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
Three Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a tense haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill last year say they are refusing to attend a hearing with Parliament's Privileges Committee over concerns their "fundamental" legal rights are being ignored.
Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rāwiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Waikato MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke are due to appear before the committee on Wednesday 2 April.
A video of Maipi-Clarke performing the haka - Ka Mate - went viral last year and recently Labour MP Peeni Henare was found to have acted in a "disorderly" way for also joining in on the haka, but was not in "contempt" of the house's rules.
The hearing was set after concerns were raised to the committee by NZ First, National and ACT party MPs about the their conduct during the first reading of the controversial bill.
Parliament's Privileges Committee chair Judith Collins would not comment on Te Pāti Māori MPs' refusal to attend their hearing.
Collins said talking about what's in front of a Privileges Committee would be a "breach of privilege".
Photo: VNP/Louis Collins
In a media release, the party claimed that despite requests for a fair hearing, the Committee has denied key legal rights including the denial of a joint hearing, having their legal representation restricted, an expert testimony from Tā Pou Temara denied, hearing schedule conflicts being ignored and concerns Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke will face similar sanctions she got when the haka was performed.
Ngarewa-Packer said the decision to undermine basic legal practice perpetuates the "ongoing tyranny of the majority against Māori representation".
"Parliament continues to dismiss tikanga and justice, and this Committee is no different. They have already decided our fate. This is not a fair hearing. It is a display of power designed to silence us." Ngarewa-Packer said.
She said there'd been a "to and throw", and they "effectively have been told" by the committee chair.
"They refuse to allow us the time to bring our legal counsel in, Christopher Finlayson, so we won't go to the to the trial."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Documents sent to RNZ by the members' lawyer Tania Waikato from Tāmaki Legal show Te Pāti Māori members want to be questioned together, rather than in separate interviews, and have tikanga expert Tā Pou Temara speak to the committee.
They also asked for the proposed hearing to be rescheduled to Wednesday 7 May to allow for the members to "take legal advice and properly prepare for the hearing."
"As Counsel has only been recently instructed, further time is required to prepare and take instructions," the document read.
Their senior counsel, Christopher Finlayson KC, would also be unavailable for the 2 April date.
The Committee denied their request and said the hearing would proceed as planned on Wednesday 2 April from 4pm to 5.30pm - with each member appearing independently before the committee for 30 minutes each.
"We wish to clarify that each of the three members are permitted to be in attendance in the public gallery during the other members' hearing of evidence. Each member may also be accompanied by counsel at the witness table," the document read.
The committee said Standing Orders meant counsel can make written submissions to the committee and address the committee before the members are heard, but limited only to matters of procedure.
"It is important to note that Standing Orders do not permit counsel to respond to the committees questions during the hearing on a member's behalf. Counsel may not submit written or oral evidence pertaining to the substance of the question of privilege. This is for the members to address."
Photo: Supplied / Tania Waikato
However, the members' legal team argued the committee's approach disregards tikanga, means each MP would repeat the same defence, and prevents them from having proper legal representation.
The documents argue refusing to hear a submission from Tā Pou would damage their MPs arguments.
Denied 'fair justice' - Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
Ngarewa-Packer said they were being denied "fair justice".
"What we're confronting with here is the domination of one side of the House, the domination of one culture consistently dismissing the Māori view, Māori tikanga view."
Ngarewa-Packer said, if the Committee wanted to hear their view, "we needed to know that we were not going to go walking into a predetermined decision".
"They don't want to hear really what Māori feel what tikanga should be in this house. They're dismissive of it, because they're the dominating culture."
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi added, if it was going to be a "kangaroo court", he didn't think it was "fair".
"Natural justice should allow us to get the counsel we deserve, also to get the experts that we deserve to be part of that particular kōrerō, because what's in question here is our tikanga."
Waititi said the ultimate consequence was "when the people decide that what you did was probably not the way they wanted us to do it, but that's not the feeling we're getting out there", he said.
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Te Pāti Māori's concerns with the Privileges Committee were new territory for Parliament to grapple with, but some of the concerns raised were fair, particularly putting haka into context.
"I think that that's appropriate, I think one of the things parliament needs to grapple with is the circumstances under which haka are encouraged and which circumstances they're not."
Hipkins said it was the first time Parliament had had this debate.
NZ First MP Shane Jones waded in, saying he was "sick of these cultural smurfs" and they were trying to reduce the "mana and kawa of Parliament".
"I think probably they've realised they've done wrong and they're using all these nefarious excuses to escape accountability."
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