New Zealand: 42,000 demonstrate support for Maori rights

Tens of thousands of people in New Zealand gathered in front of Parliament in Wellington on Tuesday, to show dissent against a bill they said would dilute Indigenous people's rights.

Chants supporting the Indigenous Maori rang out across New Zealand's capital as at least 42,000 people demonstrated in what is one of the country's largest-ever protests to oppose a bill. 

A nine-day community march — known as hikoi — began in northern New Zealand ahead of Tuesday's rally. People have journeyed to Wellington on foot and in cars to participate in the demonstration.

Over 203,650 people signed a petition opposing the bill, which was presented to the Parliament. Even the city's mayor joined the protest.

"It's different to when I was a child," participant Shanell Bob said. "We're stronger now, our tamariki are stronger now, they know who they are, they're proud of who they are," she said, using the Maori word for children.

Maori people make up 20% of New Zealand's 5.3 million population but havehigher rates of deprivation, incarceration and poor health care outcomes when compared to the rest. 

What is the Treaty Principles Bill?

The Treaty Principles Bill was introduced at the Parliament earlier this month by legislators looking to reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty signed between the British and the Indigenous Maori tribe.

The bill is championed by the libertarian ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the ruling center-right coalition government. The ACT believes the treaty, in its current interpretation, discriminates against non-Indigenous citizens.

The treaty, which lays down how the British and Maori chiefs agreed to govern, still guides policy today.

Though the bill does not have sufficient support in the Parliament to become legislation, protesting citizens say it is necessary for them to raise their voices against the sentiment.

ACT's coalition partners, the National Party and New Zealand First parties, agreed to support the legislation through the first of three readings last week. However, both have now pulled out.

Some of the nation's most respected lawyers have also flagged that the bill would set back race relations by decades.

Scenes from the protest

Bare-chested men draped in traditional feather cloaks and horse riders waved the red, white and black Maori flag.

Protesters gathered on the lawns of the Parliament, playing reggae music and delivering speeches challenging the government to come out and face them. 

ACT leader David Seymour — who authored the bill and is Maori himself but opposes special treatment of Indigenous people — came onto the forecourt of Parliament with a few other politicians.

In response, thousands started chanting "Kill the bill," which was followed by a haka, or Maori war dance.

"I'm here for my grandchildren, my children and for their children," said Hoana Hadfield from Wellington, who was marching in a protest for the first time.

mk/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)