New Zealand's parliament was brought to a temporary halt by MPs performing a haka, amid anger over a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country's founding treaty with Māori people.

A massive haka started by Te Pāti Māori MPs and joined by those in the public galleries forced the Speaker to suspend Parliament and interrupted the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill. The haka came as parties were casting their votes on the bill,

As parliamentarians gathered for a preliminary vote on the bill on Thursday, Te Pāti Māori MPs physically tore a copy of the bill, stood and began a haka.

New Zealand's parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori.