WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Voting in New Zealand's parliament was suspended and two lawmakers were suspended Thursday as a political battle erupted over proposed legislation that would redefine the treaty between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.
Under the terms of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which governed the relationship between the government and Māori, the tribes were promised broad rights to maintain their lands and protect their interests in return for British rule. The bill will specify that those rights must apply to all New Zealanders.
The bill has little support and is unlikely to become law. Critics say it threatens racial tensions and constitutional unrest, while thousands of New Zealanders are marching across the country this week in protest.
Despite its unpopularity, however, the proposed law passed its first vote on Thursday after months of public debate, thanks to New Zealand's political climate allowing minority parties to negotiate a stronger influence on their agenda. It also reflects the unease among some New Zealanders about the too-fast progress in recent years to back up promises made to Māori when the country was colonized.
The 184-year-old treaty is sparking a new debate
Decades after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, differences between English and Māori documents and violations by New Zealand governments reinforced the exclusion of Māori.
By the middle of the 20th century, Aboriginal language and culture had declined, much tribal land had been confiscated and Māori were disadvantaged by every metric. As the indigenous protest movement grew in the 1970s, lawmakers and the courts gradually began to clarify what they understood the treaty to promise Māori: cooperation with the Crown, participation in decision-making and protection of their interests.
“What all these policies have in common is that they give Māori different rights than other New Zealanders,” David Seymour, ACT minority group leader and author of the bill, said on Thursday.
For those who have fought for the deal, that is the point. The work involved multibillion-dollar land settlements, adoption of the Māori language, guaranteed representation in central and local government and policy efforts to reverse the glaring inequalities still faced by indigenous peoples.
But Seymour—who is Māori—said that no law or court had properly defined the meaning of the treaty's terms, and that had created a divide. His bill filled “the silence that parliament has left for fifty years,” he said.
Lawmakers vote on a bill they oppose
Premier Christopher Luxon disagrees, but his party voted for the bill on Thursday to complete a political deal with Seymour that gave Luxon power. Without enough seats to govern after last October's election, Luxon received the support of two small parties—including Seymour's Law, which won less than 9% of the vote—to gain political approval.
Luxon told Seymour that his party would vote for the treaty bill once, while publicly promising not to continue.
The terms of the treaty had been negotiated and debated for 184 years, Luxon told reporters Thursday, and it was “easy” for Seymour to suggest they could be resolved “with the click of a pen.”
The government's lawyers made a bad speech in the parliament explaining that they oppose the bill before voting for it to be mocked by the opposition, who wanted to separate. Luxon survived that; He left the country for a meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific APEC bloc hours before the vote.
His political horse-trading earned him the ridicule of opposition lawyers.
A subtle and angry response
“Shame! Shame! Shame on you, David Seymour,” roared Willie Jackson, a veteran Māori legislator. “You are ashamed of what you are trying to do in this nation.”
Jackson was kicked out of the chamber by Speaker Gerry Brownlee for calling Seymour a liar.
“You are complicit in the harm and division that this represents,” said Rawiri Waititi, a lawmaker from Te Pāti Māori, an Aboriginal group, speaking to all those who proposed the bill.
“If you vote for this bill, that's who you are,” Green Party leader Chloe Swarbrick told Luxon lawmakers.
No one deviated from the votes they had planned and the bill was passed. But not before one final flashpoint.
A rare outburst of protest
When asked how her party's lawyers would vote, Te Pāti Māori's Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke stood and began a haka—a rhythmic Māori chant of challenge—that was echoed by opposing lawmakers, then bystanders in the public gallery. , joined.
An exasperated Brownlee could not keep the noise down as his opponents approached Seymour's seat. The live broadcast of Parliament proceedings was interrupted and Brownlee ordered the public to be evacuated before the vote could proceed.
He suspended Maipi-Clarke, 22, from Parliament for one day.
Read more: Meet New Zealand's Gen Z Māori Guardian in Parliament
The bill will continue in the public submission process before another vote. Seymour hopes an outpouring of support will change Luxon's mind about opposing it.
This proposal will hit Parliament again soon. Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on the capital, Wellington, on Tuesday in what could be the largest march in New Zealand's history.
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