Mata Season 3 Episode 11 Tania Waikato
Parliament took the unprecedented step of suspending both Te Pāti Māori leaders - Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi - for 21 days. Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended for seven days - but had also been punished with a 24-hour suspension on the day over a haka all three had performed in Parliament, against the Treaty Principles Bill, in November.
It is against the rules of the House for members to leave their seats during a debate - which all three did.
Waikato said one of the most galling things about the entire process was that the haka was said to be intimidatory and that the process the committee adopted was framed in that way from the beginning.
She said in her 20 years of being a lawyer she had not seen a process that "disrespected the laws of natural justice" in the way it did.
"I was actually flabbergasted at the lack of respect that that body had for very very basic rights that had anyone who's been accused of any type of behaviour that could have a censure result, let alone a censure of this magnitude, imposed on them should be given."
Requests to the committee to have a hearing at a time when both counsels were available and for the accused to bring evidence to defend themselves against the allegations were rejected even though that was provided for in the standing orders, she said.
"So right from the beginning of the process they were not following their own rules and they were ... in my opinion trumping up the charges to make them sound as serious as possible and to slant the outcome towards what we ended up with."
Asked why the MPs chose not to appear before the committee, Waikato said it was because the MPs felt they would not get a fair hearing.
"They felt, and quite rightly I believe, that they had already predetermined what they were going to decide."
Waikato, who is also a health and safety lawyer, said Parliament was supposed to be the height of democracy but the behaviour of MPs within the House had degenerated and was "sliding towards this gutter politics style".
"I watched some of the behaviour that goes on in the House and particularly in that last debate before the suspensions were made and there is no way that you could behave like that in any other workplace and get away with it - it would be illegal and you would be hauled up on workplace bullying charges in an instant if you behaved like that in any other workplace."
Waikato said she would have advised Te Pāti Māori MPs to do the haka had she been their lawyer prior to this on the basis that the Treaty Principles Bill was "the most divisive, racist piece of legislation that has ever been introduced during our lifetimes".
It was an exceptional event which required an exceptional response, she said.
"And the Speaker took action on the day, it's not like there was nothing that happened on the day, Hannah was censured for what happened, it should have stopped there."
It should not have been referred to the Privileges Committee, she said.
Photo:
Te Māngai Pāho
Photo:
NZ On Air
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Here's what was in Winston Peters' letter to UN Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights
Winston Peters sent the letter in his capacity as Foreign Minister. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Foreign Minister Winston Peters' response to a UN official raising concerns about the government's approach is far milder than the one initially sent by ACT leader David Seymour. Seymour was rebuked by Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after writing back to the Geneva-based UN Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights Dr Albert K Barume, who raised concerns about the Regulatory Standards Bill. His letter, in his capacity as Regulations Minister, said Barume's views on the government's agenda were wrong and an affront to New Zealand's sovereignty, and Barume's letter itself was "presumptive, condescending and wholly misplaced". Peters and Luxon at the time said the Foreign Minister - who the letter was addressed to - was the appropriate person to send New Zealand's official response. While Luxon said he "fully agreed" with the contents of Seymour's message, Peters rejected Seymour's suggestion his official response would "make the same points". That official response , published on Monday night with a handful of redactions by the UN, said New Zealand "deeply regret this breakdown in protocol and appreciate the opportunity to put the record straight". It said the Regulatory Standards Bill was "a result of a Coalition Agreement between two of the three political parties that currently comprise the New Zealand Government", and was "intended to reduce the amount of unnecessary and poor-quality legislation". David Seymour was rebuked by Peters and Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The letter also pointed out the bill was being considered by a select committee. "As a mature democracy, New Zealand has well established systems for developing legislation in a way that takes account of a wide range of interests." It said New Zealand "honours the undertakings that the Crown has made through past Treaty of Waitangi settlements and continues to address historical Treaty grievance claims", pointing to 101 such claims having been signed by iwi, hapū and the Crown. An appendix to the letter also provided further information about "relevant constitutional provisions", pointing out that "all legislative proposals that are submitted to the New Zealand Cabinet must consider the human rights and Treaty of Waitangi implications of the proposal". A second appendix on the Regulatory Standards Bill set out the bill's purpose, and how it aimed to achieve that - providing a straightforward explanation of how the bill would work, with links to public consultation and other publicly available information, noting it would not constrain Parliament's ability to make laws. It also noted "nothing in the bill will prevent any additional principles from being considered in the process of lawmaking, or in the review of existing law", and stated the absence of the Treaty of Waitangi from the bill "reflects a decision to focus on a discrete set of goals, including promoting the accountability of the Executive to Parliament". RNZ has sought comment from David Seymour.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
The Pre-Panel for 11 August 2025
sport politics 3:50 pm today Jesse Mulligan is joined by The Panel host Wallace Chapman and producer Tessa Guest to preview this evening's marlarky.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Support grows for Labour, but not enough to govern
Christopher Luxon's popularity has reached a two-year low in the latest 1News-Verian poll, with Chris Hipkins close behind. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Labour's support has surged in the latest TVNZ political poll out tonight, but the coalition government would still have the numbers to govern. National support was unchanged at 34 percent in the latest 1News-Verian poll, but Labour is close behind on 33 percent, up four points. The Green Party is down two points to 10 percent support, while NZ First is on 9 percent, up one point, overtaking the ACT Party, which is unchanged on 8 percent. Te Pāti Māori are steady on four percent. Under these numbers, the National/ACT/NZ First coalition would have 63 seats, while the parties on the left would have 58. In the preferred prime minister stakes, National leader Christopher Luxon's support has dropped three points to 20 percent - a two-year low for this poll - with Labour leader Chris Hipkins on his heels with 19 percent. Winston Peters in on 7 percent, up one point, while the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick is on 4 percent, down one point. Earlier on Monday, the Taxpayers' Union-Curia Opinion poll was released which predicted that, if an election were held now, there would be a hung Parliament. In that poll, Labour had overtaken National as the largest party, gaining 2 points to 33.6 percent, while National drops 2.1 points to 31.8 percent. Based on its results, if an election were held today, the centre-right bloc would lose four MPs for a total 61 seats, while the centre-left bloc would gain four MP and also reach a total 61 seats. - more to come Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
