New Zealand MPs suspended for performing haka in parliament

Three Maori Party MPs will be temporarily banned from New Zealand’s parliament for protesting a proposed law change with a haka.

A parliamentary committee has recommended the penalties, understood to be the harshest ever for New Zealand MPs.

They said that the haka – a ceremonial Maori dance made world-famous by the country’s men’s rugby team, the All Blacks – could have intimidated other politicians and constituted contempt of parliament.

The House is expected to affirm the suspensions in a vote on Thursday.

Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, currently New Zealand's youngest MP, faces a seven-day suspension, while party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer face 21-day suspensions.

The penalties stem from a protest against a bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, which was signed by representatives of Maori and the Crown in 1840.

Opponents argued it would undermine Maori rights and create constitutional instability.

Video of the legislators in full cry drew millions of views on social media and made global news headlines in November.

The bill they opposed was defeated at a second vote in April.

Some MPs from the centre-right government objected to the Māori Party legislators’ protest during the first vote and complained to parliament’s speaker.

At issue was the way the three MPs walked across the floor of the debating chamber towards their opponents while they performed the haka.

“It is not acceptable to physically approach another member on the floor of the debating chamber,” Wednesday’s report said, adding that the behavior could be considered intimidating.

The committee said the legislators were not being punished for the haka — which is a beloved and sacred cultural institution in New Zealand life – but for “the time at and manner in which it was performed”.

The committee deciding the fate of the MPs is comprised of members from all political parties.

The government’s opponents disagreed with parts or all of the decision but were overruled.

The three legislators did not appear before the committee when summoned in April because they said New Zealand’s parliament does not respect Maori cultural protocol and they would not get a fair hearing.

“The process was grossly unjust, unfair, and unwarranted, resulting in an extreme sanction,” Maori Party spokesperson and MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said in a statement on Wednesday.

“This was not about process, this became personal.”

Mr Waititi and Ms Ngarewa-Packer, the leaders of the minor party that advocates Maori rights and holds six of Parliament’s 123 seats, have for weeks lambasted the committee’s process as intolerant of Maori principles and identity.

The pair received more severe sanctions than Maipi-Clarke because the younger MP had written a letter of “contrition” to the committee, the report said.