The veteran broadcaster says he’s “never seen hatred like that in Parliament before”.
The first reading of the contentious Treaty Principles Bill was held in Parliament today.
The bill passed its first reading, but not before a haka disrupted it, causing a brief suspension of Parliament.
Newstalk ZB’s Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan he’d “never seen anything like it in more than 40 years of covering Parliament”.
Veteran Newstalk ZB broadcaster Barry Soper says he’s “never seen hatred like that in Parliament before” during repeated disruptions to the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in the House today.
The highly contentious bill passed its first reading today despite a brief suspension of Parliament. Soper said he’d never seen a spectale like it before in his career.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, in more than 40 years of covering Parliament, the Speaker lost control ... And it’s by no fault of his own,” he told Newstalk ZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan.
A haka was launched by Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke during the House’s official vote.
She was joined by her party co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, as well as MPs from Labour and the Greens and members of the public gallery.
Newstalk ZB’s senior political correspondent said Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee lost control during the haka.
“Once the haka concluded, Brownlee suspended the House briefly before returning about 20 minutes later to name Maipi-Clarke and deem her actions “grossly disorderly,” Soper said.
“She led off what was going into the body of Parliament and towards David Seymour. Rawiri Waititi was right there with her and so was Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.”
“They went right up to [Act leader] David Seymour’s desk,” he said. “It was much worse than what Julie Anne Genter did with Matt Doocey.”
Members of Te Pāti Māori perform a haka in front of Act MPs during the first reading of the Treaty Principles bill in Parliament. Photo / Adam Pearse
Speaker Brownlee named Maipi-Clarke and Parliament agreed to suspend her from the debating chamber for 24 hours. Seymour called for the Speaker to take action against the other MPs involved.
“Parliament can’t be like that ... It became a mess and out of order,” Soper said.
It wasn’t the only clash in Parliament today; earlier Labour MP Willie Jackson was kicked out after calling Seymour “a liar”.
Seymour had defended his bill, arguing New Zealanders should have a say on the rules they live under.
“Even people who are convinced this bill will not become law are determined to stop it being discussed, and that’s why you hear so much outspoken criticism of it,” said Seymour.
“They know that whether or not this bill becomes law in this term of Parliament, it’s only a matter of time before its logic prevails.”
Following this, Labour MP Willie Jackson responded by warning the bill would start a “a six-month hate tour”.
“This is to you, David Seymour, you fuel hatred and misinformation in this country, you bring out the worst in New Zealanders. You should be ashamed of yourself and you are a liar,” Jackson said.
Soper told du Plessis Allan that remark resulted in Jackson getting “kicked out of the House”.
But it wasn’t the only strong speech in Parliament, with Te Pāti Māori co-leader Waititi saying the Treaty of Waitangi was “superior to any person and any law ever created in this House”.
“Act are seen to be pulling the strings and running the country like the KKK with a swipecard to the Beehive,” he said.
“Article 1 gave consent to Pākehā to govern over themselves. They’ve assumed governance over us. When will we begin to assume governance ourselves?”
Soper warned, “That sort of rhetoric is worrying, to say the least.”
The political correspondent told du Plessis Allan he’d “never seen hatred like that in Parliament before, with the Speaker throwing up his hands ... and walking out”.
