{"id":17682,"date":"2024-11-18T17:28:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T17:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=17682"},"modified":"2024-11-18T17:28:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T17:28:57","slug":"new-zealands-capital-prepares-for-huge-maori-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=17682","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand\u2019s capital prepares for huge Maori protests"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 1,000km (621-mile) march began nine days ago in the far north of the country<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Thousands of people are gathering to take the final steps in a march on New Zealand\u2019s parliament to demonstrate against a controversial bill seeking to overhaul the country’s founding document between British colonisers and M\u0101ori people.<\/p>\n

Hotels are sold out in the capital Wellington – up to 30,000 people are expected to attend Tuesday\u2019s rally outside parliament.<\/p>\n

The demonstration marks the end of a nine-day h\u012bkoi, or peaceful protest, that\u2019s been making its way through the country.<\/p>\n

The h\u012bkoi has brought together M\u0101ori activists and their supporters who oppose the bill introduced by a junior member of the governing coalition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch: Moment MP leads haka to disrupt New Zealand parliament<\/figcaption><\/p>\n
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New Zealand is often considered a world leader when it comes to supporting indigenous rights \u2013 but under the centre-right government of Christopher Luxon, many fear those rights are now at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are trying to take our rights away,\u201d says Stan Lingman, who has both M\u0101ori and Swedish ancestry and is planning on attending the rally. \u201c[The hikoi is] for all New Zealanders \u2013 white, yellow, pink, blue. We will fight against this bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stan\u2019s wife Pamela says she\u2019s marching for her \u201cmokos\u201d, which means grandchildren in the M\u0101ori language.<\/p>\n

The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi is seen as fundamental to the country\u2019s race relations.<\/p>\n

But under the Luxon government, there\u2019s a concern that the rights won by the M\u0101ori community are being eroded. The bill that has been introduced by the Act political party argues that New Zealand should legally define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s leader, David Seymour, says that over time the treaty\u2019s core values have led to racial divisions, not unity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Treaty Principles Bill says that I, like everybody else, whether their ancestors came here a thousand years ago, like some of mine did, or just got off the plane at Auckland International Airport this morning to begin their journey as New Zealanders, have the same basic rights and dignity,\u201d says Seymour, who has M\u0101ori ancestry.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour starting point is to take a human being and ask, what’s your ancestry? What kind of human are you? That used to be called prejudice. It used to be called bigotry. It used to be called profiling and discrimination. Now you’re trying to make a virtue of it. I think that’s a big mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been blamed for wasting time and creating political rifts by bringing a bill that isn\u2019t even expected to pass. Prime Minister Luxon has called the bill “divisive” – despite being part of the same coalition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite the differences, plenty of supporters feel the march has gone too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [M\u0101ori] seem to want more and more and more,\u201d says Barbara Lecomte, who lives in the coastal suburbs north of Wellington. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole cosmopolitan mix of different nationalities now. We are all New Zealanders. I think we should work together and have equal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equality, though, is still a way off, says Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leader of Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori (Maori Party).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t live equally if we have one people who are the indigenous people living \u2018less than\u2019,\u201d she argues. What the coalition government is doing is \u201can absolute attempt to divide an otherwise progressive country and it\u2019s really embarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Rose<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“This isn\u2019t just any normal h\u012bkoi \u2013 this is the h\u012bkoi of everybody,\u201d says Rose Raharuhi Spicer<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Such is the strength of feeling that New Zealand’s parliament was brought to a temporary halt last week by MPs performing a haka, or traditional dance, in opposition to the bill. The video went viral.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see it in parliament, in the highest house in Aotearoa, there\u2019s been a real state of surprise and I think disappointment and sadness that in 2024 when we see politics and the Trump extremes, this is what the M\u0101ori are having to endure,\u201d says Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. \u201cIt\u2019s humiliating for the government because we are normally seen as punching above our weight in all of the great things in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those watching New Zealand and wanting to witness more hakas, this rally won\u2019t disappoint. Organisers on Monday taught participants the words and moves of the rally\u2019s haka, the subject of which is Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Waitangi Treaty). Those in the audience enthusiastically repeated the lyrics written on a large white sheet, trying to soak in as many words as possible ahead of the rally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just any normal h\u012bkoi \u2013 this is the h\u012bkoi of everybody,\u201d says grandmother Rose Raharuhi Spicer, explaining that they\u2019ve called on non-M\u0101ori, Pacific Islanders and the wider population in New Zealand to support them.<\/p>\n

This is the fourth h\u012bkoi Rose has been on. She comes from New Zealand\u2019s northernmost settlement, Te H\u0101pua, right above Auckland. It\u2019s the same village that the most famous h\u012bkoi started from, back in 1975, protesting over land rights.<\/p>\n

This time, she\u2019s brought her children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our grandchildren\u2019s legacy,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just one person or one party \u2013 and to alter [it] is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the grass nearby, Leah Land, a 26-year-old from Whang\u0101rei, is putting the final touches to a sign for the rally which reads \u2018Honour It, Don\u2019t Edit It\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because I believe as a P\u0101keh\u0101 [non-M\u0101ori], without those sacred documents I don\u2019t have a right to live and be on this land, so that\u2019s the foundation of me being able to be here in this beautiful country,\u201d she said, adding that the proposed bill was terrifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe saddest thing is that I will be fine because I am white \u2013 but my very best friends are M\u0101ori and I want Aotearoa New Zealand to be a safe space for them to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images The 1,000km (621-mile) march began nine days ago in the far north of the country Thousands of people are gathering to take the final steps in a march on New Zealand\u2019s parliament to demonstrate against a controversial bill seeking to overhaul the country’s founding document between British colonisers and M\u0101ori people. Hotels are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}