Rua had become a political embarrassment, and there arose the need by the Government to make an example of this man widely seen as an agitator, hoping a crackdown would discourage other Māori activists. The mainstream Anglican church encouraged the Government to suppress Rua Kenana. In 1907, the church passed a motion that supported "the recent action of the Government in the direction of the suppression of tohungism (traditional Māori healing), and trusts that it may be possible for the Church to make more aggressive action among the tribes which are specifically affected by this evil." Authorities saw Rua Kenana as a disruptive influence and targeted him with the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, which banned traditional Māori healers from using herbs and other healing methods which were part of their traditional medicine. The Tohunga Suppression Act was designed to neutralise powerful traditional Māori leaders and tailor-made as a political weapon specifically against Rua Kenana and his movement of dissenting Māori.