D Dawson

Parliament is the highest court in the land and last week it was highjacked by Te Pati Māori when Act leader David Seymour introduced his Treaty Principles Bill seeking equal rights for every New Zealander.

I do not believe Te Pati Māori, the Labour Party or the Green Party want equal rights for all New Zealanders and they certainly do not believe in freedom of speech.

Since the introduction of MMP, the standard of behaviour in Parliament has fallen far below the standards expected of elected officials.

I am very disappointed with the Speaker of the House, Jerry Brownlee, who has allowed behaviour and dress code standards to slip and, last week, lost control of Parliament becasue he chose not to discipline an uruly gallery by giving multiple warnings to keep quiet.

All three opposition parties tired to kill the Bill.

Labour MP Willy Jackson acused David Seymour of lying and refused to apologise and was thrown out by the Speaker of the House.

Later on, when the vote was being tallied on Mr Seymour’s bill, Te Pati Māori MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke instigated a haka while holding up the Bill and tore it in half.

The next thing that happened was all Te Pati Māori MPs stood up to do the haka, including their supporters in the gallery.

Te Pati Māori co-leaders Rawiti Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa- Packer left their seats, followed by Ms Maipi-Clarke and crossed the floor to aggressively intimidate and threaten Mr Seymour with a haka.

With no sigh of any security, they were left to finish their haka while the Speaker of the House looked gobsmacked. He then had no option but to suspend the house and empty the gallery to gain control.

When Parliament re-opened 25 mintues later, the Treaty Principles Bill was passed and Mr Maipi-Clarke was accused of disrespecting Parliament by the Speaker and was suspended from Parliament for 24 hours, a day’s pay docked and was  referred to the priviledges committe.

However, the Speaker has chosen not to discipline Mr Waititi or Ms Ngarewa Packer because he believed Ms Maipi-Clarke instigated the haka.

The Speaker should have strictly disciplined all three Te Pati Māori MPs as it was clearly showing on TV that the first two to leave their seats and cross the floor towards Mr Seymour were Mr Waititi, then Ms Ngarewa-Packer.

Where I was Parliament’s security last week?

It is the job of Parliament’s speaker to uphold the standards of Parliament and enforce discipline with the help of security, if it is to continue being the highest court in New Zealand.

Barry Soper, a senior reporter at Parliament, said the behaviour of Te Pati Māori last week was the worst he had seen in 40 years.

Mr Waititi said he wants Māori sovereignty for his party, which is being promoted by the media and the hikoi.

Parliament are the lawmakers in New Zealand, not the Waitangi Tribunal.

Equal rights for all.