Video: Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke reacts to haka heard around the world

who is the member of parliament Performed the haka during the vote on the Treaty Principles Billbringing the proceedings to a halt, surely a ‘wait… what did we just do?’ He says the moment happened.

Video has been released of Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke performing the song “Ka Mate” at the first reading of the bill and subsequently being removed from Parliament. received widespread attention by international media.

The bill has been the focus of widespread debate and criticismand a group of hīkoi opposed to this came to Parliament in Wellington from the top of the North Island and the southernmost Bluff in protest.

In an interview on The Morning Shift podcast on Tuesday, Maipi-Clarke described herself as an introvert “99 percent of the time.”

“But I knew that one time… it was like 500 rangatiras who signed (the Treaty) and it wasn’t actually me, it was them.

“I was like… ‘Wait, what did we just do?’ Then we went out and me and (party co-leader Rawiri Waititi) asked each other ‘(gasp) what just happened?’ We looked at it as if to say “

Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke was among those performing the haka in Parliament following the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill on 14 November 2024.
Photograph: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

But Maipi-Clarke says that in the face of criticism, performing the haka in Parliament was actually “the best place, the best timing”.

“It was bound to happen, and again… it wasn’t even about me. It was about the 500 ancestors who signed the treaty, and they said, ‘No, that’s enough.'”

However, the architect of the Treaty Principles Bill, ACT leader David Seymour, believed the incident made New Zealand look bad on the world stage.

“To the rest of the world and the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders this seems ridiculous. There is one person who puts forward a reasoned argument and invites a response, and then there are people dancing around making war, hurling personal insults and eventually getting voted out of Parliament.” “We need to do a reality check here, this behavior is completely unacceptable,” he said.

Photograph: VNP/Louis Collins

“There is some context to all of this,” Maipi-Clarke said on the podcast. “And it’s been developing for a year.

“I said, ‘let’s tear it up, there’s no point in it.’ And they said, ‘No, no, let’s not do that.’ And I said, ‘to be honest, the Treaty unites us and our country is known for.’ We have a beautiful partnership that most indigenous countries don’t have.” to have and let’s not give it (the Bill) authority.

“We’ve tried a lot of different Orders of Order, we’ve tried playing their game, we’ve tried speeches, we’ve tried eliminating it, we’ve tried electing committees, you name it.

“We were the last vote and I said no. Let’s try to get their vote and let’s try to stop this before it passes. But let’s really try and let the world see what’s going on here and it’s not even ours.” “The struggle is, we, as indigenous peoples, are all together.”

Seymour said this has generated interest and support for his bill.

“This is clearly getting people interested in the issue, which I see as a really important turning point. This is a discussion that New Zealand needs to have.”

Although Maipi-Clarke was ‘named’ by the Speaker for her erratic behavior, Seymour did not rule out taking further action against Te Pāti Māori.

More than 17,000 people marched through central Wellington on Tuesday morning as Hīkoi mō te Tiriti headed to Parliament.

Follow RNZ’s live updates Here.

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