Three Māori Party MPs have been found in contempt of Parliament and will likely be suspended from the House for up to 21 days, without pay, following a haka protest during a debate on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill.

The Privileges Committee ruled MPs Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi acted in a manner that could intimidate other members during the formal voting process in the House on 14 November 2024.

The protest, which included a haka and a direct approach toward ACT Party members during a vote, has been deemed a breach of parliamentary privilege.

The committee has recommended that:

• Maipi-Clarke be suspended for seven days

• Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi be severely censured and suspended for 21 days.

The decision stems from events that followed the first reading of the Government’s Treaty principles bill, during which Maipi-Clarke performed a haka after casting Te Pāti Māori’s votes in opposition.

Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi joined her on the floor of the chamber, advancing toward ACT MPs. Ngarewa-Packer was seen using a hand gesture described as simulating a firearm, though she later disputed that characterisation, saying she was performing a traditional wiri gesture accompanied by the word “kino” (bad), not “e noho” (sit down) as the committee reported.

Committee Chairperson Judith Collins called it a serious breach of conduct, saying the incident was unlike anything she had seen in more than two decades as an MP.

“Make no mistake, this was a very serious incident, the likes of which I have never seen before in my 23 years in the debating chamber,” Collins said.

“I am a robust debater, as many of you will know, but I follow the rules of the institution I am a proud member of.

“We cannot bring this House into disrepute by ignoring those rules — especially if that results in other members being intimidated, or maybe being intimidated. And that is exactly what happened on November the 14th. The behaviour of Ms Maipi-Clarke, Ms Ngarewa-Packer and Mr Waititi was such that it could have the effect of intimidating other members of the House in the discharge of their duties.”

She added: “It is highly disorderly for members to interrupt a vote while it is being conducted. The right to cast one’s vote without impediment goes to the heart of being a member of Parliament. 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 committee found that their behaviour could have intimidated other MPs, disrupted the formal vote, and breached the expectations of order and decorum in the House.

In written submissions, all three MPs defended their actions as legitimate Māori political expression and a necessary response to what they see as a direct attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Maipi-Clarke apologised to the Speaker for putting him in a difficult position but refused to apologise for performing the haka. Ngarewa-Packer described the debate as leaving her feeling “under siege,” while Waititi called the haka a justified cultural and political expression in response to a bill he believes denigrates Māori rights.

The committee acknowledged that haka and waiata are part of Māori political tradition, but said that performing one without the Speaker’s permission, during a vote, and in a manner that directly confronted other members, crossed the line into disorder and intimidation.

The committee said it attempted to hear oral evidence from the MPs involved but they declined to appear individually, offering instead a joint appearance, a request the committee rejected.

The Speaker, in referring the matter to the committee, made clear he was not ruling on the appropriateness of haka in Parliament, but on the members’ conduct during an official vote. The committee concurred, stating the issue was not the haka itself, but its timing, execution, and the disruption it caused.

The Labour Party accepted that the MPs’ actions constituted contempt, but said the penalties were excessive, particularly the double suspension of Maipi-Clarke, who had already been named and suspended on the day of the incident. The Green Party opposed the suspensions entirely, calling the punishments unprecedented and culturally insensitive.

Te Pāti Māori outright rejected the committee’s findings, accusing it of mischaracterising Māori cultural expression as intimidation and reinforcing institutional racism. They said the suspensions silenced Māori voices during one of the most critical times of the parliamentary year, Budget Day, and created a dangerous precedent for how tikanga Māori is treated in the House.

“This ruling upholds a colonial standard of decorum that does not recognise Māori authority or expression as legitimate within Parliament,” Te Pāti Māori said in a strongly worded dissenting statement. “To put it plainly: two party leaders are being suspended for 21 days, while the youngest MP in Parliament is being suspended twice, simply for performing a haka.”