The New Zealand Parliament has decided to suspend three Maori MPs who performed a traditional haka dance in protest against a controversial bill, marking the longest punishment ever imposed on parliamentarians in the country’s history.
Co-leaders of the Maori party Te Pati Maori, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were suspended from sessions for 21 days, while 22-year-old MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended for seven days.
The incident occurred in November 2024 during a debate on a bill on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement between the British Crown and the indigenous Maori people signed 184 years ago. The bill sparked heated debate as it provides for a review of existing interpretations of the treaty.
Last month, a parliamentary committee found three lawmakers guilty of contempt of parliament and recommended that they be suspended for up to three weeks “for conduct that could have intimidated a member of the House.”
The opposition Labour Party and the Green Party criticised the measures as disproportionate, with Labour proposing a reprimand instead.
