Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
This week, 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.
Ngarewa-Packer told Saturday Morning that the 21-day suspension, which was seven times harsher than any previous sanction an MP has faced, was not proportionate.
"I think the backlash from the public, nationally and internationally, validates that," she said.
Previously, the longest suspension for an MP had been three days, given to the former prime minister Robert Muldoon for criticising the speaker in the 1980s.
While New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the duration of the suspension would have been lessened if the Te Pāti Māori MPs had apologised, Ngarewa-Packer said that was never requested by the Privileges Committee.
"What we have here is a situation where, and some are calling it Trumpism, we've been a lot more specific - we have an Atlas agenda that has not only crept in, it's stormed in on the shores of Aotearoa and some may not understand what that means, but this is just the extension of the attack on the treaty, on the attack on Indigenous voices.
"We made the point the whole way through when we started to see that they weren't going to be able to meet us halfway on anything, even a quarter of the way, on any of the requests for tikanga experts, for legal experts when we knew the bias of the committee."
Ngarewa-Packer added that the Privileges Committee process was not equipped to deal with the issue.
"We hit a nerve and we can call it a colonial nerve, we can call it institutional nerve...
"I think that this will be looked back on at some stage and say how ridiculous we looked back in 2025."
Ngarewa-Packer also added that the language from Peters during the debate on Thursday was "all very deliberate" - "and that's what we're contending with in Aotearoa".
"Everyone should have a view but don't use the might of legislation and the power to be able to assert your racism and assert your anti-Māori, anti-Treaty agenda."
Peters had taken aim at Waititi on Thursday as "the one in the cowboy hat" and "scribbles on his face" in reference to his mataora moko.
Rawiri Waititi. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
He said countless haka have taken place in Parliament but only after first consulting the Speaker.
"They told the media they were going to do it, but they didn't tell the Speaker did they?"
Peters added that Te Pāti Māori were "a bunch of extremists" and that "New Zealand has had enough of them".
"They don't want democracy, they want anarchy," he said.
"They don't want one country, they don't want one law, they don't want one people."
Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
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