New Zealand passes record suspension of lawmakers over haka
(www.dw.com)
from MicroWave@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 05 Jun 10:40
https://lemmy.world/post/30850399
from MicroWave@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 05 Jun 10:40
https://lemmy.world/post/30850399
The New Zealand Parliament has voted to impose record suspensions on three lawmakers who did a Maori haka as a protest. The incident took place last November during a debate on a law on Indigenous rights.
New Zealand’s parliament on Thursday agreed to lengthy suspensions for three lawmakers who disrupted the reading of a controversial bill last year by performing a haka, a traditional Maori dance.
Two parliamentarians — Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi — were suspended for 21 days and one — Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, from the same party — for seven days.
Before now, the longest suspension of a parliamentarian in New Zealand was three days.
#world
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Well that sounds like some quality racism over there.
Do you believe that every party in every parliament in the world should be able to just stop parliament from working instead of trying to actually vote for laws/bills the way they think is right because they are sure that they are right and their voice aren’t being heard (even if they are minority in the said parliament or don’t have quorum)?
It was a performance point of which was disruption of parliament session, which was achieved. (I have 0 stakes in this, NZ might as well be in another universe)
These people are underrepresented and standing up for their constituents, suspend them so they can stop doing that!
If they are underrepresented, why other Maori don’t vote for their party? Is there some kind of voter suppression scheme going on? If there is that’s probably was a right move that can move this problem out of unspoken/shadow consensus, if there isn’t then it’s just one party disrupting parliament because they can’t get what they want.
Even if all Maori voted for them, they only would have 19%. That means they would still not be able to have political power.
The system is rigged, giving the huge number of colonizers an advantage over the native population. Australia has a similar problem.
Thats not true at all. 19% is plenty of political power. You dont need 50% of the votes to get political power in our system. If you have 1 seat you have political power.
Well, until you conveniently get the longest suspension in history right as parliament is about to decide the budget, anyway.
Maori people arent only a single party. This is 3 MPs from a single party being temp suspended. Maori are 27% of parliament and have MPs in all majority parties. They will still be represented.
The problem is that even 27% couldn’t stop the colonizers from further destroying the nature.
I’m not sure what you are getting at with that comment.
Regretfully, democracy can be viewed as a dictature of majority over minority. I don’t think that there can be any clear cut answer to it. As for colonizers vs colonized, how far back do you consider this should go? As in any person of european descent forever in the future will be considered colonizer instead of people born on this land?
I think as long as the colonizers maintain an economically superior position, and keep the political power, there can be no real integration.
No. If you had even the most basic theoretical background on the subject you’d know how wrong this statement is. Yet people like you dangerously believe this surface level third grade understanding of democratic systems somehow makes them an expert.
This is an extremely vague statement that focuses on me instead of showing me and people like me where exactly we are wrong. Majority rule absolutely is common denominator in most democratic systems, so show me how it isn’t.
It’s 2025, I’m not your middle school teacher, I’m not going to “show you” anything. Go learn the subject yourself, or don’t and keep repeating nonsense as if it were some deep insight, either way I’m fine.
Of course you won’t. 🤡
A good democracy has checks and balances to protect minorities from mob rule /tyrrany of the majority.
That is actually what this protest is about - the ruling party wants to remove some of those legal safeguards.
New Zealand’s political system has proportional representation. Maori will most likely be in partial control after their next election.
As far as I can see 26% of New Zealand’s politicians identify as Maori, including the man who was Deputy Prime Minister during this haka.
Indigenous people are not monolithic.
New Zealand also has a carve out of Maori seats which is meaningful because it has proportional representation. This is what Australia could have eventually done with Indigenous Voice but there is no political appetite for it in Australia, plus the Aboriginal and Torres Straits people make up a far smaller percentage.
…animal noises?
Sorry bud, comparing the haka to animal noises is not “tone”, so fuck off with the disingenuous bullshit.
