STORY: :: Maori lawmakers stage a haka to protest controversial New Zealand Indigenous rights bill

:: November 14, 2024

:: Wellington, New Zealand

The ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the country’s centre-right coalition government, last week unveiled the bill that aims to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

It was first signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs and sets out how the two sides agreed to govern. The interpretation of the clauses in the document continues to guide legislation and policy today.

The proposed bill passed its first reading on Thursday and will now be sent to a select committee.

Hundreds have embarked on a nine-day march, or hikoi, from New Zealand’s north to the national capital Wellington in protest against the legislation, staging rallies in towns and cities as they move south.

The controversial legislation is seen by many Maori and their supporters as undermining the rights of the country’s indigenous people, who make up about 20% of the population of 5.3 million people.