Tens of thousands protest New Zealand Maori rights bill

Although the bill is unlikely to pass, opponents say bid to reverse progress for Maori threatens to divide society.

Tens of thousands have rallied outside New Zealand’s Parliament to protest against a bill that critics say would hurt the rights of Maori people.

An estimated 42,000 people demonstrated on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to reject the Treaty Principles Bill, which was introduced earlier this month by the libertarian ACT New Zealand party.

While the legislation, proposed by the junior partner in the centre-right coalition government, lacks the support needed to pass, critics worry that it threatens to divide society. They say it seeks to reverse decades of policies aimed at empowering Maori, who make up about 20 percent of the 5.3 million population but have higher levels of deprivation and incarceration and worse health outcomes than the broader population.

Tuesday’s protest was preceded by a nine-day march – or hikoi in the Maori language – that began in the country’s far north, with thousands joining rallies in towns and cities as marchers travelled south on foot and in cars to Wellington.

Some in the crowd were dressed in traditional attire with feathered headgear and cloaks and carried traditional Maori weapons. Others wore T-shirts emblazoned with Toitu te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty). Hundreds carried the Maori national flag.

The legislation seeks to reinterpret the 184-year-old Treaty of Waitangi, a document granting Maori tribes broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests in return for ceding governance to the British.

The document still guides legislation and policy today, with rulings by the courts and a separate Maori tribunal expanding Maori rights and privileges over the decades.

ACT’s coalition partners, the National Party and the New Zealand First, agreed to support the legislation through the first of three readings. However, both have said they will not support it to become legislation.

But critics, such as former conservative Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, have said just putting it forward threatens to divide New Zealand.

Parliamentarians first voted on the bill on Thursday, during which legislator Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke from the Te Pati Maori party ripped up a copy of the bill and led her colleagues in a traditional haka dance.