How disgustingly pitiful a position, to be so categorically incapable of understanding cultures other than your own, that you can only imagine comparing them to animals. How outdated you must feel. I suppose we should expect nothing less from someone with such a cringe-inducing self-concept that they literally call themselves a ‘warrior of kek’. I gag in sorrow at your impotence and turpitude. Perhaps it would be better if you stopped your own ‘mooing’, you sad, lost child.
What does protest mean to you?
Protest MUST disrupt something or it will be ignored. That’s why riots and boycotts get shit done while normal protests fizzle out.
Every major social policy change I’m aware of was accompanied by riots.
Disrupting parliament is far less violent than a riot yet still makes the point effectively.
Thats okay, but disruption has consequences, so being banned or fined or whatever just happens
Before Thursday, the longest suspension was for three days.
Found the racist
edit: shame on the mods for removing the above comment. Don’t hide things like this, or nothing will change.
I see no one has ever rold you the anecdote about how a bar turns into a nazi bar.
“Animal noises“… Damn that’s some racist shit
I don’t understand; how is that relevant in any way to this discussion about the haka? Please explain specifically.
What percentage of parliament should they hold?
So don’t comment with ignorant babble then.
Please, educate me what did I get wrong from reading the article? Or was your comment just for public shaming?
Either you’re a shill, a turfer, or a moron, or maybe you have legit said something stupid and dont understand why.
I dont know where you are from, or what culture you are but, what would you propose to do to indicate that something is unacceptable, after having stated that many many times, and the people who have traditionally murdered your people for being "savages"opt to ignore you many times, and are the people that hold power? Just say “this is unacceptable” and take the loss, while just allowing your constituents to get fucked?
I do not disagree with their action, in contrary it’s refreshing to see politician with consciense that try to actually do what they are hired to do. Question is - what now? If other parties would do the same and just stop session without any reprecussion (because they hold majority, or due to other reasons).
Tap for spoiler
Please stop with personal attacks.
Good lord dot world is filled with the most pathetic fucking losers imaginable
Elaborate, what exactly do you think is wrong with my post?
Hey! He’s from .cafe, not .world.
At least your instance is shutting down.
Ohhh nooo not “my instance” lol you dork
My comment has more bite than yours about .world, nerd.
K
What’s a filibuster?
A tactic used when the person speaking has been recognized to speak according to the rules of the legislature. I don’t really see why that’s relevant here though?
It was rhetorical but go on queen.
Thank you, I’ve learned a new english word today. 😺
Conceptually it looks like a flaw in the system and in my opinion is undesirable, do you disagree?
Did that really go right over your head? Unbelievable!
No, see, it should be allowed when we agree with the people making the disruption. Otherwise absolutely not!
You sound like Hillary Clinton talking about being pragmatic (while completely missing the point.) Like people who complain about protesters blocking roads because it inconveniences their commute. Maybe that’s your intent or maybe you don’t understand that civility can be a form of oppression?
I think the issue is more that they went from a 3 day suspension being the record high for disruptive behavior to suddenly 21 for these minority members.
A lawmaker during the arguments said that they had previously given zero suspension to a fistfight, someone driving their truck onto the buildings steps in protest, another member crossing the floor to bump another members desk. But this dance is 21 days.
This does look like they are specifically singled out, true.
My legislative body has the filibuster and I think it has a useful function, so yes!
BTW, there’s no good reason whatsoever the NZ parliament couldn’t have resumed business after the haka. None at all.
The only reason they didn’t was because the leadership decided to feign performative fear and end the session in order to manufacture an excuse to punish the native legislators and exclude them from influencing the budget.
Plenty of parliamentarians getting kicked out of western parliaments for wearing t-shirts with slogans, holding up signs, suchlike. Suspensions generally are extraordinarily short and little more than “ok we’ll give you some time to change into respectable attire”. Also make a scene? Add a day. Make them watch from the visitor’s benches. Pay attention they don’t miss (relevant) votes.
That would have been the proper reaction: The proper way to handle ritual stunts (and they’re a ritual, also the t-shirt thing) is with ritual slaps on the wrist.
