During the House’s official vote on the Treaty Principles Bill’s first reading, an impromptu haka erupted among opposing politicians after it was started by New Zealand’s youngest MP,Te Pāti Māori’s Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.
As the 22-year-old stood to give Te Pāti Māori’s votes, she fiercely launched into a haka – prompting party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawhiri Waititi to stand and join her. Other politicians from Labour and the Greens also joined in; as well as those in the public galleries above.
Maipi-Clarke also tore a copy of the bill at the same time, before throwing the ripped pieces to the ground in front of her.
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke was among those to perform a haka, at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, on 14 November, 2024. Photo / RNZ
Referring to the haka, Lorde said it was carried out with the “utmost grace”.
She then used an expletive to describe the Treaty Principles Bill, which ultimately passed the first reading with the support of the Act, NZ First and National parties.
Lorde has been joined by many other young people around New Zealand and the world; who have left comments on Maipi-Clarke’s social media pages.
Kiwi singer Lorde. Photo / Greg Bowker
One person wrote: “You sparked indigenous people all over the world.”
Another said: “It’s a moment and an action that speaks louder than any other – and it will go down in history, for sure. We’re here for it.”
Speaker Gerry Brownlee – who attempted to stop Maipi-Clarke by saying: “No, don’t do that” – later suspended Parliament and ordered that the public galleries be cleared.
Brownlee later named Maipi-Clarke; saying the actions by the young MP and her party were “appalling” and “disrespectful”.
She was suspended from Parliament’s debating chamber for 24 hours and also had her pay docked.
The young MP shared an email sent to her yesterday by the principal at an all-girls school in Taranaki. The school’s notice board had been changed to read: “24 hours rest & come back stronger wahine toa.”
The principal’s email read: “For being the wahine toa that the young women in our small Anglican Taranaki school need to hear and see.”
Maipi-Clarke said the email had made her day.
“I was suspended from Parliament for 24hrs and deducted salary – and I would do it over and over again if that meant standing up for what’s right.”
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