New Zealand parliamentary committee wants to suspend three native leaders

A government committee in New Zealand suggested on Wednesday that three Indigenous lawmakers be temporarily removed from parliament in response to the haka performance during a controversial bill reading last year.

For acting in “a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house,” Te Pati Maori representative Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended for seven days, while co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were recommended to be suspended for 21 days by the Privileges Committee.

Members were aware that the speaker’s consent was required in advance unless they were performed during their address, even though haka, Maori ceremonial dance, and song are commonplace in parliament, according to the study.

To approve the suspension, parliament must now vote. It is anticipated that the ruling conservative coalition will approve the vote.

Following the three members’ and opposition Labour Party Pene Henare’s haka last November, which preceded a vote on a measure that would have reinterpreted a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori, the suggestions were made.

Additionally, it is stated that Ngarewa-Packer mimicked a shooting motion and made a hand gesture resembling a finger gun.

Since then, the bill hasn’t gotten enough support to pass legislation.

According to a statement posted on Instagram by Te Pati Maori, the committee’s suggested penalties were the most severe yet.

When Indigenous people, or Tangata Whenua, rebel, colonial authorities aim for the worst punishment possible. “This serves as a warning to all of us to get in line,” it stated.

Members interrupting a vote in progress is extremely unruly, according to Judith Collins, a governing legislator who leads the Privileges Committee and is also the attorney general.

Being able to vote without any restrictions is essential to serving in Parliament. Collins told a press conference on Wednesday that it is unacceptable to physically approach another member on the debating chamber floor.

Although Te Pati Maori declined to appear before the Privileges Committee, they did respond in writing, stating that it was acceptable “to rise and haka to express anger and opposition to a subject that is abusive and denigrating.”

Earlier this year, Henare apologized to parliament when he went before the privileges committee.