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New Zealand: Three Maori MPs suspended over 'intimidating' haka New Zealand: Three Maori MPs suspended over 'intimidating' haka
(about 3 hours later)
Watch: Moment MP leads haka to disrupt New Zealand parliamentWatch: Moment MP leads haka to disrupt New Zealand parliament
New Zealand's parliament has voted to suspend three Māori MPs for their protest haka during a sitting last year.New Zealand's parliament has voted to suspend three Māori MPs for their protest haka during a sitting last year.
Opposition MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the traditional dance after being asked if her party, Te Pāti Māori (Māori Party), supported a controversial bill, has received a seven-day ban. Opposition MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the traditional dance, was suspended for seven days, while her party's co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were banned for 21 days.
The party's co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have been banned for 21 days. The MPs did the haka when asked if their Te Pāti Māori or Māori Party, supported a bill that sought to redefine the country's founding treaty with Māori people.
The bill that sparked the protest haka sought to redefine the country's founding treaty and has since been voted down. The Treaty Principles Bill has since been voted down but it drew nationwide outrage - and more than 40,000 people protested outside parliament during the bill's first reading in November last year.
New Zealand has long been lauded for its attempts to uphold indigenous rights, but its relationship with the Māori community has deteriorated in recent years under the current conservative government. We have been "punished for being Māori", Ngarewa-Packer told the BBC. "We take on the stance of being unapologetically Māori and prioritising what our people need or expect from us."
Last November, a video of the trio performing the haka - a chanting dance of defiance sometimes performed at sports events and graduation ceremonies in New Zealand - went viral and drew global attention. There were tense exchanges on Thursday as the house debated penalties, with Foreign Minister Winston Peters being asked to apologise for calling Te Pāti Māori a "bunch of extremists" and saying the country "has had enough of them".
A parliamentary committee ruled last month that the act could have "intimidated" other lawmakers. "We will never be silenced, and we will never be lost," Maipi-Clarke, who at 22 is the youngest MP, said at one point, holding back tears.
Their suspensions are unprecedented. Before this, the longest ban for any New Zealand lawmaker lasted three days.
Maipi-Clarke delivered an emotional speech on Thursday as the house debated the penalties.
"We will never be silenced, and we will never be lost," she said, holding back tears.
"Are our voices too loud for this house – is that why we are being punished?""Are our voices too loud for this house – is that why we are being punished?"
During the debate, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters was asked to apologise after calling Te Pāti Māori a "bunch of extremists" and said the country "has had enough of them". Last month, a parliamentary committee proposed suspending the MPs, It ruled that the haka, which brought parliament to a temporary halt, could have "intimidated" other lawmakers.
The Māori party holds six of parliament's 123 seats. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had rejected accusations then that the committee's ruling was "racist", adding that the issue was "not about haka", but about "parties not following the rules of parliament".
The Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to redefine New Zealand's founding treaty with Māori people, was voted down 112 votes to 11 in April - days after a government committee recommended that it should not proceed. (L-R) Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and Eru Kapa-Kingi lead a Haka outside the parliament on 19 November 2024
Act, the right-wing party which tabled it, argued there is a need to legally define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - the 1840 pact between the British Crown and Māori leaders signed during New Zealand's colonisation - which it said resulted in the country being divided by race. Following a heated debate, the suspensions handed out on Thursday are the longest any New Zealand lawmaker has faced. The previous record was three days.
Critics, however, said it was the Treaty Principles Bill which would have divided the country and led to the unravelling of much-needed support for many Māori. New Zealand has long been lauded for upholding indigenous rights, but relations with the Māori community have been strained recently under the current conservative government Luxon-led government.
The proposed legislation sparked widespread outrage across the country and saw more than 40,000 people taking part in a protest outside parliament during its first reading in November last year. His administration has been criticised for cutting funding to programmes benefiting Māori, including plans to disband an organisaiton that aims to improve health services for the community.
Luxon though has defended his government's record on Māori issues, citing plans to improve literacy in the community and move children out of emergency housing.
The Treaty Principles Bill that has been at the heart of this tension. It sought to legally define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, the pact the British Crown and Māori leaders signed in 1840 during New Zealand's colonisation.
The bill's defenders, such as Act, the right-wing party which tabled it, argue the 1840 treaty needs to be reinterpreted because it had divided the country by race, and does not represent today's multicultural society.
Critics, however, say it is the proposed bill that would divide the country and lead to the unravelling of much-needed protections for many Māori.
The bill sparked a hīkoi, or peaceful protest march, that lasted nine days, beginning in the far north and culminating in the capital Wellington. It grew to 40,000 plus by the end, becoming one of the country's biggest marches ever.
The Treaty Principles Bill was eventually voted down 112 votes to 11 in April, days after a government committee recommended that it should not proceed. The party holds six seats in the 123-member parliament.