Judith Collins: Privileges Committee Chair on the suspensions of Te Pati Māori

• Judith Collins calls for “civility” in Parliament after suspending three MPs and attacks on female MPs.
• Collins praised Act MP Brooke van Velden for standing up for herself after using the c-word.
• Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi face 21-day suspensions without pay.

Parliament Privileges Committee chair Judith Collins is calling for “civility” in the House after the decision to suspend three MPs without pay and attacks on female MPs.

Collins said she was proud of Act MP Brooke van Velden for “standing up for herself” yesterday when she stirred major controversy by using the c-word in the House while attacking Labour for not condemning a column that used the word “c***” against female ministers.

Yesterday, her committee’s decision was handed down to three Te Pāti Māori MPs after last year’s controversial haka.

The committee recommended 21-day suspensions for co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, saying they should be “severely censured”.

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer face a heavy censure.

It also recommended a seven-day suspension for MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke.

Collins told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning the suspension also meant the MPs would go without pay during this time.

She confirmed the suspension would be carried out consecutively.

Collins said the committee had been “collegial” through the six-month-long process and only butted heads in the end when it came to handing down the penalties.

“Even [the Green Party and the Labour Party] are differing from each other.

“It’s a very severe penalty compared to what has been awarded in the past, it’s not only a suspension from the House, it’s a suspension of salary.

“But then, we haven’t seen that level of behaviour before.”

She said the committee’s decision would be tabled today before it was voted for on Tuesday. She said she expected it to pass.

On Brooke van Velden’s use of the c-bomb in the House yesterday, Collins said she was proud of the Act MP for standing up for herself and the other women in the House being attacked.

“I would say to Brooke, that I wouldn’t have used the word myself but I did feel that she did stand up for herself and all the rest of us and I am waiting for someone of the left persuasion… one MP, just one, to come out and say it’s not okay to attack someone just because you are not okay with what they do."

She called reading the language in the column, which was written by Andrea Vance and published in the Sunday Star-Times, one of the “lowest points” in Parliament she has seen in her 23 years of service.

“That and what happened on the 14th of November in Parliament.

“It’s just the sort of behaviour towards each other that is despicable.”

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