Maori lawmakers suspended over protest haka performed in New Zealand Parliament

Three Māori lawmakers in New Zealand received record suspensions of up to three weeks on Thursday over a protest haka they performed in Parliament last year against a contentious bill.

Three Māori lawmakers in New Zealand received record suspensions of up to three weeks on Thursday over a protest haka they performed in Parliament last year against a contentious bill.

The lawmakers drew global attention in November when they performed the haka, a ceremonial chanting dance of defiance that is a cherished cultural symbol of New Zealand. They were protesting legislation that would have reinterpreted the country’s 184-year-old founding document, a treaty that was signed between colonial British rulers and Indigenous Māori.

A parliamentary committee found the three lawmakers in contempt of parliament last month and recommended that they be suspended for up to three weeks “for acting in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House.”

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, co-leaders of Te Pāti Māori, the Māori party, which holds six of Parliament’s 123 seats, were suspended for three weeks each.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who at 22 is New Zealand’s youngest legislator, was suspended for one week on the recommendation of the committee, which said in its report that she had demonstrated “some level of contrition” in her written statement.