The New Zealand Parliament has voted to impose record suspensions on three lawmakers who did a Maori haka as a protest. The incident took place last November during a debate on a law on Indigenous rights.
New Zealand’s parliament on Thursday agreed to lengthy suspensions for three lawmakers who disrupted the reading of a controversial bill last year by performing a haka, a traditional Maori dance.
Two parliamentarians — Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi — were suspended for 21 days and one — Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, from the same party — for seven days.
Before now, the longest suspension of a parliamentarian in New Zealand was three days.
“a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the house.”
Oh go fuck yourself. Can the haka be intimidating as hell? Oh god yes. But you should also be able to recognize the difference between active intimidation and a powerful protest. Especially when YOUR COUNTRY IS KNOWN FOR IT.
They saw it as a threat because they’re threatening the natives way of life and they’re scared of being in the shoes of the oppressed
Something something “when you’re used to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
Weirdly their ancestors weren’t intimidated when it came to colonizing and stealing their land.
It’s scary now that doing a racism is considered a little more uncouth
Doing a racism is the well-known cultural tradition of the white people and our ancestors.
Weird thing for people to downvote. Acknowledging a painful truth ≠ endorsing it.
I think it is still pretty painful to acknowledge for a lot of people, honestly, so it’s not surprising. At least they’re only downvoting and not jumping into the usual rounds of whataboutism. The goal is to learn from history, not to justify anything that is done or make anyone feel bad, but I’m also not going to apologize for it if it does make people feel bad. To those downvoters: If it makes you feel bad, you know what will make you feel better about it? Do something to make things better. I’m not saying you have to, I’m just saying it might make you feel better about acknowledging the history. Your call.
I bet they were, right up until they killed everyone.
Just made it cooler. Didn’t even think that was possible
What about this? https://youtu.be/JddEXEJ8_S0
I love this guy! This is amazing! He should be there for when they return, make an entrance.
I support the suspensions. If all the other members abide by the same rules except for these ones then it makes sense reprimand them for disrupting the duties of parliament. These lawmakers were elected to be the voice of the people they represent. If they’re not using their voice to explain why they oppose the bill or what their proposed alternatives are then they’re not doing their job. Screaming and tearing up papers is just annoying and wasting everyone’s time.
These lawmakers were elected to be the voice of the people they represent.
https://www.dw.com/en/new-zealand-42000-demonstrate-support-for-maori-rights/a-70816454
New Zealand: 42,000 demonstrate support for Maori rights
Thousands turned out despite the bill having little chance of becoming law, saying it was important to show the extent of dissent
but feel free to keep jerkin it to ‘norms and civility’, i suppose
I don’t think you understand that norms and civility are a requirement for a peaceful, well functioning democracy. If you see them as a nuisance then you’re either an authoritarian or an idiot. Like seriously, do you think society is going to function if every self righteous politician start being obnoxious when something doesn’t go their way? That braindead mentality is literally how we ended up with Trump and MAGA in the US. It is THE first pillar to fall when on your way to authoritarianism.
These politicians can support or oppose whatever they want, it’s their job to do so. However, disrupting the duties of the parliament is not a part of their job, and they know that. If a couple of white politicians in New Zealand started doing berserker rituals every time something doesn’t go their way in parliament, will you still be making excuses? If not, then you hold double standards and you’re racist. They’re the same people, in the same country, and they should abide by customs that they set for themselves. The New Zealand parliament usually has 120, 117 members with vastly different opinions can conduct themselves just fine, 3 can’t. Those 3 got suspended.
When the Maori invade england and start forcing their customs on the people there, then maybe you might come somewhere close to pointing out a double standard. (also, berserker brits, lol what a concept)
We don’t have Trump because people started behaving poorly, we have Trump because there’s been half a century of constricting living standards and a wealthy political duopoly that just doesn’t care. Obama bailing out the banks rather than the people that lost their homes did more to kill civility than anything Trump has done.
When the Maori invade england and start forcing their customs on the people there, then maybe you might come somewhere close to pointing out a double standard.
But the framing is wrong. If Maori invaded Britain 250 years ago and over time, the two peoples mixed and created a well run multi racial liberal democracy where all it’s citizens enjoy full rights, then the same standard applies. If a couple of politicians of British origin were being obnoxious and were disrupting the duties of the parliament, and the rest of the politicians decided to suspend them for their behavior, then I would be fully in favor of that too. Being of a specific ethnicity doesn’t get anyone a pass to be obnoxious.
also, berserker brits, lol what a concept
It’s not a concept, it’s actual history. The vikings were a big part of British history.
