Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke, New Zealand's youngest MP, gained attention last year when she performed a haka during her first speech in parliament. She attracted the spotlight again after performing the traditional Maori dance once more and tearing up a copy of a controversial bill during a session in the House.

The 22-year-old Te Pati Maori MP disrupted the voting on the Treaty Principles Bill by tearing up a copy of the legislation and then executing a haka, as shown in a widely shared video. Speaker Gerry Brownlee suspends the House for a moment after the members of the public gallery join her. The law, which aims to alter parts of the Treaty of Waitangi's principles, was presented last week by the ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the nation's centre-right coalition government. Many Maori are against this move.

The Treaty, which was first signed in 1840 by the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs, outlines the terms of their agreement to govern. The way the document's clauses are interpreted continues to influence laws and policies today. However, many Maori and those who support them believe that the measure violates the rights of the nation's indigenous people, who comprise about 20% of its 5.3 million inhabitants. Hundreds of people protested by embarking on a nine-day march, known as hikoi, from the north of New Zealand to Wellington, the country's capital, as the proposed bill passed its first reading. 

As part of the coalition agreement, the National Party and New Zealand First, coalition partners, are only endorsing the legislation through the first of three readings. Both parties have stated that they will not back its passage into law. Before departing for Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters, "You do not go negate, with a single stroke of a pen, 184 years of debate and discussion, with a bill that I think is very simplistic."