AUCKLAND, New Zealand – A Maori politician who says a tie is a ‘colonial snare’ appeared in New Zealand’s parliament this week. He was immediately discharged from the room, emphasizing the tension between the remnants of New Zealand colonial history and indigenous culture.
Politician Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of the center-left Maori party, wore a hei-tiki, a traditional pendant, around his neck in the room on Tuesday. In a heated exchange over the official dress code with Trevor Mallard, the speaker of the House, Mr. Waititi said he was wearing “Maori business attire.”
When he left the room, Mr. Waititi for mr. Mallard said, “It’s not about ties, it’s about cultural identity, mate.”
The whole episode, which resounded outside the borders of New Zealand, had a subcommittee chaired by Mr. Urged Mallard to debate whether the hei-tiki is a business attire, and to consider abandoning the bond rule.
Nations in the region have struggled for years with indigenous issues, and some are trying to reverse or restore discriminatory policies enshrined in their laws and traditions. To acknowledge that it is still grappling with a disgraceful past and the abuse of indigenous peoples, Australia last year adapted its national anthem to cut the word ‘young’ from the phrase ‘because we are young and free’ – a nod to the implicit exclusion of the indigenous presence before the country’s founding. But the country still celebrates Australian Day, which commemorates the arrival of the British in 1788, while indigenous peoples refer to it as Invasion Day.
New Zealand, in turn, has taken an assertive approach to dealing with its colonial past and is one of the few countries with a treaty that regulates the redistribution of indigenous territories. For decades, the indigenous people of New Zealand were prevented from respecting their traditions. But the Maori language – which New Zealand’s indigenous people have long been unable to speak – undergoing something of a renaissance. Maori greetings are now common in public broadcasting, traffic signs are becoming increasingly bilingual, and many young Maoris have enrolled in government-sponsored Maori language courses in an effort to regain their heritage.
But archaic rules and mores are still embedded in many aspects of politics.
In 2016, Nanaia Mahuta was the first woman in parliament to display a moko kauae, a sacred face tattoo. Toe me. Mahuta became foreign minister last year, a conservative New Zealand writer Olivia Pierson criticized the tattoo as inappropriate for a diplomat, calling it “the pinnacle of ugly, uncivilized weeks”. Me. Pierson’s remarks were quickly condemned and her books were picked up at at least one major New Zealand retailer.
Maori form about 21 percent of parliament with 120 members in five parties. With his distinctive cowboy hat and a traditional full-face tattoo, known as ta moko, Mr. Waititi – one of the two members of the Maori party elected to parliament last year – has a visible Maori presence in New Zealand power halls. During his first speech in parliament in December, he was asked to leave the room after trying to remove his tie and saying, “Take the noose around my neck so I can sing my song.”
According to parliamentary rules, male politicians must wear jackets and ties in the debate room. Mr. Waititi has been warned that he may be evicted again if he continues to violate clothing. After leaving the room on Tuesday, Mr. Waititi wrote on Twitter, “We have indicated that this party will not be subject to or united with dated colonial rules.”
In an upgraded article published in The New Zealand Herald on Wednesday, Mr. Waititi further expressed his choice as a sign of resistance. “I pulled out the colonial tie as a sign that it continued to colonize, suffocate and suppress Maori rights,” he wrote. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The requirement for men to carry in the room dates back to Britain’s colonial rule of New Zealand. (The equivalent rule was effectively scrapped in Britain in 2017.) Mallard, a member of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s ruling Labor Party, was asked late last year to make the rule disappear. But after consulting with members, Mr. Mallard told local news media that there was “very little support for change”, although he “personally hated the practice”.
Me. Ardern distanced herself from the dispute over neckwear.
“This is not something I have a very strong opinion on,” she told reporters on Tuesday. ‘There are much more important issues. I’m sure it can be solved. I don’t think most New Zealanders care about tires. ”
The tie, which has its origins in the 17th-century crate that was once worn as military clothing, seems to be going out of fashion in many parts of the world. In 2006, the Men’s Dress Furnishings Association, a 60-year-old trading group representing American tire makers, announced it would disband in the midst of declining sales.
By Wednesday afternoon, it appeared that a temporary ceasefire was in place when Mr. Mallard, the house’s speaker, Mr. Waititi allowed to ask questions in parliament without a tie around his neck.
Later that evening, Mr. Mallard announced that the tie rule was no more.
“The committee did not reach consensus, but a majority of the committee was in favor of removing the requirement for bindings,” he said. Mallard wrote in a statement. He concluded: ‘As a speaker, I am guided by the discussion and decision of the committee, and therefore ties will no longer be considered as part of’ appropriate business attire ‘. “