New Zealand’s male MPs will no longer be required to wear ties in parliament, following a row over the item of clothing that involved the speaker ejecting Māori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi from the chamber for refusing to wear one.
New Zealand parliament speaker Trevor Mallard made the announcement after a meeting on Wednesday of the standing orders committee held to discuss the issue and hear a submission from the Māori party.
“The committee did not reach a consensus but the majority of the committee was in favour of removing the requirement for ties to form part of ‘appropriate business attire’ for males,” he said. “As Speaker, I am guided by the committee’s discussion, and therefore ties will no longer be considered required as part of ‘appropriate business attire’.”
Waititi was ejected from the debating chamber by Mallard on Tuesday after saying he had chosen to wear cultural dress – “Māori business attire” – to the chamber, with a pounamu or greenstone necklace in place of a necktie.
Mallard said Waititi he would not be called on to speak if he was not wearing a tie. When Waititi continued to speak, he was ejected from the chamber.
Waititi has previously described ties as a “colonial noose” and last year he was ejected on the same grounds.
Mallard last week decided to keep the requirement that male MPs wear ties in parliament’s debating chamber, after asking members of parliament to write to him about what constituted appropriate business attire in the House.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has kept her distance from the debate, saying there were more important issues to discuss, but did say: “I don’t think New Zealanders care about ties.”