We don’t have Trump because people started behaving poorly, we have Trump because there’s been half a century of constricting living standards and a wealthy political duopoly that just doesn’t care. Obama bailing out the banks rather than the people that lost their homes did more to kill civility than anything Trump has done.
These two things aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they go together hand in hand. Think about it, who focuses the most on useless shit like culture wars that are meant to stir fear and anger in people in our political landscape? It’s almost always either corrupt politicians or obnoxious idiots, often times it’s both. The point is that the people who are making things worse are also the people who have no manners, ethics, or morals.
You are being downvoted because, whether you realize it or not, what you wrote is extremely racist.
These are Maori. It’s their land and their traditions, and they are being attacked for both by white, authoritarian colonists. It’s unacceptable.
Removed by mod
fragile ass white men
It is still a British colony. They need to ditch the British king Charles as fast as possible.
Yeah, because that’s it…
What else would it be at this point?
Same as always, power.
I mean, personally I don’t really agree with people here saying this punishment is racism.
For me this falls into the same category as walking up to other members of parliament and yelling loudly at them, or breakdancing, or doing anything that disrupts the parliamentary process. I don’t think making exceptions for a Haka is reasonable. Parliament has these rules to ensure the room stays calm, collected and can do its work. The Labour party too believes some punishment is appropriate, though they suggested a censure instead.
Most articles refer to a previous suspension of 3 days, but I can’t find what that was for. I can’t judge if the severity of the punishment is therefore in line with precedent.
It should be mentioned, the bill they protested ultimately did not end up passing.
disrupts the parliamentary process
That’s the entire point of a PROTEST though…
Yeah but why bother? That same parliamentary process defeated the bill?
Would it have defeated it if they hadn’t performed their protest and maybe made a few other legislators rethink how unpopular of a bill it was? If they hadn’t protested, would legislative complacency just allowed the bill to pass unremarked on.
The purpose of a protest is to draw attention to something so that other that have the power to do something about it might do something about it.
I’m not saying the bill failed specifically because of the protest, but to think the bill was guaranteed to have failed anyway even without it is naive thinking.
That’s all conjecture. I’m not sure lawmakers would be particularly swayed by the Haka, particularly not the proponents of the bill (who probably care even less about it).
Even then, an impassioned speech tends to be far more effective in parliament than disruptive protests (historically speaking).
The bill was already fairly controversial, so it probably wouldn’t have passed through legislative apathy.
The world doesn’t run on “probably”. Nothing ever gets accomplished by assuming “it’ll probably happen anyway.”
Yeah, and it’s pretty well established that protest has a cost for it’s participants.
I agree. That’s why it’s called “having the courage of one’s convictions”. The people who are protesting are willing to accept the consequences of their actions in order to shake up the system.
But when the system makes up and applies consequences retroactively, it starts a very slippery dilemma where a person can’t protest for fear of “hypothetical” repercussions.
You can’t have the courage of your convictions if you don’t know what the consequences of those convictions are going to be. And you can’t know what the consequences of your actions will be if they’re just made up ex post facto and applied punitively in order to stifle debate rather than following an already established protocol.
As far as I know, this is pretty standard for that level of disruption and (by the design of a haka) invective towards another member of the house. If they had been suspended for more than a few weeks it’d be fishy, but they will be back. And hopefully it’s a political victory for them and not the closet racists they were responding to.
Before now, the longest suspension of a parliamentarian in New Zealand was three days.
That looks like it was for the content of a statement Robert Muldoon delivered alone in 1987, though. It’s not really the same thing.
(I did miss that bit of context, though. Oops, sorry)
This comment right here is the essence of liberal thought
B…but much process! B…b…but muh decorum!!! Please abide the laws we set while we fuck you in the ass!!!
No honey, fuck you and your procedure. Instead of hiding behind a veneer of professionalism fuck off and fix the issue.
Liberals WILL always silence the downtrodden when they no longer play by their rules.
But that same procedure ended up defeating the bill? I’m not sure the protest really achieved much.
You can fight a bill like this in a 100 ways within parliamentary procedure. If they had announced the protest it would be allowed too I believe.
Protest is for when the procedure fails. But it worked just fine here.
Also, arguments about the protest aside, my main point was that it’s not racist to punish an unannounced disruptive protest, just because that protest happened to be a Haka.
They also should have directed it to the speaker.
It seems like a silly tradition, but it keeps things from getting too primally heated, and I would have been terrified in those lawmaker’s shoes.
