Maori MPs shut down New Zealand parliament with haka protest

New Zealand’s parliament was brought to a halt on Thursday as Maori MPs staged a haka protest on the floor over a controversial “equal rights” bill.

New Zealand’s parliament was brought to a halt on Thursday as Maori MPs staged a haka protest on the floor over a controversial “equal rights” bill.

Maori Party co-leader Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke tore up a copy of ACT Party’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill as she launched into the traditional war chant, before being joined by other MPs to dance in front of ACT leader David Seymour.

“Here’s what the Māori Party thinks of equal rights and democracy,” ACT Party posted on social media, sharing the footage which has gone viral worldwide.

Maori Party co-leader Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. Picture: X

ACT Party’s bill was tabled in parliament last week and had its first reading on Thursday.

It seeks to reinterpret New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi between the Maori and European settlers signed in 1840 that brought peace between the groups and established New Zealand as a colony.

The anniversary of the treaty’s signing is still a national holiday.

ACT Party’s bill would offer New Zealanders a binding referendum seeking to more narrowly define the treaty’s principles in legal documents, with Mr Seymour telling parliament it would address a situation where Maori are “afforded different rights than other New Zealanders”.

ACT Party leader David Seymour looks on. Picture: X

Critics say the real aim is to unravel education and other programs for Maori citizens.

Mr Seymour said the bill was a good thing and would be a “democratisation of the Treaty”.

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi previously accused the government of “waging war on our existence as Maori and on the fabric of this nation” and compared ACT Party to the KKK.

The bill, which sparked protests in Wellington on Thursday, is almost certain to fail.

Conservative Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has allowed the bill to come to parliament as part of the parties’ coalition deal, but his party is unlikely to vote for its passage.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee. Picture: X

Mr Luxon last week said the bill was “divisive” and there was “no need for it”.

The Labour opposition has also called the effort “divisive” and “a waste of money” with “no support from any other party in parliament”.

The issue of Maori race relations gained prominence in last year’s election campaign, with a growing right-wing movement voicing opposition to the country’s Maori “co-governance” model.

Both of National Party’s coalition partners, ACT Party and New Zealand First, criticised co-governance during the election and promised to wind back some of the progressive reforms spearheaded by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Among those reforms, intended to better acknowledge Maori as New Zealand’s first peoples, have been greater use of Maori language in everyday life – including the now ubiquitous usage of New Zealand’s Maori name, Aotearoa – and the renaming of government departments, such as Health New Zealand to Te Whatu Ora.

An opinion poll prior to last year’s election suggested nearly half – 48 per cent – of New Zealand voters believed there should be a referendum on Maori co-governance, and 45 per cent did not want more of it.

— with AFP