Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke was among those to perform a haka, at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, on 14 November, 2024. Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone
Senior members of the Privileges Committee are not concerned their deliberations about Te Pāti Māori MPs will now happen after the party in question holds its own alternative hearing on Wednesday.
The Privileges Committee met on Tuesday to discuss complaints against three Te Pāti Māori MPs who conducted a haka in the House in November, but have had to schedule another meeting on Wednesday evening because they ran out of time.
Chair of the committee Judith Collins said there was not enough time to consider everything today.
She said they still needed to go through a draft report and make decisions, but would not confirm if a decision would be made tomorrow.
NZ First's Winston Peters, who is also on the committee, said he had places to be.
"You've got to face the facts. We've got two cabinet committee [meetings] starting right now, and I'm chairing both of them so I've got to get there."
Te Pāti Māori will be holding its "alternative independent hearing" on Wednesday, in reaction to what it says are unfair actions by the Privileges Committee while considering complaints about haka and protests in Parliament. The party said it would be so people could understand "what it is to be Māori and to have tikanga in this place
Neither Collins nor Peters were concerned about the alternative hearing.
"We can't take into account what Te Pāti Māori is doing" said Collins, "we have to work with our own process, we don't let that interfere with it."
Peters also said he would not be going along to the alternative hearing, saying he did not believe in "farces".
"No doubt you'll flock along to the circus yes, but we're not part of that. We're part of the most serious committee in this Parliament."
The committee will meet at 8.30pm on Wednesday.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
