The New Zealand MPs who protested constitutional reforms with the haka on the floor of parliament will receive suspensions believed to be the most severe ever issued in the institution’s 170-year history.
Last November, 22-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke became a global viral sensation with her animated dismissal of the Treaty Principles Bill, ripping it up and performing the war dance with her Maori Party co-leaders.
The Treaty Principles Bill was a reform championed by the right-wing ACT Party to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi in law, stripping rights given to Maori at New Zealand’s foundation.
The Maori Party’s cultural protest inside parliament was sent to the privileges committee, which resolved to suspend Ms Maipi-Clarke for a week, and Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, for three weeks each.
Judith Collins, the attorney-general and committee chair, said it was the toughest punishment it had ever handed out and “the worst incident that we have ever seen”.
“Make no mistake. This was a very serious incident, the likes of which I have never seen before in my 23 years in the debating chamber,” she said.
The haka, which has gained worldwide admiration as the preceding act to All Blacks rugby Tests, is not banned in parliament but requires permission from the speaker to perform, and must not disrupt proceedings.
Ms Collins said the MPs deliberately intimidated the ACT MPs who championed the reforms, as they prepared to vote.
“This was a very sad day for parliament,” she said.
The Maori Party have condemned the bans as “grossly unjust, unfair, and unwarranted” and, in a dissenting position within the report, as “reinforcing institutional racism”.
“The finding that our actions constituted ‘intimidation’ sets a dangerous precedent for Aotearoa. It frames Maori protest, haka, and the assertion of rangatiratanga (Maori sovereignty) as inherently threatening,” it wrote.
The left-wing Indigenous rights party said the decision meant it was inappropriate for the government to utilise haka on international delegations.
Ms Collins said she was not offering a view on the appropriateness of tikanga, or Maori customs, in parliament.
“It is not (about) the haka, it is not about tikanga, it is not about the Treaty of Waitangi. It is about following the rules of parliament that we are all obliged to follow and that we all pledge to follow,” she said.
The punishments are likely to be rubber-stamped by the parliament next Tuesday and voted through by the three government parties — National, ACT and NZ First.
This is the most severe punishment handed down in our history. The worst on record was 3 days. When tangata whenua resist, colonial powers reach for the maximum penalty. This is a warning shot for all of us to fall in line. E kore rawa matau e tuohu! #toitūtetiriti pic.twitter.com/xZpCUr4mqm
— Te Pāti Māori (@Maori_Party) May 14, 2025
The three Maori Party MPs have been unrepentant, declining several opportunities to appear before the committee.
During their bans — which will include the May 22 budget — their votes will not be counted in parliament, and they will not receive their salary.
Despite being the fourth MP to joined in the haka, Labour defence spokesman Peeni Henare, was not censured or recommended for further sanction as he apologised.
While the Treaty Principles Bill generated unprecedented protests across New Zealand, including tens of thousands marching on parliament, it did not become law.
The National party, led by Prime Minister Chris Luxon, agreed only to introduce the law – but not pass it – as part of a coalition agreement with the ACT party that allowed it to form government.
After months of public consultation and the mighty nationwide backlash, National and NZ First, abandoned their support.
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