A proposed bill that won't become law has become a flashpoint on race relations at a critical moment in the fraught 180-year-old conversation about how New Zealand should honour the promises made to First Nations people.
Wellington police say more than 35,000 people are participating in the protest outside New Zealand's parliament.
"Today is a show of kotahitanga — solidarity — and being one as a people, and uphold our rights as Indigenous Māori," said protester Tukukino Royal.The bill that lit a fire under race relations Mr Seymour, who is of Māori descent, said he wanted to have an "important national conversation about the place of the Treaty in our constitutional arrangements".
It lays down how the two parties agreed to govern, and the interpretation of clauses in this document guides legislation and policy today.
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