There were wild scenes in Parliament today as Te Pati Māori MPs interrupted proceedings to perform a haka in front of ACT MPs including leader David Seymour.
The drama began as MPs were voting on the ACT Party’s bill on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi following its first reading.
First-term Te Pati Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke rose from her seat and tore up several pieces of paper as she began a haka, which was joined by her co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngawera-Packer.
MPs from the Labour and Green Party joined in the haka also. Speaker Gerry Brownlee stood and eventually declared Parliament was suspended.
Brownlee had earlier ordered Labour MP Willie Jackson to leave the House after Jackson had labelled Seymour a “liar” and then refused to withdraw the comment.
During Seymour’s speech on the bill in Parliament today he said there are people who say the Treaty is necessary because there’s still inequity between Māori and non-Māori – on average – “and that is true if you view the world as groups of people based on ancestry and you average them”.
“But the truth is that each person is more than an average. We are thinking and valuing beings with challenges and choices and hopes and dreams.
“Many Māori do very well and need little help; many non-Māori are struggling and in need of greater help.
“If you want to help people in need, skip the division and just help people in need is what I say.
“There are those who may agree with the sentiment of the bill but believe that there are other priorities.
“The simple answer is that this Government has not been stopped by this bill.
“In fact, this Minister has not been stopped by this bill from making massive progress in health and housing and economic growth and education.
“You can walk and chew gum at the same time. But more importantly, a system of equal rights is essential for solving the practical problems we face: a separate health administration, seats reserved at the table of public entities, the requirement to consult people on resource management decisions based on ancestry.
“All of it just makes the task of solving the very real problems we solve all the harder than if we join hands in common humanity against the challenges we seek to overcome.
“The division that you are seeing was not caused by this bill. It has been built up over decades, during which New Zealanders have come to regard themselves as based on ancestry or one side of a partnership instead of as New Zealanders.
“And, what’s worse, successive Governments have encouraged that division. The division is there whether this bill is here to reveal it or not, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was not in Parliament today as he’s travelling to Peru to attend an APEC summit.
He has said the National Party will not support the Treaty principles bill beyond its first reading.
