The demonstrators oppose a law that would reshape the country's founding treaty between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.
Thousands of people gather outside New Zealand's parliament to protest a proposed law that would redefine the country's founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown, in Wellington Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024.
“We’re going for a walk!” one organizer proclaimed from the stage as crowds gathered at the opposite end of the city from the nation’s Parliament. People had traveled from across the nation over the past nine days. “It’s different to when I was a child,” Bob said. “We’re stronger now, our tamariki are stronger now, they know who they are, they’re proud of who they are.”
But others read “proud to be Māori” or acknowledged the bearer’s heritage as a non-Māori person endorsing the protest. Some denounced the widespread expropriation of Māori land during colonization, one of the main grievances arising from the treaty. A sea of Māori sovereignty flags in red, black and white stretched down the lawn and into the streets. But marchers bore Samoan, Tongan, Indigenous Australian, U.S., Palestinian and Israeli flags, too. At Parliament, speeches from political leaders drew attention to the reason for the protest — a proposed law that would change the meaning of words in the country’s founding treaty, cement them in law and extend them to everyone.
It is not expected to ever become law, but Seymour made a political deal that saw it shepherded through a first vote last Thursday. In a statement Tuesday, he said the public could now make submissions on the bill, which he hopes will experience a swell of support.
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