Labour’s Peeni Henare apologises but stands by the Treaty haka

Wednesday, 12 March 2025

Labour MP Peeni Henare has apologised for leaving his seat in Parliament to perform the Treaty Principles haka on the floor of Parliament ‒ but stands by the haka.

Henare faced political heavyweights Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins on Wednesday evening after he was called to appear in front of Parliament’s Privileges Committee. It followed the Treaty Principles haka performed in Parliament in November, in which he left his seat along with Te Pāti Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.

Te Pāti Māori MPs are likely to appear at a later date. The issue was the haka disrupted the vote in Parliament on the bill.

“I apologise”, Henare said, for stepping away from his seat.

“I knew in doing so I would be breaking that rule.”

On the haka, Henare said, “I stand by my actions of performing the haka that day”.

“This, in my perspective, was one of the most divisive bills I have seen in my 11 years in Parliament.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, I could feel the presence of the gallery doing that haka, I could feel the presence of my colleagues.”

Henare said due to his “passion towards seeing this bill defeated”, he stood by doing the haka “whole heartedly”.

Peters questioned Henare over the spontaneity of the haka, and discussed Henare’s actions in not advancing towards Government MPs.

“I planted my feet and stayed there,” Henare said.

The opposition’s November haka, led by Te Pāti Māori, was spread widely by the likes of international news outlets Al Jazeera, EuroNews, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC ‒ even Teen Vogue.

The public and MPs were momentarily ejected from the House by the Speaker after the haka was performed shortly before the Treaty Principles Bill passed its first reading, interrupting the vote.

The MPs that left their seats to perform the haka were referred to the Privileges Committee, which considers and reports on issues concerning Parliamentary privilege and can find a Member of Parliament in contempt of the House.

The committee is chaired by Collins, and is made up of the likes of Peters from the Government, Duncan Webb and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Ricardo Menéndez March from the opposition.

NZ First’s Shane Jones, National’s Suze Redmayne and ACT’s Todd Stephenson wrote to Speaker Gerry Brownlee in December asking him to consider the haka following the Treaty Principles Bill debate in November “a breach of privilege”.

Henare was the first MP to appear infront of the committee. Te Pāti Māori are likely to be asked to appear at a later stage.

Brownlee spoke of how at the time, he named Maipi-Clarke “for interrupting a vote, which should be considered a serious matter by every member of this House”.

Naming an MP is a punishment from the Speaker if they consider the actions to be “grossly disorderly”. Being named can lead to more severe punishment such as suspension.

“Taking an action to prevent votes being completed is completely unacceptable,” Brownlee said at the time. “At this point, however, naming has been the only action I've chosen to take on that matter.

“The letters I've received name a number of members who participated in a haka in the House, and, in particular, four members who left their seats to stand on the floor of the House, with three of those members advancing towards the seats of another party.”

Brownlee said the issue of the MPs leaving their seat “to participate in an activity that was disorderly and disruptive to the procedure of the House is something that should be considered further”.

“The House may treat as contempt an act, or any act, which obstructs or impedes the House in the performance of its functions.”

That meant that Henare, and Ngarewa-Packer, Waititi and Maipi-Clarke were referred to the privileges committee.