Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
More than 40,000 people gathered outside New Zealand’s parliament yesterday in the country’s largest ever protest over Māori rights.
Demonstrators oppose a bill that would reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document which established the state of New Zealand between the Māori chiefs and the British crown.
Although not expected to pass, the libertarian party that introduced the bill says the treaty has led to Māori people being prioritised over non-indigenous citizens.
Māori groups say redefining the document is an assault on their rights and inflames tensions with the government. Although part of the coalition behind the bill,
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it wouldn’t pass into law. More than a million Māori people live in New Zealand, making up around 20 per cent of the population.
