New Zealand parliamentarian Chloe Swarbrick was ordered to leave parliament on Tuesday during a heated debate over the government’s response to Palestine.

An urgent debate was called after the centre-right government said on Monday it was weighing up its position on whether to recognise a Palestinian state.

Swarbrick, who is co-leader of the Green Party, said New Zealand was a laggard and an outlier and the lack of decision was appalling before calling on some government members to support a bill to sanction Israel for its war crimes.“ The bill was proposed by her party in March and is supported by all opposition parties.

“If we find six of 68 Government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history,” said Swarbrick.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee said that statement was completely unacceptable and she had to withdraw it and apologise. When she refused, Swarbrick was ordered to leave parliament.

Brownlee later clarified Swarbrick could return on Wednesday but if she still refused to apologise she would again be removed from parliament.