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.

The Focus of the March

The primary target of the march—which departed from the very top of the North Island and bottom of the South—was the libertarian ACT Party’s Treaty Principles Bill, which aims to clarify decades of legal rulings so that all peoples are treated the same under the law.

“At the last election, Kiwis voted to stop divisive policies like co-governance, Three Waters, the Māori Health authority, race-based waitlists, and two different chief executives at every government department,” said ACT Leader David Seymour on X.

“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.

Other protestors, including schoolchildren, joined the protest over grievances such as the government’s economic austerity policies, and support for Palestine.

How Unique Maori Laws and Rights Evolved

The ACT Party, which governs in coalition with the much larger centre-right National Party and nationalist NZ First, has pushed to clearly define the scope of the three clauses of the Treaty of Waitangi.

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.

As tribes began to make claims on areas outside their traditional areas—one decision found that Māori had an interest in radio spectrum, even though it was unheard of in 1840—opposition to this approach began to mount.

200,000 Sign Petition Against Bill

Meanwhile, rallygoers presented a petition calling on the government to abandon the Treaty Bill, signed by over 200,000 people.

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.

Video of Maipi-Clarke tearing up the Bill and performing the ceremonial Haka, along with her fellow party members and people in the public gallery, has been played millions of times online (200 million on TikTok alone).

Prime Minister Questioned on Why He Did Not Meet Protestors

When the House met in the afternoon, the first question of the day was from the Green Party’s Tamatha Paul, who asked Prime Minister Luxon how he could say his government represents all New Zealanders when he did not go outside and meet the marchers.

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.

“New Zealanders can trust us that we’re going to deliver outcomes for Māori and non-Māori,” he said.

ACT Leader Faces Protestors

ACT party Leader David Seymour did go outside to face protesters, which he said was “important for democracy.”

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.

“Get on the Māori roll. We have to make this a one-term government,” he said.

Palestinian Representative Joins In

Protesters also heard from Nadia Abu-Shanab, who spoke on behalf of Justice for Palestine.

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.”

She said many Palestinians can’t go home and New Zealand is the “best place to be indigenous” because of Māori.

Committee to Receive Public Submissions on the Bill

The Treaty Principles Bill is now before Parliament’s Justice Select Committee, which will accept submissions for the next six months—an unusually long period by current standards when some Bills are only open for a few days.

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.”