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New Zealand’s parliament has backed down after expelling a Maori politician because he refused to wear a tie, allowing him to speak without an accessory it called a “colonial rope”.
The problem erupted yesterday when the co-leader of the Maori Party, Rawiri Waititi, was expelled from the parliamentary debating chamber for not wearing the required clothing during question time.
Waititi, who has a “te moko” tattoo all over his face and dons a black cowboy hat, argued that he was wearing legitimate Maori business attire, a traditional pendant.
“It’s not about ties, it’s about cultural identity,” he said as he left.
Indigenous Maori make up about 15% of New Zealand’s five million people, but they are overrepresented in statistics like poverty and incarceration, and many culpable injustices date back to the days of British colonial rule.
Waititi said the tie shows that race relations have yet to improve in the South Pacific nation.
“This is a violation of the rights of indigenous peoples, we must (we) have the freedom to express our cultural identity in a space like this,” he said.
New Zealand Maori Party leader Rawiri Waititi was expelled from parliament for refusing to wear a tie on camera and said that forcing him to follow a Western dress code was a violation of his rights and an attempt to suppress indigenous culture. Read more: https://t.co/8HIlOYKpXb pic.twitter.com/W9foD1awPY
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 10, 2021
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had no objection to members of parliament not wearing ties, but added that “there are much more important issues for all of us.”
After strictly enforcing the dress code yesterday, Speaker of Parliament Trevor Mallard took a more relaxed approach when a tieless Mr Waititi spoke today.
Rather than ousting the Maori leader, Mallard simply allowed him to ask a question without hindrance, then said that a permanent rule change was being considered.
Waititi was elected to parliament for the first time last year and in his inaugural speech recounted the story of an ancestor who was unjustly hanged by the British for murder.
“I will adorn myself with the treasures of my ancestors and I will take the colonial rope from my neck to sing my song,” he said as he took off his tie.
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