New Zealand Maori leader ejected from parliament for not wearing a necktie

By Praveen Menon

 

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi speaks in Wellington, New Zealand, February 9, 2021 in this still image taken from video. Video taken February 9, 2021. TVNZ/Handout via REUTERS TV

 

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand Maori leader who was ejected from parliament this week for refusing to wear a necktie in the chamber said forcing him to a Western dress code was a breach of his rights and an attempt to suppress indigenous culture.

 

On Tuesday, 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.

 

"It's not about ties, it's about cultural identity, mate," Waititi said as he exited the chamber.

 

The New Zealand parliament is the most inclusive ever elected in the country. Nearly half of the 120 seats in parliament are held by women.

 

A New Zealand Maori leader who was ejected from parliament this week for refusing to wear a necktie in the chamber said forcing him to a Western dress code was a breach of his rights and an attempt to suppress indigenous culture.

 

It has a 11% LGBTQI representation and 21% Maori representation. The parliament saw its first MP of African origin and of Sri Lankan origin after the election last October.

 

Waititi, who has called ties "a colonial noose," was told last year that he would be ejected from the House if he did not wear one. On Tuesday he wore a taonga, a Maori greenstone pendant, instead.

 

Mallard said on Tuesday that while ties were outdated in his view, an overwhelming majority of members asked that the rule be retained in consultations on the issue in the last few months.

 

Writing in the New Zealand Herald on Wednesday, Waititi said his action was not about ties, but about the right of Māori to be Māori, whether in Parliament or in the pub.

 

"I took off the colonial tie as a sign that it continued to colonise, to choke and to suppress out Māori rights that Mallard suggests gives us all equality," Waititi said.

 

"This is about more than just the tie or the taonga, this has everything to do with equality."

 

Asked to comment, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that it was not something she had a strong opinion on, and that she had no objection to someone wearing a tie in parliament or not.

 

"There are much more important issues for all of us," Ardern said.

 

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-10

 

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Once they were warriors!

Neckties! The most useless piece of apparel ever invented, I have a hard time trusting people who wear neckties!

Yep! They look away from the fact of a face full of tatoos, but the guy must have a necktie. Amazing!

Good old NZ, still stuck in the 1960s.

25 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Neckties! The most useless piece of apparel ever invented, I have a hard time trusting people who wear neckties!

yep,.  Just the ludicrous idea of taking a metre of thin material and tying it tight around your neck.  Bizarre. 

Imagine this guy..

 

38 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Neckties! The most useless piece of apparel ever invented, I have a hard time trusting people who wear neckties!

Thank the Croats for it.

 

As for the rest of his claim about dressing style... glasses, hat, business shirt, business jacket... very Maori! What difference would a necktie make in sticking to culture?

But a baby is OK??

 

 

He is 110% correct, tall poppy syndrome !

 

I’m sure he will claim racism.

12 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Thank the Croats for it.

 

As for the rest of his claim about dressing style... glasses, hat, business shirt, business jacket... very Maori! What difference would a necktie make in sticking to culture?

His choice. A necktie shouldn't matter.

1 hour ago, Olmate said:

Once they were warriors!

 

Great film! back to the OP,, storm in a teacup.

10 minutes ago, stevenl said:

His choice. A necktie shouldn't matter.

You are missing the issue. He claims the tie is a symbol of western racism. Yet stuck on top of his clueless head is a western Texas hat. Just another of the clueless muppets we have here in NZ governance along with the clueless leader Ardern.

In the 50 odd years of following politics in the country I have never seen such a clueless, incompetent pack of muppets as we have across all our parties. But then I can take some comfort in that as a western country it could have been worse watching the circus and outright racism and corruption of the US for the last four and a bit years. 

6 minutes ago, Roadman said:

You are missing the issue. He claims the tie is a symbol of western racism. Yet stuck on top of his clueless head is a western Texas hat. Just another of the clueless muppets we have here in NZ governance along with the clueless leader Ardern.

