Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. Photo:
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has assured MPs the party is now "more aware and respectful" of Parliament's relationship with the courts.
Parliament's Privileges Committee this week endorsed former Speaker Adrian Rurawhe's response after Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi appeared to breach a suppression order in the House last year.
Rurawhe first took time to consider the matter, before later naming and suspending Waititi for 24 hours, describing his conduct as grossly disorderly.
The punishment - which is one of the most severe available to a Speaker - bars an MP from voting, sitting on a committee or entering the debating chamber, and docks their salary.
Rurawhe also referred the question of how to deal with such matters in future to the Privileges Committee for its consideration. He noted the difficulty of investigating whether Waititi had committed a contempt as an investigation risked compounding any harm.
Speaking to the matter in Parliament on Thursday afternoon, the committee chairperson Judith Collins said free speech was one of Parliament's "fundamental privileges" but it came with a responsibility not to frustrate the court's jurisdiction.
"Comity is often understood as mutual respect and restraint... and the effort exerted by both branches to uphold the other's privileges," she said.
"We consider that the approach adopted by the Speaker in this case was the most appropriate course of action."
Ngarewa-Packer then requested to speak and was allowed to do so.
She told MPs Te Pāti Māori acknowledged the committee's findings, the "principle of comity", and the "utmost constitutional importance" of Parliament's relationship with the courts.
"We acknowledge what suppression orders are about," Ngarewa-Packer said.
"We acknowledge also, as Te Pāti Māori, that if and when suppression orders are lifted, that is the appropriate time to talk about it."
Ngarewa-Packer also used her speech to take a slight dig at recent remarks by Minister Shane Jones where he described a judge as a "communist".
"Given the... comments of politicians calling judges communists, it's probably a good timely reminder for us all politically," Ngarewa-Packer said.
