FACT CHECK: Was A Vote In New Zealand Parliament Stopped By Maori Haka Dancing?
A post on X claims that the first reading of a bill during a Parliamentary session in New Zealand was cancelled after Māori tribal representatives started doing a traditional Haka dance.
First reading vote of the Treaty Principles Bill in NZ parliament didn’t go through after Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke started a haka in the house
The passion…the fire…— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) November 15, 2024
Verdict: False
The Māori’s delayed the bill’s first reading, and didn’t affect voting of it.
Fact Check:
Members of Parliament in New Zealand representing the Maori people, labeled as Te Pāti Māori, interrupted a reading of the ‘Treaty Principles Bill’ on Thursday, November 14th. The Maori MP’s started a haka, a ceremonial dance that traditionally was performed in war time but now used in modern times to welcome guests and celebrate achievements and events. The protest was met with mixed reception, with some criticizing the move as “embarrassing.”
As a Māori myself I see this behaviour & it’s just outright embarrassing.
Cringe level 1000.
They are behaving like uncivilised cave people that have no place in parliament.
No wonder the vast majority of Māori vote for someone else. https://t.co/bGLhMO7KcS
— Fubadu (@foo_4_thought) November 14, 2024
A post on X claims that the Treaty Principles Bill, which was the subject of the protest, was tabled after the haka dance was started. The post implies that the Maori party had successfully stopped the bill from being considered.
The claim is incorrect. This Parliamentary session simply included the first reading of the bill, and was delayed while the interruptions took place. It will face a vote in six months, according to ABC News. The rewritten treaty is not expected to pass as members of the National Party and New Zealand First were only supporting it’s reading as part of a coalition agreement.
The Opposition MP that started the haka was 22 year old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who went viral last year for starting a haka in her introductory speech in front of Parliament. (RELATED: No, Video Doesn’t Show USS Abraham Lincoln On Fire After Houthi Attack)
Maipi-Clarke ripped up a copy of the ‘Treaty Principles Bill’ as a form of protest at the reading. The bill aims to change the terms of a 184-year-old treaty between the British and the native Maori, and would extend rights reserved to the Maoris to all New Zealand citizens. Maipi-Clarke was suspended for the stunt, and Labour MP Willie Jackson was also expelled from the chamber for calling another leader a liar.