The NZ reaction? They’re suspending parliamentarians for unprecedented amounts of time, and on top of that while the budget is being passed. That is, they’re fucking with the distribution of votes, which is fucking with the foundations of democracy. That is, for a parliament, nothing less than a declaration of bankruptcy.
But fillerbusters are appropriate process of disturbing voting that are not a treats to democracy, right?
There is more to voting than casting a vote.
Are you aware they went into this knowing the consequences? This is why we even know what happened, because it was a protest with real world consequences.
This is what makes what they did so powerful.
Any other “race” would face similar consequences.
Racism isn’t dictating every decision. So tired of that take.
Yeah, knowing how the bigots will react makes them jot bigots.
Like how sundown towns arent racist.
I don’t see why people dont understand this.
Do you realize that half the rules and traditions of parliament are based on Christianity and western colonial culture? How come they’re not all being punished for following their cultural traditions? Why are only the indigenous cultural traditions “disruptive”? Why aren’t you allowed to be disruptive when you’ve been colonized, your people murdered and raped, your race subjugated and your traditions silenced? Sounds like you’re on the side of the status quo, even if the status quo is a bunch of colonial racists
Im indigenous from Central America, you’re a fool if you don’t realize that every interaction the governments have with indigenous communities are painted with a racist brush. All deal begin from a position where the indigenous are looked down on as the lesser. Every time.
God people are stupid and one sided on this
They were suspended for disrupting the democratic vote process.
It’s not about the haka. Its about a time and a place for democratic voting policy. Democracy is paramount it’s not about any one person, people or groups of people trying to intimate the vote. That happens outside. No one is complaining about doing the haka for or against anything at any other time.
But when it cones to voting you got to behave.
Thats the wording of the report. But Lemmy is already on their wokey high horse. Minorities can do no wrong.
The fact of the matter is intimidating voting process is not okay. You are stopping democracy. If a white people acted that way there would be no outcry. The outcry is only about people not being given special treatment for being Maori, if I white person done it the result would have been fine and everyone here would say it’s justified. It sounds like everyone here is racist but NZ actually made a decision not based on race.
If a white people… Dog-the article is literally that this is a greater than normal punishment.
Except they didn’t interrupt voting. Go and watch the video, Maipi-Clarke clearly gives TPMs vote before the haka started. The fact that the report claims they interrupted voting clearly shows how bullshit the process was.
I think it’s you who are on your high horse. Claiming there needs to be some kind of “decorum” over a bill designed to strip rights from Maori is utter bullshit and frankly racist.
there’s a difference between being technically right and doing the right thing
Perhaps consider watching the recording or reading what actually happened before typing a massive rant claiming others are wrong?
Did you miss the part about how disproportional the punishment was compared to any other given in the past?
Yeah. This is the contentious part. Before Thursday, the longest suspension was for three days.
Oh go fuck yourself. Can the haka be intimidating as hell? Oh god yes. But you should also be able to recognize the difference between active intimidation and a powerful protest. Especially when YOUR COUNTRY IS KNOWN FOR IT.
Weirdly their ancestors weren’t intimidated when it came to colonizing and stealing their land.
It’s scary now that doing a racism is considered a little more uncouth
Doing a racism is the well-known cultural tradition of the white people and our ancestors.
Weird thing for people to downvote. Acknowledging a painful truth ≠ endorsing it.
I think it is still pretty painful to acknowledge for a lot of people, honestly, so it’s not surprising. At least they’re only downvoting and not jumping into the usual rounds of whataboutism. The goal is to learn from history, not to justify anything that is done or make anyone feel bad, but I’m also not going to apologize for it if it does make people feel bad. To those downvoters: If it makes you feel bad, you know what will make you feel better about it? Do something to make things better. I’m not saying you have to, I’m just saying it might make you feel better about acknowledging the history. Your call.
I bet they were, right up until they killed everyone.
