The Conversation

Māori Party co-leader talks Indigenous rights, suspension after haka protest

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By DW Gibson

Published October 30, 2025 at 2:25 PM HST

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, right, with HPR's DW Gibson at Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Late last year, drama unfolded in New Zealand's Parliament after a few of its members participated in a haka, a traditional Māori dance, on the floor.

The moment was in protest of a bill that sought to redefine New Zealand's founding treaty with the Māori people. The bill was eventually voted down, and the treaty still stands.

Parliament suspended three of its members, including Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, the co-leader of the Māori Party.

On Wednesday, HPR talked to Ngarewa-Packer about her suspension in June and the goals of the Māori Party.

New Zealand lawmakers, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, center at second row, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, center in front row, and Rawiri Waititi, bottom right, who received lengthy suspensions from Parliament for a protest haka they performed last November, watch as other legislators debate their proposed bans in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, June 5, 2025.

Ngarewa-Packer was in town to give a talk at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus. She’ll be in conversation with Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua to address “Indigenous Politics in an Age of Peril.”

The talk takes place at 6:30 p.m. in the Art Building Auditorium on the UH Mānoa campus on Thursday and is part of the Better Tomorrow speaker series. For more information, click here.

This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 30, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.