40,000 Complete Long March to Parliament Against Bill Limiting Unique Maori Rights

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Māori and a large number of non-Māori supporters arrived at the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington on Nov. 19 after a nine-day march (hikoi) from Auckland in the country’s north.
In contrast to protests during the pandemic, there was no hostility from the public, politicians, or police as between 35,000 and 40,000 people arrived to take on another contentious government policy.
During the pandemic, there were several incidents of police using considerable force against individuals, and eventually, the protesters resorted to violence—setting fire to tents and hurling paving stones.
This time, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not meet with the protesters despite earlier saying he could, the National Party sent a delegation of high-ranking Cabinet ministers and the Labour Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins made an appearance along with several of MPs.
For their part, protesters made speeches, sang songs, and formed an orderly queue when it came time to leave and headed to the aptly named Waitangi Park for an impromptu festival of music and food.
This is the largest protest seen outside Parliament—dwarfing the numbers seen in 2022 but also those at the school strike for climate, and a similar march in 2004 against another contentious Bill for Māori which made changes to access and ownership of the seabed and foreshore.
“We’re now winding these policies back, but all of this could be back with the stroke of a pen unless we clarify in law that the Treaty promised equality, not a partnership.”
Opponents counter that Māori are at the bottom of so many statistics, for everything from health and education to prison inmates, that special measures are needed until equality is achieved.
Considered the founding document of New Zealand, the Treaty was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and many Māori chiefs.
For decades, it played no significant role in lawmaking or the courts, however in 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was established to rule on claims by Māori iwi (tribes) and to enact the “intent” of the document.
The need arose because there were two version of the Treaty—one in English and one in Māori—and they do not say exactly the same thing.
For this reason, the Tribunal decides on issues that arise from the differences between the documents.
As a consequence, there is now almost 50 years of case law dealing with land rights issues, as well as unique rights for Māori different from the rest of the population.
It was presented to Māori Party MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who kicked off a display in Parliament that caused the Bill’s first reading stage to be suspended.
He replied that he and other National MPs have made it clear that they won’t support the Bill beyond its first reading and therefore the Bill won’t become law.
He was escorted by police and members of diplomatic security and was met by chants of “kill the Bill” by some of the crowd.
“I went out there to listen,” he said.
“I felt these people have made a long journey to Parliament and we, as parliamentarians, should be there to hear them. I have to say it was quite difficult to hear a lot of what was being said, but nonetheless, I thought it was important to be out there.”
He added he would have liked to have spoken from the stage but had not been invited.
While he didn’t stay for long, Seymour—who is Māori through his mother and a member of the Ngāti Rēhia tribe—did meet with them at greater length, according to their Facebook page. He didn’t, however, win them over to his side of the debate.
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi told the crowd that, “Thanks to [the member for Parliament] Hana, the whole world is watching.”
“My sovereign peoples, we are here, and we’re not going anywhere,” he said. He urged those who identify as Māori to switch from the general electoral roll to the Māori one to increase the potential number of Māori MPs in Parliament.
She said her group were there to “honour” Māori since they have supported her people over the past year, and “we’ve never felt that support before.”
That means politicians, including the prime minister, will go to Waitangi on New Zealand’s national day next year while submissions are still happening.
In recent years, Waitangi has become a flash point for protests, with some leaders refusing to attend, and one (Helen Clark) reduced to tears.
“It’ll be what it will be,” Luxon said. “Let’s be clear—there is a strong depth of emotion on all sides of this debate.
“Yes, [the Bill] is not something I like or support, but we have come to a compromise.”