NZ parliament protest

 NZ PARLIAMENT PROTEST

NZ parliament clash

             New Zealand's parliament was brought to a temporary halt by MPs performing a haka, amid anger over a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country's founding treaty with Māori people. Opposition party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke began the traditional ceremonial group dance after being asked whether her party supported the bill, which faced its first vote on Thursday.

Go to back who's is Māori
               Maori are theindigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (Aotearoa). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.

 

Now coming to the current

          The country is often considered a leader in indigenous rights, but opponents of the bill fear those same rights are being put at risk by this bill. Act, the political party that introduced the bill, argues there is a need to legally define the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which has been fundamental to race relations in New Zealand. The core values of the treaty have, over time, been woven into New Zealand's laws in an effort to redress the wrong done to Māori during colonisation.

        Critics, however, say the legislation will divide the country and lead to the unravelling of much-needed support for many Māori. The first reading passed on Thursday after a 30-minute break, backed by all parties from the ruling coalition. Maipi-Clarke was suspended from the house. It is unlikely to pass a second reading, as Act's coalition partners have indicated they will not support it. But this has not placated those worried about the bill, and its impact, with the hikoi still making progress along its 1,000km (621-mile) route.

Juliet Tainui-Hernández, from the Māori tribe Ngāi Tahu, and her Puerto Rican partner Javier Hernández, brought their daughter Paloma to the walk. Ms Tainui-Hernández said those who turned out in support did so "for the respectful and inclusive nation we want Aotearoa [New Zealand] to be for our tamariki mokopuna - our children and grandchildren". Kiriana O’Connell, who is also Māori, said that the current treaty principles were already a compromise for her people, and she would not support a "rewrite".

Under the proposed legislation, the treaty principles that would be defined in law are:

• That the government has a right to govern and that parliament has the full right to make laws
• That the rights of Māori are respected by the Crown
• That everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to equal protection under it.

Act leader Seymour - who is also New Zealand's associate justice minister - argues that because the principles have never been properly defined legally, the courts "have been able to develop principles that have been used to justify actions that are contrary to the principle of equal rights". He says these include "ethnic quotas in public institutions" that go against the spirit of fairness for all New Zealanders. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, however, has called the bill "divisive" - despite being part of the same coalition. 

        

              They include the closure of the Māori Health Authority, which was set up under Jacinda Ardern's Labour government to help create health equity, and reprioritising English over Māori when it comes to the official naming of government organisations, for example. While roughly 18% of New Zealand's population consider themselves to be Māori, according to the most recent census, many remain disadvantaged compared with the general population when assessed through markers such as health outcomes, household income, education levels and incarceration and mortality rates. There remains a seven-year gap in life expectancy. The Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement between the British and many, but not all, Māori tribes, which was signed in 1840. It is contentious as it was written in both English and Māori - which had only been a spoken language until colonisation - and the two versions contain fundamental differences when it comes to issues such as sovereignty. While the treaty itself is not enshrined in law, its principles have been adopted over time into various pieces of legislation. The bill will now be sent to a select committee for a six-month public hearing process.

 

Opinion of peopleside 

           

               At present, as every country is growing, it is necessary to amend the laws according to the situation that the times are changing, so that it does not affect others.  The rights given to the nomadic people during the British rule have come to the position that the Bills can be amended. Against this, the MP of this type of ethnic group has protested through his traditional dance. Rather than whether this struggle is right for the rights recovery struggle, the idea that the entire ethnic group should not be affected is revealed through this struggle.  The reason for bringing it is that law amendments should be made so that the country can grow and increase the economy. Law amendments should be made to reduce various crimes in the country. It is the wish of everyone to have the necessary law amendments. In this way, if the Maoris use their opposition properly, they can definitely win if the purpose of the struggle is also correct. This is only possible.