A shock move by the Government has resulted in another delay to Te Pāti Māori MPs learning their punishment for participating in last year’s controversial haka in the House.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi likened it to being on remand, “waiting for sentencing” and facing “psychological warfare”.
Debate on the recommendations by the Privileges Committee, which included suspending three Te Pāti Māori MPs for up to 21 days, had already begun on Tuesday afternoon when Leader of the House Chris Bishop moved an unexpected motion for it to be adjourned.
The motion, which passed with support from the governing parties but opposition from Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, pushed the rest of the debate out until June 5.
Bishop’s justification was that if the Te Pāti Māori MPs were suspended from Parliament this week, they would miss the debate on the upcoming Budget. He also believes it brings the temperature “down a notch” after recent heated commentary.
“The Budget is the central Parliamentary event of the year, which gives the House the chance to debate and then either endorse or reject the Government’s spending plans,” Bishop said in a statement after the motion passed.
“Constitutionally, there is nothing more important than the Budget process, which gives the House the opportunity to express confidence in the Government. Deferring consideration of the debate means all members will have the opportunity to debate and vote on the Budget.”
He said the Government’s position remained that the recommended punishments from the Privileges Committee were unchanged, arguing the MPs’ actions “were unprecedented in their disrespect for Parliament and the taxpayers to whom we are accountable”.
The move came as hundreds gathered outside in support of Te Pāti Māori, with speakers criticising the treatment of the party’s MPs in Parliament.
Waititi told attendees the Government’s decision to defer the debate “made me feel like I am on remand ... waiting for sentencing”.
Te Pāti Māori leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were in Parliament for the debate. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“We don’t need their sympathy. We don’t need them to prolong the psychological warfare they are prepared for us to endure.”
He said his party was not willing to leave anyone behind and called on non-Māori to stand beside, not behind, Māori, when rallying support for Treaty rights.
“Other parties in here want your vote, they don’t want your voice ... We’re not here for the money, for the accolades, we’re here to be a voice for you.”
He said the Government may have “suspended the suspension” but: “They can suspend our bodies, but they can never suspend our movement.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins was surprised by the motion. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour leader Chris Hipkins expressed surprise at the Government’s motion after he said it had rejected calls for a compromise over recent days.
“Had they approached us this morning and say, ‘look we want to defer this debate, we want to put it off til later on’ we would have been open to having that conversation,” Hipkins said.
“We’ve been trying to talk to them for the last 48 hours. They haven’t even bothered to return phone calls and then they do this. They just look like they’re out of their depth, I don’t know what they are doing.”
Hipkins said this meant the issue of the haka and its consequences continued to hang over Parliament for another couple of weeks.
Hipkins warned democracy is “hanging by a thread” around the world and days like today hold a “razor blade up to that thread”.
The Privileges Committee had recommended suspending Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi from the House for 21 days and MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven for their involvement in November’s haka.
The committee believed that behaviour impeded the business of the House during the voting process on the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Prior to the debate being called off, committee chair Judith Collins said the punishments being recommended were not about doing a haka, tikanga or the Treaty of Waitangi, but instead a consequence of not following the rules of Parliament.
“It does not matter our gender, our ethnicity or our beliefs. In this House, we are all simply Members of Parliament. Like any institution, it has rules,” she said.
Collins said this was a “very serious incident” she hadn’t seen the likes of in 23 years in Parliament.
“I am a robust debater, as many of you will know. But I follow the rules of this institution, and I am a proud member of it,” the National MP said.
National's Judith Collins chaired the Privileges Committee. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Hipkins also spoke in the short-lived debate, initially proposing Te Pāti Māori MPs were censured for their actions – Labour agrees they broke the rules – but their sanction be weakened.
He suggested a 24-hour suspension for Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi, and no further sanction for Maipi-Clarke as she was briefly suspended on the day.
He said the committee’s proposal is “totally out of line” with precedent. The previous record is a three-day suspension for former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon for criticising the Speaker.
“It is disproportionate. A sanction is appropriate. This level of sanction is not,” Hipkins said.
Entering the House ahead of the debate, Act’s David Seymour said the right penalty sent a message to Te Pāti Māori that “either you’re in or you’re out”.
“You can’t get the pay and the privileges of being a parliamentarian while trying to politically profit from taking the mickey of the Parliament everyone else is paying for.”
Seymour suggested “a couple of months” would be an appropriate period for them “to think about it”.
Talks of a compromise between Labour and National were “kiboshed” yesterday as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stated his party would support the committee’s proposal.
Labour MP and Shadow Leader of the House Kieran McAnulty said he was surprised by Luxon’s commitment, citing talks of possible compromises with Bishop.
“When you’re having a yarn and they say, ‘Okay, we’ll take that back’, you expect that there’s going to be some discussions, but Luxon made it out like he was speaking on behalf of the caucus.”
Bishop wouldn’t comment on his conversations with McAnulty but accepted the Government and Opposition parties were probably “too far apart” to reach a compromise.
Attorney-General Judith Collins appears behind Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during his caucus stand-up at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Hipkins defends ‘indigenous people’ claim
Earlier today, Hipkins told TVNZ Collins had publicly condemned “uncivilised behaviour from indigenous people” in relation to Te Pāti Māori’s actions.
Collins has rejected Hipkins’ claim, demanding that he produce evidence or apologise. She appeared behind Luxon to emphasise that point on Tuesday morning.
Hipkins this morning defended his comments by claiming Collins had “talked about the lack of civility from the Māori Party”.
“It was on record last week. She was talking about it in the media ... I understand she was talking about the Māori Party at the time,” he said.
“My understanding was that the interview was all about the Māori Party and the privileges committee report on the Māori Party.”
He said he was working off what he had seen reported, but if his understanding was incorrect and she hadn’t said that, he would be “happy to go back and look at it”.
Luxon called on Hipkins to “get his facts straight”.
“Judith Collins did not say what he said she said. She said there has got to be civility in the Parliament and I fully agree with her. That is why we back the decision of the Privileges Committee.”
