Several MPs referred to Privileges Committee for haka reading of Treaty Principles Bill.
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Four opposition MPs who walked out of their seats as part of the haka at the end of debate on the Treaty Principles Bill last month have been referred to the Privileges Committee.
They are Te Pāti Māori MPs Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and Labour's Peeni Henare.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Gerry Brownlee, said the haka was "disorganized and divisive".
He said he would not comment on the importance of the haka and its place in the tikanga of the House, which was another matter to be considered by the House Rules Committee later in the day.
Brownlee said he had received letters on the matter from New Zealand Prime Minister Shane Jones, National MP Suze Redmayne and ACT MP Todd Stephenson. He said he had already "nominated" Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi Clarke to lead the haka, saying any MP should take the matter seriously.
Te Pati Maori members perform a haka in front of Acti Party members in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty of Principles Bill on 14 November.
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"Taking any action to prevent the completion of the vote is completely unacceptable, however, the nomination was the only action I chose to take in this matter.
"The letters I have received mention a number of members who participated in a haka in the House, and in particular four members who left their seats to stand on the floor of the House, with three of those moving on to seats in another party. This is disorderly and cannot be considered anything but messy. "The issues of members leaving their seats to engage in an activity that was disorderly and disruptive to the business of the House are matters that need to be examined in more detail. The House can treat as contempt any action that obstructs or prevents the House from carrying out its functions."
He said it was therefore his decision that the Privileges Committee – the parliamentary watchdog that has members from all parties in Parliament and can issue sanctions for misconduct – should examine the actions of Henare, Ngarewa-Packer, Waititi and Maipi Clarke.
He also said he had received a letter from Ayesha Verrall requesting a debate on the latest health force plan, as not all announcements merit urgent debate "even though the announcement may be important".
"There must be such an element or urgency that the issue takes priority over other issues. I believe this request meets this threshold, so the request has been denied."
Deborah Russell had also called for an urgent debate to remove the humanities and social sciences from the Marsden Fund, but received the same response. How did the haka happen?
A haka led by Te Pāti Māori disrupted the vote on the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last month.
Opposition MPs and the public gallery rose to perform Ka Mate, while Hauraki Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke rose to express her Te Pāti Māori vote against the bill.
Brownlee, who had been expressing impatience with a number of MPs for his interference throughout the afternoon, then adjourned the session until the bells rang again.
The video of Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke performing "Ka Mate", and her subsequent suspension from the House, was widely reported in the international media.
Te Pāti Māori co-chairman Rawiri Waititi said the response to the video, particularly from indigenous people from other nations, had been positive. However, ACT chief David Seymour believes the incident has made New Zealand look bad internationally and that most New Zealanders find it "ridiculous".
The bill promoted by Seymour led to protests across the country, with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon himself calling it "divisive".
In its negotiations with the coalition government, ACT secured a commitment to take the project to committee stage, but no further.
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