- Title: New Zealand parliament allows Maori MP back in after ejection over necktie row
- Date: 10th February 2021
- Summary: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (FEBRUARY 10, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAORI PARTY CO-LEADER, RAWIRI WAITITI, SAYING: "Today was a big day for Maori. The noose has been taken off our necks, and we are now able to sing our songs." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAORI PARTY CO-LEADER, RAWIRI WAITITI, SAYING: "Maori have not been treated equal in its own country and Indigenous peoples all over the world have been subjected to discrimination due racist systems that keep our peoples in second place. So this win for us was about ensuring that our people no longer are treated like second class citizens in their own country. We must act as number one. Number one in our minds, number one in our hearts, because if they take your mind and your heart that is the biggest confiscation any coloniser can take from you." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAORI PARTY CO-LEADER, RAWIRI WAITITI, SAYING: "This government and this parliament sits on stolen land but it has been established because my ancestors consented to the establishment of a government and so this is a push back to those who uphold this colonised view that we give our sovereignty to a sovereign who lives 12 000 miles away from New Zealand, lives in England actually."
- Embargoed: 24th February 2021 06:11
- Keywords: Maori New Zealand Rawiri Waititi Trevor Mallard parliament politics
- Location: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
- City: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
- Country: New Zealand
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002DZ26KP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A New Zealand Maori who was ejected from parliament this week for refusing to wear a necktie was allowed to speak in parliament on Wednesday (February 10) without a necktie, despite previous warnings that he would not be able to enter the chamber.
Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, who has previously referred to a necktie as a 'colonial noose', told Reuters that "today was a big day for Maori, the noose has been taken off our necks, and we are now able to sing our songs."
On Tuesday (February 9), Speaker Trevor Mallard twice prevented Rawiri Waititi from asking questions in the debating chamber, insisting that MPs could only ask a question if they were wearing a tie. When Waititi continued with his question after being stopped a second time, Mallard ordered him to leave. Local media reported that Speaker Mallard agreed to a truce on the necktie conflict until it could be discussed further.
The current New Zealand parliament is the most inclusive ever elected in the country. Nearly half of the 120 seats in parliament are held by women and it has a 21% Maori representation.
(Production: Cordelia Hsu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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