Neil Sands
Parliament should suspend Te Pāti Māori (TPM) co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi for 21 days over an “intimidating” haka they performed in the House last year, the Privileges Committee has recommended.
TPM has described the penalty recommendation as “unprecedented” in recent years, calling for Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi to be severely censured, along with fellow TPM MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who faces a seven-day suspension.
The row centres on a haka they performed in the parliamentary chamber during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in November, alongside Labour’s Peeni Henare.
In a 14-page report examining the matter, the Privileges Committee said the TPM MPs approached seated ACT MPs during the haka and Ngarewa-Packer made a pistol gesture with her hand, followed by a firing motion when the performance concluded.
The committee found the trio were in contempt of Parliament, saying the House was a place of debate and it was “highly disorderly” for members to interrupt a vote while it was being conducted.
“There is no question the behaviour of Ms Maipi-Clarke, Ms Ngarewa-Packer and Mr Waititi could have the effect of intimidating other members,” it said. “
It is not acceptable to physically approach another member on the floor of the debating chamber. It is particularly unacceptable for Ms Ngarewa-Packer to appear to simulate firing a gun at another member of parliament.”
The report will be presented to Parliament tomorrow (Thursday) and is set to be debated next week.
It said the trio had refused several opportunities to provide oral evidence to the committee, instead providing written statements which meant committee members could not question them about their actions.
The report said Maipi-Clarke’s statement showed some contrition for the predicament her actions had created for Speaker Gerry Brownlee, hence her shorter seven-day suspension.
It described Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi as experienced MPs, finding “their actions demonstrate a significant lack of respect for the rules of the House and the responsibilities bestowed on them as members of Parliament”.
The MPs cannot participate in votes and will not receive their salary while suspended. The committee acknowledged the severity of the penalty, saying “we intend to leave members in no doubt that the behaviour discussed is not acceptable”.
The Privileges Committee found last year that Green MP Julie Anne Genter was in contempt for shouting in Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey’s face during debate. She was censured but not suspended.
In March, it found Peeni Henare’s part in the haka did not amount to contempt but ordered him to apologise to the House “for acting in a disorderly manner”
Labour MPs on the committee offered a dissenting view that the penalties agreed by the majority were unduly severe, while the Greens described the punishment as “unprecedented and completely out of proportion”.
TPM rejected the committee’s findings and said the penalties were “excessive, punitive and without precedent in recent New Zealand parliamentary history”.
The party also questioned why its members were suspended but Henare was not. “It is unclear how a haka should be perceived as ‘threatening’ or ‘intimidating’ when performed by MPs for Te Pāti Māori, but not so when performed by members of other parties.”
The committee said it did not consider the role of the haka or tikanga Māori in Parliament, noting performances of haka and waiata were “not uncommon” in the House.
Instead, it considered existing standing orders, which do not allow actions such as “assaulting, threatening or intimidating a member… acting in discharge of the member’s duty”.
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