Lillian
Hanly, Political reporter
Te
Pāti Māori says it will hold its own “alternative
independent hearing”, in reaction to unfair actions by
Parliament’s Privileges Committee while considering
complaints about a haka and protests in Parliament.
Te
Pāti Māori announced on Wednesday that the parallel
hearing would be held at Parliament in May, so people could
understand “what it is to be Māori and to have tikanga in
this place”.
MPs Rawiri Waititi, Debbie
Ngarewa-Packer, and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke did not attend
their Privileges Committee hearing on Wednesday, after
saying they were denied natural justice, and calling it a
“kangaroo court”.
The three, along with Labour’s Peeni
Henare, were referred to the committee for their involvement
in a
haka and protests in November, at the first reading of
the contentious Treaty Principles Bill.
Meanwhile,
Privileges Committee chairwoman Judith Collins said the MPs
involved would get “one final chance” to “appear
individually to be questioned, and to make any statements
they wish to make.”
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They claim their request for a
joint hearing was denied and the committee prevented counsel
from making essential submissions on tikanga. They also
claim the committee is refusing to hear from a tikanga
expert and set a hearing date without accommodating for the
MPs’ schedules or their choice of senior counsel.
Te
Pāti Māori co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer held a
media conference whilst the Privileges Committee was
deliberating, reiterating their key
concerns.
Ngarewa-Packer said if they did not “turn up
today” people would want to know why, and they had decided
to hold an “alternative independent hearing” on 7 May at
Parliament.
“We have decided that being accountable is
really important, and we want people to understand what it
is to be Māori and to have tikanga in this
place.”
Waititi added they did not know what the
outcome would be from the committee meeting, but said “we’re
not sorry” and that they would “do it again in a heartbeat,
because this is who we are.”
“As this house
deliberates and as the media deliberates about what we are,
it would be easy for us to bow down to the system and do
what they say and dismiss the very essence of who we
are.”
But Waititi said they had all made “promises to
ourselves” to “stand up for ourselves, especially in the
face of what seems to be a never ending tsunami of
hate”.
He said this was bigger than a “silly little
Privileges Committee and their silly little
rules”.
“This is about us standing up against the
tyranny of the majority and the contest between the
dominating culture that te iwi Māori has to contend
with.”
Ngarewa-Packer said they could not get a
hearing that was “going to be fair” and that was going to
“address the real kaupapa, which is tikanga
Māori.”
“We would love to explain what it is when
we’re doing our haka, but the reality is the committee
didn’t want to allow that.”
The Privileges Committee
released a statement following its meeting, saying it now
had to consider how to “progress the question of privilege”
in light of the MPs “nonattendance at the hearings scheduled
for today.”
“We are mindful of the seriousness of the
matter and have accordingly decided to offer a final
alternative date for the hearings of evidence to take
place.”
That would be Wednesday, 23 April, at
10am.
It specified each member was expected to appear
at the hearing of evidence, or to provide written evidence
by that date “in lieu of his or her attendance”.
“We
expect the members involved to engage with the committee’s
consideration of the question of privilege, as all others
who have been referred to this committee have
done.”
Speaking to reporters after the meeting,
chairwoman Judith Collins said it was “fair enough” to offer
the members “one further opportunity” and that will be “the
final offer”.
Collins said the committee had “never
seen anything like this”.
When asked about the
alternative hearing, Collins said it was “an interesting
concept.”
In response to the “silly little committee”
comment, Collins said: “It’s never wise to denigrate
Parliament, and the members of Parliament who try their very
best, turn up pretty much every day to do their very best
and to represent their constituents and the people of New
Zealand. I just don’t think it’s best to do that.
“I
always think it’s wise to show respect to each other in this
Parliament, not to be disrespectful.”
Collins said she
did not understand Waititi’s argument that Parliament did
not respect Te Pāti Māori. When asked if respect was shown
for tikanga in Parliament, Collins said there was respect to
be shown for “the rules of Parliament.”
Collins said
the committee would make a determination after the fact if
the MPs did not show up to the next scheduled
hearing.
“We do not want to have anybody under any any
illusions as to just how serious this
is.”
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