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submitted 1 month ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

The New Zealand Parliament has voted to impose record suspensions on three lawmakers who did a Maori haka as a protest. The incident took place last November during a debate on a law on Indigenous rights.

New Zealand's parliament on Thursday agreed to lengthy suspensions for three lawmakers who disrupted the reading of a controversial bill last year by performing a haka, a traditional Maori dance.

Two parliamentarians — Te Pati Maori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi — were suspended for 21 days and one — Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, from the same party — for seven days.

Before now, the longest suspension of a parliamentarian in New Zealand was three days.

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[-] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 125 points 1 month ago

These people are underrepresented and standing up for their constituents, suspend them so they can stop doing that!

[-] nesc@lemmy.cafe 6 points 1 month ago

If they are underrepresented, why other Maori don't vote for their party? Is there some kind of voter suppression scheme going on? If there is that's probably was a right move that can move this problem out of unspoken/shadow consensus, if there isn't then it's just one party disrupting parliament because they can't get what they want.

[-] theolodis@feddit.org 33 points 1 month ago

Even if all Maori voted for them, they only would have 19%. That means they would still not be able to have political power.

The system is rigged, giving the huge number of colonizers an advantage over the native population. Australia has a similar problem.

[-] nesc@lemmy.cafe 4 points 1 month ago

Regretfully, democracy can be viewed as a dictature of majority over minority. I don't think that there can be any clear cut answer to it. As for colonizers vs colonized, how far back do you consider this should go? As in any person of european descent forever in the future will be considered colonizer instead of people born on this land?

[-] theolodis@feddit.org 7 points 1 month ago

I think as long as the colonizers maintain an economically superior position, and keep the political power, there can be no real integration.

[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

A good democracy has checks and balances to protect minorities from mob rule /tyrrany of the majority.

That is actually what this protest is about - the ruling party wants to remove some of those legal safeguards.

New Zealand's political system has proportional representation. Maori will most likely be in partial control after their next election.

[-] kadup@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

democracy can be viewed as a dictatorship of the majority

No. If you had even the most basic theoretical background on the subject you'd know how wrong this statement is. Yet people like you dangerously believe this surface level third grade understanding of democratic systems somehow makes them an expert.

[-] nesc@lemmy.cafe 1 points 1 month ago

This is an extremely vague statement that focuses on me instead of showing me and people like me where exactly we are wrong. Majority rule absolutely is common denominator in most democratic systems, so show me how it isn't.

[-] kadup@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's 2025, I'm not your middle school teacher, I'm not going to "show you" anything. Go learn the subject yourself, or don't and keep repeating nonsense as if it were some deep insight, either way I'm fine.

[-] nesc@lemmy.cafe 1 points 1 month ago

Of course you won't. 🤡

[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

As far as I can see 26% of New Zealand's politicians identify as Maori, including the man who was Deputy Prime Minister during this haka.

Indigenous people are not monolithic.

New Zealand also has a carve out of Maori seats which is meaningful because it has proportional representation. This is what Australia could have eventually done with Indigenous Voice but there is no political appetite for it in Australia, plus the Aboriginal and Torres Straits people make up a far smaller percentage.

this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2025
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