In the 50 odd years of following politics in the country I have never seen such a clueless, incompetent pack of muppets as we have across all our parties. But then I can take some comfort in that as a western country it could have been worse watching the circus and outright racism and corruption of the US for the last four and a bit years. 

I'm not missing it, IMO you're missing it.

 

His choice.

Back in the 1990s as a field engineer I had to wear a tie at the office, but as soon as the meetings were over I got in my company car, took my ie off and threw it in the back where it stayed until I got home on Friday.

 

Nobody could come up with a reason other than "You are a professional engineer, and all professionals wear a tie". Nobody could answer the question, does the tie make me a better engineer? When I came to work in Thailand, same company, same stupid rule. I went out to the market stalls and bought some of the gaudiest, flashiest and most revolting ties I could find and wore them to the office at Monday morning meetings.

 

My bosses didn't like that either and were definitely unimpressed when I said if they wanted me to wear proper ties I would, but I would expense them as essential business equipment.

 

A tie is useful as a sling or a tourniquet in an emergency but useless for every day wear.

 

 

20 minutes ago, Roadman said:

He claims the tie is a symbol of western racism

More like western stupidity!

6 minutes ago, stevenl said:

I'm not missing it, IMO you're missing it.

 

His choice.

Wrong. It’s not his choice. Regardless of what you or I think the rules of the NZ Parliament are a necktie must be worn.

That is when he applied his clueless western racist symbolism. 
If he doesn’t like the rules then petition for change as the democratic system that brought him to his privileged position allows him to do instead of pushing his constant carryons with western racism and white privilege. 

I have no idea what the dress code is in the New Zealand parliment but if it calls for a neck tie

this guy is wrong.

If he would work on a construction site they would  make him wear safety gear(gloves,hardhat,safety shoes) in traffic he will have to wear a seatbelt and on a motorbike he would have to wear a helmet!

This is also a workplace so there may be a dress code.

I remember the Dutch prins Bernhard who took of his tie and shocked every one but that is another topic.

 

1 minute ago, PatOngo said:

More like western stupidity!

I am not disagreeing. 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

New Zealand Maori leader ejected from parliament for not wearing a necktie

Like it or not, if there is a dress code then people participating should respect this code, I myself have be refused admission to places for this very point but I had to respect their point.

1 hour ago, Olmate said:

Once they were warriors!

Now are bouncers and bikies.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Waititi, who has called ties "a colonial noose," was told last year that he would be ejected from the House if he did not wear one. On Tuesday he wore a taonga, a Maori greenstone pendant, instead.

So he's ok with a culturally-appropriate noose...

Anyway, it's just a storm in a tie-cup!

1 hour ago, Olmate said:

Once they were warriors!

Now they are among the perpetually offended 

2 hours ago, AndyFoxy said:

I’m sure he will claim racism.

And he would be right.

1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

Neckties! The most useless piece of apparel ever invented, I have a hard time trusting people who wear neckties!

No ties on Pat. 

 

Try getting in to the members in Melbourne during spring carnival without a tie. They won’t let you in.
 

Even most of the plebs outside the members wear a tie these days.
 

It confuses me why I have to wear a tie to watch a horse race, but not at the footy or cricket.
There is a pay off though, all the shielas tart themselves up and get blind drunk which gets them in the mood, similar to weddings, which doesn’t happen at the cricket and footy. 

 

 

 

 

I had a similar problem at university in 1968.

That's 53 years ago.

The world is evolving backwards.

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"It's not about ties, it's about cultural identity, mate," Waititi said as he exited the chamber.

I'm sure, it is. That's why you are wearing a cowboy hat..., right?

54 minutes ago, Geoffggi said:

Like it or not, if there is a dress code then people participating should respect this code, I myself have be refused admission to places for this very point but I had to respect their point.

Its not a private business place. 

 

He is correct, the rule will be changed.

QUOTE from OP:

Nearly half of the 120 seats in parliament are held by women.

 

Are they wearing ties?