Tens of thousands of Maori protesters march in New Zealand

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Tens of thousands of Maori protesters march in New Zealand

Story by Ed Holt

 • 9h •21/ 11/ 2024  3 min read

New Zealand has seen one of the biggest demonstrations in its history after thousands of Maori protesters took to the street in opposition to a proposed bill. 

The streets of Wellington, New Zealand's capital, roared with the booming chants of the haka as an estimated 42,000 people demonstrated against a potential new law which could redefine the nation's founding treaty.

Demonstration in New Zealand have been growing due to a push from the right wing ACT party - a junior coalition party in the country's centre-right government - to radically redefine how the Treaty of Waitangi is interpreted. 

The treaty was signed over 100 years ago in 1840 between more than 500 Maori chiefs and the crown and is instrumental in upholding Maori rights.  

Supporters of the bill say it does not reflect the Oceanic country's modern multicultural society. 

But critics - including some of New Zealand's most respected lawyers - see it as an attempt to strip long-agreed rights from the country's 900,000 Maori population.

The bill does not have the support of ACT's senior coalition partner - the conservative National Party - and is therefore unlikely to pass. 

Nevertheless, its mere introduction has triggered one of New Zealand's largest protests in its history.

The streets of Wellington, New Zealand's capital, roared with the booming chants of the haka as an estimated 42,000 people demonstrated against a potential new law which could redefine the nation's founding treaty

In Wellington, bare-chested men draped in traditional feather cloaks were joined by horse riders waving the red, white and black Maori fla

Thousands of protesters took the street in one of the largest demonstrations in New Zealand's history

Many demonstrators arrived in Wellington after a nine-day protest march that began hundreds of kilometres away at New Zealand's northern tip.

In Wellington, bare-chested men draped in traditional feather cloaks were joined by horse riders waving the red, white and black Maori flag.

Children marched alongside their parents bearing distinctive full-face Maori 'moko' tattoos and clutching ceremonial wooden weapons.

After it was presented for debate in parliament last week, 22-year-old Maori Party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke took to her feet in the chamber and ripped the bill in half before she launched into a haka.

She joined the crowds of protesters gathered on the lawns Tuesday outside New Zealand's beehive-shaped parliament building.

Speaking to the crowds she said: 'I may have been suspended for 24 hours and not let into the gates of the debating chambers, but the next day I showed up outside the steps with a hundred thousand of my people, marching with our heads held high and our flags waving with pride.

'We are the king makers, we are the sovereign people of this land and the world is watching us here.'

The Maori Queen - a symbolic leader who is the chief of several tribes - was also in attendance. 

Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō was crowned queen just this September following the death of her father.

Ngira Simmonds, a key advisor to the queen, said: 'It's not the best way to have a conversation. We will not accept unilateral change to a treaty that involves two parties.'

At the centre of the controversy is government minister and outspoken leader of the  ACT Party David Seymour.  

Seymour has long railed against affirmative action policies designed to help Maori, who remain far more likely to die early, live in poverty, or wind up in prison.

Demonstrators outside New Zealand's beehive-shaped parliament. Many demonstrators arrived in Wellington after a nine-day protest march that began hundreds of kilometres away at New Zealand's northern tip

Members of the Maori community and their supporters march in a protest rally. The Maori Queen - a symbolic leader who is the chief of several tribes - was also in attendance

After it was presented for debate in parliament last week, 22-year-old Maori Party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke (pictured) took to her feet in the chamber, ripped the bill in half, and launched into a haka 

At the centre of the controversy is government minister and outspoken leader of the ACT Party David Seymour (pictured). Seymour has long railed against affirmative action policies designed to help Maori

His bill would look to wind back these so-called 'special rights'.

Incumbent Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has voiced his opposition to Seymour's bill, meaning it is all but doomed to fail when it comes to a parliamentary vote.

But former conservative prime minister Jenny Shipley said just putting it forward threatened to 'divide New Zealand in a way that I haven't lived through in my adult life'.

Seen as the country's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 to bring peace between 540 Maori chiefs and colonising British forces.

Its principles today underpin efforts to foster partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous New Zealanders and protect the interests of the Maori community.

The anniversary of the treaty's signing remains a national holiday.

Data scientist uses hīkoi drone footage to estimate crowd size of at least 40,000

Story by Melissa Nightingale

 • 21h 20/ 11/ 2024

• Caleb Moses used drone footage to estimate at least 40,000 people marched in yesterday’s hīkoi
• The “proud” Ngāpuhi data scientist has shared how he came to this number
• Other crowd estimates have ranged from about 20,000 to 100,000

A data scientist has used drone footage to calculate an estimate of how many people joined yesterday’s hīkoi, saying he believes at least 40,000 people took to the streets.

Caleb Moses, who is studying in Canada, watched the protest from afar yesterday and said as a Māori man he was proud to see the turnout.

The former Statistics NZ statistical analyst has qualifications in pure mathematics, has worked for Dragonfly Data Science and is currently doing a PhD in computer science focusing on AI and language technology - especially for low-resource languages such as te reo Māori.

He used two separate methods to estimate the crowd size, with his first estimate coming to at least 83,000 people.

Parliament grounds were packed with protesters yesterday afternoon. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Moses estimated a density of two people per square metre.

This calculation gave him an estimate of at least 40,000 people, but he believed it could be closer to 50,000 attending the protest in total when factoring in people arriving later or those who were at Parliament from the start.

One official estimate widely used by media was provided by the NZ Police, who put out a statement yesterday giving a figure of 42,000.

The Herald asked the police how this number was reached, but the response did not provide hard methodology.

“Police use venue capacity planning figures to estimate crowd size and consider comparisons with known reference points from previous events,” a spokesman said. “We will also collaborate with partners to strengthen our numbers estimates.”