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Prompted by a surging Maori protest movement, for the past 50 years the courts, MPs and the Waitangi Tribunal – a permanent body set up to adjudicate treaty matters – have navigated the differences in the treaty’s versions and tried to redress breaches by constructing the meaning of the treaty’s principles in their decisions.
Maori rights have been protected by the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, signed between the British Crown and NZ’s Maori leaders.Credit: Getty Images
Those principles are intended to be flexible but are commonly described as partnership with the Crown, protection of Maori interests and participation in decision-making.
While Maori remain disenfranchised in many ways, the weaving of treaty recognition through law and attempts at redress have changed the fabric of society since then. Maori language has experienced a renaissance, and everyday words are now commonplace – even among non-Maori. Policies have been enacted to target disparities Maori commonly face.
Billions of dollars in settlements have been negotiated between the Crown and tribes for breaches of the treaty, particularly the widespread expropriation of Maori land and natural resources.
Why is there fresh debate?
Some New Zealanders, however, are unhappy with redress. They have found a champion in MP David Seymour, the leader of a minor libertarian political party, ACT New Zealand, which won less than 9 per cent of the vote in last year’s election – but scored outsized influence for its agenda as part of the governing coalition. He is minister for regulation.
Hikoi members protest the bill introduced by MP David Seymour, leader of ACT NZ.Credit: Getty Images
Seymour’s proposed law would set specific definitions of the treaty’s principles, and would apply them to all New Zealanders, not only to Maori. He says piecemeal construction of the treaty’s meaning has left a vacuum and has given Maori special treatment.
His bill is widely opposed – by left and right-wing former prime ministers, 40 of the country’s most senior lawyers, and thousands of Maori and non-Maori New Zealanders who are walking the length of the country in protest.
Seymour’s bill is not expected to pass its final reading. It cleared a first vote on Thursday due to a political deal, but most of those who endorsed it are not expected to do so again. The reading of the bill was disrupted by a haka performance by Maori MPs, video of which went viral around the world.
Detractors say the bill threatens constitutional upheaval and would remove rights promised in the treaty that are now enshrined in law. Critics have also lambasted Seymour – who is Maori – for provoking backlash against Indigenous people.
Why are protesters marching?
Peaceful walking protests are a Maori tradition and have occurred before at crucial times during the national conversation about treaty rights.
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Police in the country of 5 million said more than 35,000 people thronged parliament’s grounds on Tuesday after a march through the central city that shut down streets and drew thousands more onlookers, many holding signs supporting the protesters.
As those outside parliament waved flags, sang Maori songs and listened to speeches, crowds who could not squeeze onto the grounds spilled onto the surrounding streets, which remained closed to traffic.
Many are marching to oppose Seymour’s bill. But others are protesting a range of policies from the centre-right government on Maori affairs – including an order, prompted by Seymour, that public agencies should no longer target policies to specifically redress Maori inequities.
AP