Labour has made a last-minute proposal to the government in an effort to reach an agreement and avoid a lengthy debate in Parliament over a Privileges Committee report concerning the conduct of Te Pāti Māori MPs.
The Labour caucus has agreed to submit amendments for a vote to reduce the penalties for three MPs who performed a haka in the House last year during the initial reading of the contentious Treaty Principles Bill.
The MPs were responding to the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill on November 14 of last year. Introduced by coalition partner ACT, the bill sought to clarify the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) and create a clear legal framework for interpreting and applying these principles within New Zealand law.
According to some critics, the bill will weaken Māori rights and would challenge established interpretations of the Treaty. The bill was ultimately defeated during its second reading last month.
The Privileges Committee has advised the Speaker to suspend party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngārewa-Packer (who simulated firing a gun at an ACT MP during the haka) for 21 sitting days and MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke—who tore up a copy of the Bill before leading the haka Ka Mate but later expressed remorse—for seven sitting days.
In terms of the amendments, one proposal is to reduce the suspensions to approximately 1-3 days for Ngārewa-Packer and Waititi while censuring Maipi-Clarke without suspending her from the House.
Another amendment suggests postponing the suspensions until after the budget debate, allowing the MPs to take part.
The debate began at 3pm, but just 20 minutes later, MPs voted 68-55 to adjourn it until the next sitting day after Thursday’s budget, on June 5.
The coalition parties National, NZ First, and ACT supported adjourning the debate, while the opposition parties Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori opposed the motion.
Leader of the House and government minister Chris Bishop then adjourned the debate until June 5 to enable the MPs to participate in the budget discussion.
He said that although the punishments recommended by the Privileges Committee would stay unchanged, the House’s vote on the report would occur after the budget debate.
“The actions that led to these punishments were unprecedented in their disrespect for Parliament and the taxpayers to whom we are accountable. Our position on the recommended punishments remains unchanged.”