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 April 2.
A video of Maipi-Clarke performing the haka Ka Mate went viral last year. 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 their conduct during the first reading of the controversial bill.
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 perpetuated 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.
Documents sent to RNZ by the members’ lawyer Tania Waikato from Tāmaki Legal showed Te Pāti Māori members wanted 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 May 7 to allow 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 April 2 date.
The Committee, chaired by Judith Collin KC, denied their request and said the hearing would proceed as planned on April 2 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 could make written submissions to the committee and address the committee before the members were 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.”
However, the members’ legal team argued the committee’s approach disregarded tikanga, meant each MP would repeat the same defence, and prevented them from having proper legal representation.
The documents argued refusing to hear a submission from Tā Pou would damage their MPs’ arguments.
By Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira and Layla Bailey-McDowell of rnz.co.nz