New Zealand Parliament suspends three Māori MPs over Haka protest

WELLINGTON, June 6 – New Zealand’s parliament issued unprecedented suspensions to three Māori lawmakers on Thursday following their haka protest last year against a controversial treaty bill.

Māori Party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer received record 21-day suspensions—the longest in parliamentary history—while Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the youngest sitting MP, was banned for seven days.

The disciplinary action stems from a November 2023 protest during a vote on the Treaty Principles Bill, which seeks to reinterpret the foundational agreement between Māori tribes and the government. The MPs performed a haka, a traditional Māori war dance, in defiance of the legislation.

Defiance and Condemnation

As his suspension was enforced, Waititi held up a noose in parliament, drawing parallels to historical injustices. “In my maiden speech, I spoke of an ancestor wrongfully hanged at Mt Eden Prison,” he declared. “Today, the noose is replaced by legislation—but we will not be silenced.”

Foreign Minister Winston Peters, himself Māori, dismissed the Māori Party as “extremists” and criticized Waititi’s traditional facial tattoo in earlier remarks. “Middle New Zealand and the Māori world have had enough of them,” he said.

Haka as a Symbol of Resistance

The haka, often performed in ceremonies, has also been used as a powerful protest gesture. The Māori Party argues the Treaty Principles Bill undermines Indigenous rights, while the government insists it clarifies the treaty’s modern application.

The suspensions highlight deepening tensions over Indigenous representation and colonial legacy in New Zealand’s politics.