They saw it as a threat because they’re threatening the natives way of life and they’re scared of being in the shoes of the oppressed
Something something “when you’re used to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
I get chills every time I’ve watched this haka being performed. It is such a poweerful statement and this reaction is complete garbage. When the people of your country speak, surely government should be open to listening?
It made them uncomfortable, and whatever the law actually says, nothing is more illegal than making rich white people uncomfortable.
Fucking powerful.
Hey nice, journalism with a backbone!
If only more news orgs in America could import that.
But then, it would probably be blocked by TACO tariffs.
It feels so weird, and a little scary, to see people praising brave journalism when they’re basically just staying historical facts… It’s that not normal journalism? 😅
For anyone used to American news especially, no.
It’s normal for DW or any other global news service, since the added historical context is very important for their worldwide audience.
Speaking truth when it could get your life ruined or sometimes even taken by the wicked and powerful will always be an act of bravery.
But I agree with you as well. It’s terrifying to be surprised when journalists speak the truth, and to see the suppression of truth become “normal” before our very eyes.
journalism has been weak for years, basically just a bullhorn for whoever is being interviewed in that moment
Normal journalism requires backbone.
That woman is amazing. What a response.
Just made it cooler. Didn’t even think that was possible
What about this? youtu.be/JddEXEJ8_S0
I love this guy! This is amazing! He should be there for when they return, make an entrance.
I really hope we do not get another national term.
Racist fucks
I can probably count a million little “traditions” that parliament follows that are based on Christianity and western colonial culture. But a haka is unacceptable
I mean, a surprise pray-in also would have gone over poorly.
Doubt
IIRC, people get in trouble for that in the US. This is New Zealand, where the standards of decorum are much higher and evangelical nonsense is much weaker.
I’d love to see that be the case
Lol, it appears protests happen during American proceedings so much that there’s no actual list. Pray-ins are an established tactic, though, and the penalties are given out on a pretty much production-line basis, so I doubt any exception is made. But, I can’t find a concrete example, sorry.
They’ve recently established in the Supreme Court that pray ins are kosher
Interesting! Do you have a link? My search is returning a bunch of stuff about praying for the supreme court or the supreme court on prayer in local council meeting openings.
scotusblog.com/…/justices-side-with-high-school-f…
They ruled that school officials can openly pray on school grounds and encourage students to pray.
ncronline.org/…/court-upholds-rule-house-open-eac…
And they openly pray in legislative houses
Ah, yes.
That’s not the same as doing it in a manner that disrupts official proceedings, though. And technically it applies to all religions, although we know how coach SayAShahada would go in practice.
They have a chaplain who goes on open mic before each meeting of the house
This is the usa
New Zealand is over 50% atheist. “Pray ins” are not a thing there. It would be political suicide.
Its Parliament is Westminster system.
The ones that try the “it was a declaration of war!!” angle crack me tf up. What do they think buttfucking a treaty is?
With all due respect to Maori people, these displays are annoying to watch, but I’m of the opinion that there shouldn’t be any religious displays in government proceedings.
At least until one of these supposed gods mskescan appearance.
Haka isn’t even religious, what are you on about?
FlashMob there is exhibiting a common bias that the only reason to keep traditional group display behaviours around is if they’re religious. This means they are probably from a settler state where colonialism relied on suppressing local culture.
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Describing a haka as a religious display is completely inaccurate.
I’ve performed them at weddings, birthday parties, and before every rugby match. It’s a display of culture and history.
And yet, still annoying.
I’m glad it annoys you. You’re still fucking wrong.
I mean, personally I don’t really agree with people here saying this punishment is racism.
For me this falls into the same category as walking up to other members of parliament and yelling loudly at them, or breakdancing, or doing anything that disrupts the parliamentary process. I don’t think making exceptions for a Haka is reasonable. Parliament has these rules to ensure the room stays calm, collected and can do its work. The Labour party too believes some punishment is appropriate, though they suggested a censure instead.
