US EditionMāori lawmakers who performed a protest haka receive temporary bans from New Zealand’s Parliament
- Three Te Pāti Māori lawmakers received temporary bans and severe censure from New Zealand's Parliament on Wednesday in Wellington.
- The sanctions were imposed following their demonstration against a disputed bill that aimed to alter the interpretation of New Zealand's original 1840 agreement with Māori leaders.
- The lawmakers performed a haka during a parliamentary vote last November, walking across the debating chamber floor toward opponents, which was deemed unacceptable by the committee.
- Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the co-leaders of their party, have been suspended from Parliament for 21 days without pay, while 22-year-old Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke will receive a seven-day suspension; these penalties are reportedly the most severe ever imposed on New Zealand MPs.
- The ruling highlights ongoing tensions over Māori rights and parliamentary cultural protocols amid a defeated bill that opponents said threatened decades of Māori progress and constitutional stability.
84 Articles
84 Articles
New Zealand: Maori MPs threatened with suspension for interpreting a haka in Parliament
Three elected officials had practiced this traditional dance in November, during the vote on a controversial bill that provided for a revision of the country's founding treaty, which would have weakened the rights of the Maori minority, and they risked up to three weeks of exclusion.
Maori MPs face suspension after haka protest in New Zealand parliament
A group of Indigenous Maori lawmakers could soon be banned from New Zealand’s parliament after staging a haka protest against a divisive race relations bill, drawing sharp condemnation and reigniting debates over indigenous rights. In November, 22-year-old Maori Party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke ripped up a copy of the proposed "Treaty Principles Bill" during a passionate chant. She was flanked by co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Pa…
New Zealand: Māori MPs threatened with temporary expulsion after a haka in Parliament
Three members of the Maori Party could be temporarily suspended from the assembly for having done a haka, dance traditionally performed in the arena of the rugby stadiums and not in Parliament. Their objective: to protest against the amendment of a law on the relations between the Maori and the British Crown.
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