Maori lawmakers vehemently oppose the bill, viewing it as a direct threat to the hard-won rights of their community. By performing the haka in Parliament, they expressed their dis

New Zealand's parliament was brought to a temporary halt by MPs performing a haka, amid anger over a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country's founding treaty with Māori people.

New Zealand’s parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori.