New Zealand’s Parliament has handed down an unprecedented suspension to three Māori Members of Parliament who performed a traditional protest haka during a parliamentary session late last year an act that has now drawn national debate and international attention.
Opposition MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clark has been suspended for seven sitting days following her decision to perform the haka after being asked whether her Māori Party supported a controversial bill. The party’s co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, received harsher penalties 21 days’ suspension eachmarking the longest parliamentary bans in New Zealand’s modern history.
At the heart of the protest was the Treaty Principles Bill, a highly contentious proposal that sought to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s foundational agreement signed between the Crown and Māori chiefs in 1840. The bill has since stalled after it was overwhelmingly rejected in April by a vote of 112 to 11. A parliamentary committee later advised that the bill not proceed.
The suspension of the three Māori MPs has been criticised as heavy-handed and culturally insensitive. A video of the trio performing the haka, a powerful and sacred expression of Māori identity often seen at sports events and ceremonial occasions, went viral worldwide last November, capturing the attention of indigenous rights advocates and political observers alike.
While Parliament argued the protest breached decorum and could be seen as intimidating to other lawmakers, critics have accused the current conservative government of silencing indigenous voices.
Maipi-Clark delivered an emotional address during the House debate over the disciplinary action. “We will never be silenced, we will never disappear,” she said through tears. “Are our voices too loud for this House and are we being punished for it?”
The Māori Party, which currently holds six of the 123 seats in Parliament, has long advocated for indigenous rights and cultural recognition. The suspensions have sparked concerns about the shrinking space for Māori expression in New Zealand’s political sphere.
Adding fuel to the controversy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters was called to apologise during the debate after referring to the Māori Party as “extremists” and declaring, “the country has had them.”
This marks the first time in New Zealand’s legislative history that MPs have faced suspensions of this magnitude. The previous record for parliamentary suspension was just three days making this disciplinary action a new benchmark in how political protest within Parliament is being handled.
While the Treaty Principles Bill is effectively shelved, the ripple effects of its introduction and the government’s reaction to opposition from Māori leaders—are likely to linger far beyond the chambers of Parliament.