You would have been terrified? If you’re that scared of brown people, that’s your own issue.
Hakas are designed to be intimidating. If you don’t know that, you might be a Great White Savior yourself.
You could argue that they should be afraid after introducing racist legislation, like they did, but that’s not where anyone is going here (yet).
Sure, if you’re willfully ignoring context. These were legislators wearing suits doing it in parliament to make a political point, not armed warriors doing it on a battlefield. The only ‘fear’ was entirely dishonest and performative, not real.
My goddamn family doing that to me in suits would scare me. They’re effective, and they did a good job performing it.
Sure, at no point was there a literal threat of actual physical violence. If there was, I’d expect them to be barred for life.
Buds give your nuts a tug.
I think you guys are being tough on the internet, actually. IRL a good battle display gets audience reactions, although I’ve never been around the Maori kind.
My goddamn family doing that to me in suits would scare me.
With the element of surprise? Hell yes, I would be shook. I kinda think you would too.
Nobody in that video looked in the least bit afraid, just annoyed.
They all look like they’re doing poker faces to me, actually. But I dunno, maybe kiwis get used to hakas.
You can substitute in any kind of menacing display you want - viking foot stomping, boo-rah and air punches - it’s not really appropriate to spring on someone you don’t like. Here there’s a cultural component as well, but they can’t really argue it was just that with the way they directed it.
With all due respect to Maori people, these displays are annoying to watch, but I’m of the opinion that there shouldn’t be any religious displays in government proceedings.
At least until one of these supposed gods mskescan appearance.
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Describing a haka as a religious display is completely inaccurate.
I’ve performed them at weddings, birthday parties, and before every rugby match. It’s a display of culture and history.
And yet, still annoying.
I’m glad it annoys you. You’re still fucking wrong.
Haka isn’t even religious, what are you on about?
FlashMob there is exhibiting a common bias that the only reason to keep traditional group display behaviours around is if they’re religious. This means they are probably from a settler state where colonialism relied on suppressing local culture.
‘If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.’
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Racist fucks
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I really hope we do not get another national term.
I get chills every time I’ve watched this haka being performed. It is such a poweerful statement and this reaction is complete garbage. When the people of your country speak, surely government should be open to listening?
It made them uncomfortable, and whatever the law actually says, nothing is more illegal than making rich white people uncomfortable.
I can probably count a million little “traditions” that parliament follows that are based on Christianity and western colonial culture. But a haka is unacceptable
The ones that try the “it was a declaration of war!!” angle crack me tf up. What do they think buttfucking a treaty is?
I mean, a surprise pray-in also would have gone over poorly.
Doubt
New Zealand is over 50% atheist. “Pray ins” are not a thing there. It would be political suicide.
Its Parliament is Westminster system.
IIRC, people get in trouble for that in the US. This is New Zealand, where the standards of decorum are much higher and evangelical nonsense is much weaker.
I’d love to see that be the case
Lol, it appears protests happen during American proceedings so much that there’s no actual list. Pray-ins are an established tactic, though, and the penalties are given out on a pretty much production-line basis, so I doubt any exception is made. But, I can’t find a concrete example, sorry.
They’ve recently established in the Supreme Court that pray ins are kosher
Interesting! Do you have a link? My search is returning a bunch of stuff about praying for the supreme court or the supreme court on prayer in local council meeting openings.
And, in 2025, the Pākehā keep deciding what happens to indigenous land and indigenous resources, without letting Maori have any voice in it. Toitū te Tiriti!
You expected more? She knew it was going to happen, she did it specifically so it would happen and history won’t look fondly in their bullshit suspension.
What!? But that haka was awesome! How can you not enjoy that?
There are many enjoyable things that are not appropriate to do in parliament.
While I personally don’t see how performing haka is constructive to include in a debate about the bill, I think it’s unrelated to the discussion about what is or is not appropriate in the debating chamber.
not appropriate to do in parliament.
Seems like it functioned exactly as intended. Power to the People.
The bill is now suspended; is the strategy to keep performing hakas to continuously silence members of parliament? The risk is that the next time, when the opposition wants to influence a bill, they also create a circus in the debate chamber. That is not a democratic process.
I acknowledge the downvotes without any discourse. If you’d like to see how this actually unfolded, here’s some context.
I’m curious to see how proponents of this behaviour would support the other side of the aisle perform similar theatrics.
Burning down the houses of parliament would also suspend voting on the bill. Do the ends justify the means?
