From today, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Hauraki Waikato MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, MPs have been given the harshest ever punishment by the Privileges Committee and have been suspended after their fate was argued by MP’s in the House this afternoon.

They have been censured for doing a haka in the house during the Treaty Principles’ Bill first reading in November 2024, specifcally ‘...for acting in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House in the discharge of their duty.’

The co-leaders have been suspended for 21 days, and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clarke has been suspended for 7 days.

Passionate and heated debate over the historic punishment of Māori Party MPs

The haka, or conduct, in question was heavily debated over three hours in Parliament this afternoon to argue the punishment they would face.

The MP who led the haka, which sent shockwaves across the world, delivered an emotional and poignant speech during the debate.

Maipi-Clarke held back tears as she spoke, “We will never be silenced, and we will never be lost.”

On the day she was punished with a 24-hour suspension, docked pay and maimed.

“I took accountability for disrupting the vote and accepted the consequences by the Speaker...why is it we get punished twice?

“Are our voices too loud for this House – is that why we are being punished?” She asked.

“This is ridiculous, we can’t even do a haka and celebrate our culture at the Aotearoa Music Awards in peace, since when being proud of our culture made us racist?”

A bunch of extremists with scribbles on their faces – Winston Peters

The NZ First Leader, Winston Peters, described Rawiri Waititi’s moko kanohi as ‘scribbles’ during his speech, but later withdrew and apologised as asked for by the Speaker.

Mr Peters was scathing of Te Pāti Māori MPs – calling them a bunch of extremists and that New Zealand has had enough of them, and endorsed the punishment.

“It’s not about the Haka, per se.” - Act Party.

Act MPs argued the unprecedented punishment was not about the haka but about grandstanding and bad behaviour in the house.

A Privileges Committee member, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, asked for advice on a range of punishments for Te Pāti Māori MPs, including imprisonment, saying it was about their intimidating behaviour, not the haka.

ACT MP, Nicole McKee, accused Debbie Ngarewa-Packer of pointing the finger gun at her and her colleagues – a point that was prominent throughout the debate. McKee called the behaviour arrogant, and they were not upholding the democracy of the House by disrupting the vote.

“I hope the ACT party were intimidated” – Willie Jackson

The Labour MP praised the Māori Party MPs – specifically Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for their great exhibition of Māori in the House in his lifetime.

Willie Jackson said he hoped the ACT party were intimidated, “that’s the whole point of doing the haka.”

After praising the members, however, Jackson cheekily criticised their decision not to present in front of the Privileges Committee.

“A little step back, or a sorry wouldn’t go a miss...not every single Māori in the country support you,” Jackson said.

Lack of rationale behind the severity of punishment – Green Party

Green party co-leader, Marama Davidson, strongly rejected the committee’s recommendations and proposed an amendment to remove suspensions.

She said the last suspension handed down was almost 40 years ago against Sir Robert Muldoon for criticising the Speaker, he also did not show up to the Privileges Committee at the time.

He was suspended from the service of the House for 3 days for making remarks reflecting gravely on the conduct of the Speaker, which is considered a form of contempt.

Davidson argued that the comparison does not fly, and 21 days is arbitrary.

“This is blatantly partisan.” Consensus of the punishment recommended by the Privileges Committee was only reached by the Coalition Government members, she said.