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Gerry Brownlee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, appeared to roll his eyes as the Haka began. Unable to regain control of the room, he later suspended the House and ordered the gallery to be cleared.

He suspended Maipi-Clarke for one day. Earlier in the session, he ejected veteran Māori lawmaker Willie Jackson for yelling “Shame! Shame!” at the representative who proposed the controversial law.

The Treaty Principles Bill proposes reinterpreting the Treaty of Waitangi, an 1840 agreement guaranteeing the Māori certain land and cultural rights in exchange for allowing the British to govern.

\"PHOTO:
New Zealand Parliament/AFPTV via AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: This frame grab taken from a New Zealand Parliament TV feed dated Nov. 14, 2024, shows Maori lawmakers performing the Haka, a traditional ceremonial dance, disrupting parliament in a protest against a bill.
>

Critics of the bill said it will eliminate dedicated land, government seats, health care initiatives and cultural preservation efforts granted to the Maori people under the Treaty of Waitangi. Together for Te Tiriti, a group that advocates for Maori people, said the bill “clears the way for politicians and corporations to have greater control over our communities.”

David Seymour, a Māori lawmaker who authored the Treaty Principles Bill, argued that the existing laws grant Māori people “different rights from other New Zealanders.”

Under the Treaty of Waitangi, lawmakers set up programs to revitalize the Māori language and tackle poor health metrics through a Māori Health Authority.

Although the Treaty Principles Bill is unlikely to pass, leaders, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, voted for it in the first stage as part of a political coalition deal, promising they would not allow it to pass any further.

Thousands of New Zealanders marched toward Wellington on Monday to protest the Treaty Principles Bill. The protest is expected to be the biggest race relations march in the country’s history.

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