Three Maori MPs from Te Pati Maori are set to be suspended from New Zealand’s Parliament after performing a traditional haka in protest of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. The parliamentary privileges committee has recommended a 21-day suspension for party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and a seven-day suspension for the party’s youngest MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.The move is being described as the harshest punishment ever handed down to elected officials in New Zealand’s legislative history.The haka, which Maipi-Clarke initiated during the bill’s first reading last November, erupted after she was asked whether the party supported the legislation. In a dramatic moment that went viral globally, Maipi-Clarke also tore up a copy of the bill, prompting Speaker Gerry Brownlee to suspend her for 24 hours at the time. The committee has now ruled that the MPs’ actions could have “intimidated” other lawmakers and disrupted the voting process.Committee chair and National Party minister Judith Collins called it “a very serious matter,” describing the protest as unprecedented in her two decades in Parliament. The report also criticised Ngarewa-Packer for allegedly mimicking a gun gesture, which she said was instead a “wiri,” a traditional expression rooted in Maori culture. Collins stressed that the suspensions were intended to show that such conduct was unacceptable and would be treated with “utmost seriousness”.
The reaction from Te Pati Maori was swift and defiant. In a social media post, the party said the decision was “the worst punishment handed down EVER in our history,” adding, “When tangata whenua resist, colonial powers reach for maximum penalty.” MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi described the process as “grossly unjust, unfair, and unwarranted”.The Treaty Principles Bill, tabled by the libertarian ACT Party, aimed to reinterpret the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi—the founding agreement between Maori tribes and the British Crown. Though it was ultimately defeated by 112 votes to 11, it provoked widespread backlash, including a nine-day protest march and demonstrations involving tens of thousands across the country.While the Labour Party agreed that the MPs’ actions amounted to contempt, it considered the penalties too severe, suggesting a one or two-day suspension would have sufficed. The Green Party outright opposed the sanctions, arguing they were disproportionate and would leave Te Pati Maori voters without representation during a key budget session.
