Māori Haka Protest Against Treaty Bill in NZ Parliament, March to Capital Continues

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Facts

  • Māori members of New Zealand's parliament and people in the gallery have staged a haka — a traditional Māori dance — to protest against a bill that would narrow the interpretation of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi between Māori chiefs and the British Crown.[1][2]
  • The incident took place on Thursday as lawmakers were in session to vote on the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, causing parliament to be briefly suspended.[3][4]
  • Two Te Pāti Māori members of parliament were subsequently suspended from the chamber for one day, including Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who ripped up her copy of the bill and began the haka.[3][4]
  • The proposed legislation passed its first reading, 68 to 54, as National and NZ First backed the bill due to their coalition agreement with ACT. A second reading vote will take place after a public consultation process expected to take six months.[3][5][6]
  • Meanwhile, police in New Zealand said that an estimated 10K marched through Rotorua on Thursday as part of a Māori hīkoi heading to the capital, Wellington.[4][7]
  • Protesters departed from Te Rerenga Wairua/Cape Rēinga in the far north on Monday, planning to reach Wellington by next Tuesday. On Wednesday, an estimated 5K people marched through Auckland.[8][9]

Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]The Spectator (UK), [3]The Guardian, [4]The Telegraph, [5]NZ Herald, [6]The Post, [7]Stuff, [8]BBC News and [9]Verity.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Te Ao Māori News. As pro-Māori protesters continue to march to Wellington, their representatives in parliament delivered a powerful and historic message in defiance of an outrageous attempt to erase Māori rights enshrined in New Zealand's founding document. This is an illegitimate bill that hopefully will fail its second reading.
  • Right narrative, as provided by News Talk ZB. Māori lawmakers turned New Zealand parliament into a circus with their premeditated and theatrical performance, scoring a political win against the Labour Party and dimming their hopes to regain Māori seats. Though all this mess effectively helps the right-wing, it was a sad day for Parliament and decorum.