Te Pāti Māori has written a submission to the Privileges Committee after choosing not to attend their in-person hearing.
“Why would we? We know the outcomes have been pre-determined. We know that we will not have the right to a fair process. We know, they don’t want to hear our side of the story, so why would we participate physically in a process designed to be a mana diminishing process,” co-leader Rawiri Waititi said.
The written submission still counts as attendance, fulfilling the party’s obligations to the hearing.
Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke were to appear before Parliament’s Privileges Committee today, following their performance of a haka during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in November 2024.
The MPs’ actions, which included Maipi-Clarke ripping up a copy of the bill and leading a haka in the House, led Speaker Gerry Brownlee to suspend Parliament and clear the public gallery.
Act Party whip Todd Stephen would later lodge a complaint against all the MPs who performed the haka to Brownlee, leading to their referral to the Privileges Committee for disorderly conduct. The committee has the power to recommend sanctions, including fines of up to $1,000.
In response, Te Pāti Māori announced it will hold its own hearing on tikanga on 7 May, saying the Privileges Committee had denied them the chance to present their cultural perspective.
“This will be broadcast live to the public. We are determined to tell our own story, our way, without being gaslit or shackled.”
E kore ā muri e hokia
In their submission, the party also requested that Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke face no further punishment, noting she had already been suspended for 24 hours and had her pay docked following the haka.
In her personal submission, the young MP stated that the Speaker said she would not face any other punishment.
“From the Speaker’s response, I understood that the sanctions he issued covered all of my actions and conduct in the House that day.
“This makes me question why I am even here before the Committee today, facing double jeopardy, when I have already been sanctioned,” Maipi-Clarke wrote.
Senior Labour MP Peeni Henare also conducted the haka in parliament in support of being against the Treaty Principles bill.
The Labour MP recently appeared in front of the privileges committee and stands by his decision to move away from his seat in the House and perform a haka, but apologised for knowingly breaking the rules and stepping onto the floor of the debating chamber during the first reading.
Te Pāti Māori are refusing to apologise like Henare, stating they were acting under the first law of Aotearoa, which is tikanga.
They said within the context of the “first law”, the party did seek permission, not from parliament but instead from Ngāti Toa Rangatira, who allowed them to perform ‘Ka Mate’.
“Members of Ngāti Toa attended in the public gallery on the day to perform their haka with us, again in accordance with tikanga to tautoko the protest against this vile piece of legislation.”
The haka, a traditional Māori war dance, was performed as a protest against the Treaty Principles Bill, which proposed redefining the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The bill faced widespread opposition and was ultimately killed in April 2025. Despite the bill’s rejection, debates over the place of Māori customs in Parliament continue.
