More than 35,000 people have protested outside New Zealand’s parliament against a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country’s founding document between British colonisers and Māori people.
The demonstration marked the end of a nine-day hīkoi, or peaceful protest, that had made its way through the country.
The hīkoi swelled dramatically on Tuesday as participants, many draped in colours of the Māori flag, marched through the capital Wellington.
It brought together activists and supporters who opposed the bill, which was introduced by a junior member of the governing coalition.
The bill, introduced by the Act political party, argues that New Zealand should reinterpret and legally define the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, a document that is seen as fundamental to the country’s race relations.
The party’s leader, David Seymour, says that over time the treaty’s core values have led to racial divisions, not unity.
“My Treaty Principles Bill says that I, like everybody else, whether their ancestors came here a thousand years ago, like some of mine did, or just got off the plane at Auckland International Airport this morning to begin their journey as New Zealanders, have the same basic rights and dignity,” says Seymour, who has Māori ancestry.
“Your starting point is to take a human being and ask, what’s your ancestry? What kind of human are you? That used to be called prejudice. It used to be called bigotry. It used to be called profiling and discrimination. Now you’re trying to make a virtue of it. I think that’s a big mistake.”
The proposed bill was met with fierce opposition, leading to one of the biggest protest marches New Zealand has ever seen.
Wellington’s rail network saw what might have been its busiest morning ever as the hīkoi poured through the capital, according to the city’s transport chair Thomas Nash.
The Māori Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō led the delegation into the grounds surrounding the Beehive, New Zealand’s parliament house, as thousands followed behind.