Most articles refer to a previous suspension of 3 days, but I can’t find what that was for. I can’t judge if the severity of the punishment is therefore in line with precedent.
It should be mentioned, the bill they protested ultimately did not end up passing.
That’s the entire point of a PROTEST though…
Yeah, and it’s pretty well established that protest has a cost for it’s participants.
I agree. That’s why it’s called “having the courage of one’s convictions”. The people who are protesting are willing to accept the consequences of their actions in order to shake up the system.
But when the system makes up and applies consequences retroactively, it starts a very slippery dilemma where a person can’t protest for fear of “hypothetical” repercussions.
You can’t have the courage of your convictions if you don’t know what the consequences of those convictions are going to be. And you can’t know what the consequences of your actions will be if they’re just made up ex post facto and applied punitively in order to stifle debate rather than following an already established protocol.
As far as I know, this is pretty standard for that level of disruption and (by the design of a haka) invective towards another member of the house. If they had been suspended for more than a few weeks it’d be fishy, but they will be back. And hopefully it’s a political victory for them and not the closet racists they were responding to.
That looks like it was for the content of a statement Robert Muldoon delivered alone in 1987, though. It’s not really the same thing.
(I did miss that bit of context, though. Oops, sorry)
Yeah but why bother? That same parliamentary process defeated the bill?
Would it have defeated it if they hadn’t performed their protest and maybe made a few other legislators rethink how unpopular of a bill it was? If they hadn’t protested, would legislative complacency just allowed the bill to pass unremarked on.
The purpose of a protest is to draw attention to something so that other that have the power to do something about it might do something about it.
I’m not saying the bill failed specifically because of the protest, but to think the bill was guaranteed to have failed anyway even without it is naive thinking.
That’s all conjecture. I’m not sure lawmakers would be particularly swayed by the Haka, particularly not the proponents of the bill (who probably care even less about it).
Even then, an impassioned speech tends to be far more effective in parliament than disruptive protests (historically speaking).
The bill was already fairly controversial, so it probably wouldn’t have passed through legislative apathy.
The world doesn’t run on “probably”. Nothing ever gets accomplished by assuming “it’ll probably happen anyway.”
They also should have directed it to the speaker.
It seems like a silly tradition, but it keeps things from getting too primally heated, and I would have been terrified in those lawmaker’s shoes.
You would have been terrified? If you’re that scared of brown people, that’s your own issue.
Hakas are designed to be intimidating. If you don’t know that, you might be a Great White Savior yourself.
You could argue that they should be afraid after introducing racist legislation like they did, but that’s not where anyone is going here (yet).
Sure, if you’re willfully ignoring context. These were legislators wearing suits doing it in parliament to make a political point, not armed warriors doing it on a battlefield. The only ‘fear’ was entirely dishonest and performative, not real.
My goddamn family doing that to me in suits would scare me. They’re effective, and they did a good job performing it.
Sure, at no point was there a literal threat of actual physical violence. If there was, I’d expect them to be barred for life.
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/5a5489be-2532-473c-a162-1fec01fafa3a.gif">
With the element of surprise? Hell yes, I would be shook. I kinda think you would too.
Buds give your nuts a tug.
I think you guys are being tough on the internet, actually. IRL a good battle display gets audience reactions, although I’ve never been around the Maori kind.
Huh, sounds like you’re projecting.
Nobody in that video looked in the least bit afraid, just annoyed.
They all look like they’re doing poker faces to me, actually. But I dunno, maybe kiwis get used to hakas.
You can substitute in any kind of menacing display you want - viking foot stomping, boo-rah and air punches - it’s not really appropriate to spring on someone you don’t like. Here there’s a cultural component as well, but they can’t really argue it was just that with the way they directed it.
This comment right here is the essence of liberal thought
B…but much process! B…b…but muh decorum!!! Please abide the laws we set while we fuck you in the ass!!!
No honey, fuck you and your procedure. Instead of hiding behind a veneer of professionalism fuck off and fix the issue.
Liberals WILL always silence the downtrodden when they no longer play by their rules.
