delivered her first speech after winning a September by‑election, followed by a planned, approved Māori song.
• People in the public gallery then launched an unsanctioned haka that some MPs joined, prompting immediate intervention from the chair.
• Speaker Gerry Brownlee told participants to stop, citing assurances no haka would occur, and suspended the sitting when it continued.
• Parliament later resumed, and Brownlee called the gallery’s actions contemptuous and opened an inquiry into any prior knowledge by parties or MPs.
• Parliamentary rules require advance approval for haka or singing in the gallery, a sensitive issue after lengthy suspensions for a protest haka earlier this year tied to a Treaty principles bill that later failed.