‘We’re not sorry’: Te Pāti Māori refuse to apologise for Parliament haka

Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Te Pāti Māori MPs are refusing to apologise for performing a haka in Parliament last year.

Three MPs refused to attend a hearing into the incident held by the Privileges Committee on Wednesday.

Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said he would happily do a haka in Parliament again.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says he would do a haka in Parliament again “in a heartbeat” and will not apologise for it.

Waititi’s comments came as a Privileges Committee of senior MPs was called to judge the actions of Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka during the first Treaty Principles Bill vote in Parliament.

The committee of senior MPs has been called to judge whether MPs who left their seats to perform the haka, Ka Mate, broke Parliament’s rules. While Labour’s Peeni Henare agreed to speak to the committee, Te Pāti Māori’s MPs have refused.

Committee chairperson Judith Collins said, on Wednesday evening, she would give Te Pāti Māori “one more chance” to attend. However, she told Stuff the committee would not be requesting a summons from Parliament to force their attendance.

Te Pāti Māori had wanted to speak as a group, with Waititi, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke appearing together with their lawyer, former attorney general Chris Finlayson KC.

But Collins said there have never been a case, in the history of New Zealand’s Parliament, where MPs have been unable to speak for themselves. She said the committee would not allow a group submission, but confirmed there was no issue with bringing in a lawyer.

Speaking to reporters while the committee met, Waititi downplayed its significance. He called it a 'silly little Privileges Committee and their silly little rules'.

'We know one thing, we're not sorry. Would we do it again? In a heartbeat, because this is who we are,' he said.

Waititi said the committee was attempting to diminish te ao Māori and was not equipped or willing to consider tikanga Māori.

The party’s other co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, also took aim at the Privileges Committee, saying the hearing was never going to be fair.

'We just couldn't get a hearing that was going to be fair,' Ngarewa-Packer said.

Waititi said the haka, which was performed by MPs from across the Opposition and those in the public gallery, was 'not performative' but “transformative”.

Ngarewa-Packer said the party will instead hold their own alternative inquiry that is set to take place on May 7.

Waititi said the alternative committee would be called because they wanted to show accountability, but that should happen with due process and with regard to tikanga.

The original haka, and Parliament’s handling of complaints about it, has brought into question the tikanga - the rules and processes - which underpin how Parliament operates.

Government MPs who objected to the haka said it was an intimidatory act designed to derail the business of Parliament.

However, for Te Pāti Māori, this issue is being used to highlight what they say is an overly Eurocentric set of rules which devalues Māori culture and people.

They say Government MPs are trying to enforce antiquated, out of date, rules.

In March, Labour MP Peeni Henare appeared before the Committee and apologised for leaving his seat to perform the haka during the debate.

Henare refused though to apologise for the haka itself saying it followed tikanga.

“That was not my first haka I have performed on the floor of the House,” he told the committee.

Henare pointed out that it was common, during Treaty claim debates, for haka to be performed.

He did not, unlike the Te Pāti Māori MPs, however, move towards the Government benches while doing the haka.

The haka took place in November and brought Parliament to a halt after a fiery debate into the controversial Treaty Principles Bill.

It began when Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke ripped up a copy of the bill before leading MPs in a version of Ka Mate.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee then ordered security to clear the public gallery, and he briefly suspended Parliament as a result of the haka.

Maipi-Clarke was suspended from the house for her actions.