But that same procedure ended up defeating the bill? I’m not sure the protest really achieved much.
You can fight a bill like this in a 100 ways within parliamentary procedure. If they had announced the protest it would be allowed too I believe.
Protest is for when the procedure fails. But it worked just fine here.
Also, arguments about the protest aside, my main point was that it’s not racist to punish an unannounced disruptive protest, just because that protest happened to be a Haka.
And, in 2025, the Pākehā keep deciding what happens to indigenous land and indigenous resources, without letting Maori have any voice in it. Toitū te Tiriti!
You expected more? She knew it was going to happen, she did it specifically so it would happen and history won’t look fondly in their bullshit suspension.
Brits oppressing natives
A tale as old as tea
“The only reason God created the natives was for us to have a bit of sport, old chap”
Here is a metal version of her really impressive protest. How is this not awesome?
youtu.be/JddEXEJ8_S0
Made my day.
Awesome!
As an enjoyer of metal, top song! Good on Hana-Rawhiti for protesting.
OMG that was powerful. I literally am crying right now. How awesome. And often awesome is overused. But, that was awesome.
Momentarily I thought maybe that’s why my old boss thought I was mellow. But just remembered, the guy was Australian! Its a different musical system over there.
Tell us you’re racist without saying that you’re racist.
I dunno. This looks like signing a legal document that confirms they’re racist.
What!? But that haka was awesome! How can you not enjoy that?
There are many enjoyable things that are not appropriate to do in parliament.
While I personally don’t see how performing haka is constructive to include in a debate about the bill, I think it’s unrelated to the discussion about what is or is not appropriate in the debating chamber.
fragile ass white men
It is still a British colony. They need to ditch the British king Charles as fast as possible.
Shame. Wtf is wrong with your shitty shitty politics New Zealand?!!?! (Not an American, so I can call out anti-Indigenous politics)
Any decent human being can and should call out anti-Indigenous politics, no matter their nationality.
Yes, but I just don’t see anything resembling reconciliation happening in the US vis-a-vis Indigenous peoples there. Like, in the US there doesn’t appear to be any reconciliation, not even symbolic gestures like land acknowledgements at events, or meaningful involvement of Indigenous people in settler politics. Are any elected officials in the US also Indigenous, like - at all?
Where are you from bud?
From the profile, Canadian. Oh the irony wanting to talk about the anti-indigenous practices
Your logic doesn’t make sense to me, you’re saying people in the US cannot spot and criticize injustices happening in other places because those same injustices are happening in their home country? What about the people who do criticize them locally? Or the natives who are affected by them locally?
How is that relevant to who can and can’t discuss Indigenous rights though? Surely the more people in the world who care about Indigenous rights, the better.
To answer your question the US has about 5 out of 435 members, Canada has about 12 out of 343 members. New Zealand has about 33 out of 123 members which is obviously a much larger proportion of their total.
I will never understand why so many Canadians and Americans seem so unaware of one anothers’ Indigenous rights movements. You are neighbouring countries and some of your Indigenous nations are cross-border.
‘If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.’
Settler colonial government doing what settler colonial governments do.
I support the suspensions. If all the other members abide by the same rules except for these ones then it makes sense reprimand them for disrupting the duties of parliament. These lawmakers were elected to be the voice of the people they represent. If they’re not using their voice to explain why they oppose the bill or what their proposed alternatives are then they’re not doing their job. Screaming and tearing up papers is just annoying and wasting everyone’s time.
www.dw.com/en/…/a-70816454
but feel free to keep jerkin it to ‘norms and civility’, i suppose <img alt="jagoff" src="https://lemmy.zip/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchapo.chat%2Fpictrs%2Fimage%2F51ec5471-2e83-41c7-8d86-48618d45c836.png">
You are being downvoted because, whether you realize it or not, what you wrote is extremely racist.
These are Maori. It’s their land and their traditions, and they are being attacked for both by white, authoritarian colonists. It’s unacceptable.