WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES! New Zealand’s parliament had backed down in a dispute with a Maori MP who refused to wear a tie.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!
I was just about to post the article “Ejected from Parliament” when a news item appeared on the BBC Asia website. “New Zealand parliament says ties not mandatory after Maori MP ejected” the headline said.
The report said New Zealand’s parliament had backed down in a dispute with a Maori MP who refused to wear a tie.
“Rawiri Waititi was allowed to address the chamber, a day after being ejected for breaking its dress code by wearing a traditional pendant called hei-tiki instead of a tie.”
Ties would no longer be required as part of “appropriate business attire” the parliament speaker said.
“A win for the many generations to come,” was Mr. Waititi’s response to the decision.
“This was always about the greater cause of the subjugation and assimilation that Maori have had to face for the past 181 years,” he added.
Speaker of the House, Mr. Trevor Mallard said that following a majority decision by the Standing Orders Committee ties would no longer be required.
On Tuesday Rawiri Waititi was “ejected from Parliament” because of a rule that male MPs can only ask questions in the debating chamber if wearing a tie.”
But things changed dramatically in a relatively short period of time! When Mr. Waititi returned to the House on Wednesday he was given permission to ask a supplementary question while wearing his Maori pendant, he told the BBC.
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