Anger in New Zealand parliament as Haka is performed in opposition to debated legislation.

Last week in the New Zealand parliament, a group of MPs put on an unexpected and powerful display of a haka, a traditional Māori dance, during a heated debate over a controversial bill. The bill, brought forward by ACT leader David Seymour, aimed to redefine the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, a crucial document in New Zealand's history that established an agreement between Māori chiefs and the British crown.

Supporters of the bill argued that it would bring equality to all New Zealand citizens by removing any "privileged" treatment for Māori. However, opponents raised concerns that the bill was either too simplistic or would further entrench social barriers and prejudices faced by Māori.

The debate reached a boiling point when Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke dramatically tore up a copy of the bill, leading to a standstill in parliament as she and other MPs and members of the public gallery performed the haka Ka Mate. The Speaker of Parliament, Gerry Brownlee, deemed this behavior to be "grossly disorderly" and took the rare step of "naming" Maipi-Clarke and calling for a vote on her conduct. The coalition parties - National, ACT, and NZ First - ultimately voted with the Speaker to suspend Maipi-Clarke, preventing her from voting on the bill.

As tensions rose, the Speaker ordered security to clear the public gallery and briefly suspended parliament. It was an unprecedented moment, as even long-serving MPs couldn't recall such a scene in their decades of experience. The bill eventually passed with the support of the coalition partners, but not without further heated exchanges and ejections from the House.

Speaking in favor of the bill, David Seymour argued that it would grant equal rights to all and rejected accusations of stirring racial division. However, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi fiercely opposed the bill, with Waititi even comparing the ACT Party to the Ku Klux Klan. He passionately argued that Parliament had no right to redefine the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as its power derived from the treaty itself.

The bill's passage sparked outrage and protests, with Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick condemning it as a means to oppress Māori. Even Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke out against the bill, calling it divisive and oversimplifying a complex issue.

In the end, the Treaty Principles Bill passed its first reading and is set to be further debated in the first half of next year. This controversial and emotional moment in New Zealand's parliament has sparked heated discussions and highlighted the ongoing tensions surrounding the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]