Summarised by Centrist
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been named one of the world’s “most influential rising stars” by Time magazine, though the recognition appears to rest more on performance than policy.
The 23-year-old MP was praised by former US Interior Secretary and Democrat Deb Haaland, who wrote that Maipi-Clarke “shook the world” when she performed a haka in Parliament during the debate on the Treaty Principles Bill.
Haaland called her a “link in the chain of activists who sacrificed for us,” celebrating her “Indigenous power and pride.”
It was the same haka that saw Maipi-Clarke suspended from Parliament for seven days for behaviour deemed intimidating. She avoided the 21-day suspension given to her co-leaders after submitting a letter of “contrition”, effectively an apology, to the Speaker.
Maipi-Clarke was previously named One Young World Politician of the Year, an honour recognising politicians aged 18 to 35 who “use their positions to create positive change.” Yet it remains unclear what concrete outcomes her activism has delivered for Māori beyond spectacle.
Her suspension followed Parliament’s finding that the haka protest could have “the effect of intimidating other members of the House.” Despite this, Time described the display as evidence that “young people are not just leaders of tomorrow, they are also taking the helm and fighting for the future they deserve.”
