Source: US Global Legal Monitor
Please join us on May 28, 2026, at 10 a.m. EDT for our next foreign and comparative law webinar titled: “You Can’t Do That! Rules on Parliamentary Behavior in Australia and New Zealand.”
Please register to attend virtually.
During the past two years, some members of parliament in Australia and New Zealand have faced sanctions for their behavior in the debating chamber. In one significant case, the Privileges Committee of the New Zealand Parliament recommended lengthy suspensions for three members of Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party) for performing a haka during a vote on a controversial bill. Following a subsequent vote in the House of Representatives, two of the members were suspended for 21 days for contempt of Parliament, while the third member was suspended for seven days. Previously, the longest suspension of a member had been for three days in 1987.
In Australia, a senator in the federal parliament was suspended after wearing a burqa in the Australian Senate and refusing to follow orders to remove it or withdraw. A censure motion was passed the following day, resulting in the seven-day suspension.
Both of these incidents gained international media attention.
In our upcoming webinar, foreign law specialist Kelly Buchanan will outline the rules that regulate the conduct of members of the national parliaments of Australia and New Zealand and how they are enforced, including their application in these two cases. In addition, rules that apply to speech or conduct outside of the debating chamber, including in the parliamentary workplace and elsewhere, will also be covered.
The webinar will be presented by Kelly Buchanan. Kelly is a foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress who conducts research and writes reports on the laws of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and independent Pacific Island nations. She holds a Bachelors of Laws with honors and a Bachelor of Arts in social policy from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She has worked for New Zealand government agencies and as an advisor in the New Zealand Parliament.
To learn about other upcoming classes on domestic and foreign law topics, visit the Legal Research Institute. Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].
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