NEW DELHI: New Zealand’s youngest MP, 22-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, once again grabbed international headlines as she staged a powerful haka, a traditional Māori challenge, while tearing up a copy of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill during a parliamentary session.
The Te Pati Maori MP’s video went viral that showed her ripping apart a document, following it up with a stirring haka that quickly drew support from the public gallery. The haka quickly spread through the opposition benches and the public gallery, leading to the chamber being cleared and Maipi-Clarke being suspended.
Despite the uproar, the bill passed its first reading and will now move to a public submission process before another vote. Thousands of protesters are expected to march on Parliament next week in opposition to the bill, highlighting the deep divisions it has exposed in New Zealand society.
The bill, focused on the Treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840, seeks to define the treaty’s principles as applying equally to all New Zealanders. This move has drawn sharp criticism, with opponents arguing it undermines Māori rights and incites racial division.
The bill’s author, David Seymour, leader of the ACT party, argues that his proposal aims to bring clarity to the treaty’s principles. “What all of these principles have in common is that they afford Māori different rights from other New Zealanders,” Seymour stated.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, while disagreeing with the bill, allowed his party to vote in favor of it as part of a political deal with Seymour’s party. This decision sparked fury from opposition members. “Shame! Shame! Shame on you, David Seymour,” shouted Willie Jackson, a Māori lawmaker, before being ejected from the chamber. “Shame on you for what you’re trying to do to this nation.”
