New Zealand Māori MPs face suspension over haka protest in parliament

Three Māori members of New Zealand’s Parliament could face suspension following a protest haka during a parliamentary session last year.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, an opposition MP with Te Pāti Māori, performed the traditional Māori haka after being asked whether her party supported the controversial Treaty Principles Bill — a piece of legislation that aimed to redefine the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's foundational document. The bill was ultimately rejected last month by 112 votes to 11.

Read more: VIDEO: Youngest MP leads Haka protest against New Zealand treaty bill

A parliamentary committee has now recommended Maipi-Clarke be suspended for one week. The party's co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, could face 21-day bans. The committee claimed the haka may have "intimidated" other MPs in the chamber.

The Māori Party has pushed back forcefully against the recommendation, calling it "a warning shot to all of us to fall in line."

“When tangata whenua resist, colonial powers reach for the maximum penalty,” the party said in a statement on Wednesday, using the Māori term for Indigenous people of the land.

It also noted the penalties being proposed are among the harshest in the history of New Zealand's Parliament.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, himself of Māori descent, supported the disciplinary action. He described the three MPs as “out-of-control” and accused them of breaking parliamentary rules and using “outrageous hakas” to intimidate others.

The final decision on the suspensions will be put to a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.

The Treaty Principles Bill had been introduced by the right-wing Act Party, a junior partner in the governing coalition. The party argued that the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi should be legally redefined, claiming that the current interpretation has contributed to racial division in the country.

But the proposal sparked intense public backlash, with critics saying it would erode support for Māori communities and deepen national divisions. More than 40,000 demonstrators gathered outside Parliament during the bill's first reading in November. Prior to that, a nine-day protest march against the bill began in the far north of the country and concluded in Auckland.

During the bill's introduction, Maipi-Clarke not only led the haka in Parliament but also tore up a physical copy of the proposed legislation.