Maori protesters heckled senior members of New Zealand’s conservative government on Monday and decried plans to review an 1840 treaty that founded the nation.
Frustrations boiled over at an official welcome ceremony by the local iwi, or tribe, to the Waitangi Treaty grounds — the northern settlement that gave the pact its name.
It was held on the eve of a national holiday marking the agreement’s signing on February 6, 1840.
The treaty was hammered out by Maori chiefs and the British, settling British sovereignty or governance over the country and Maori ownership of their lands.
New Zealand’s three-party coalition government announced plans to review the treaty after winning elections last October, sparking concern among Maori who fear losing their rights to autonomy and protection.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National Party-led coalition also plans to reduce the role of the Maori language in the public service and to scrap a Maori health authority.
“You want to cut the treaty? We won’t stand for it,” Maori activist Hone Harawaira said in an address to government figures in Waitangi.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, head of the populist New Zealand First Party within the ruling coalition, replied that the government only planned to review the treaty.
“Whoever said we are getting rid of the Treaty of Waitangi? Stop the crap, stop the nonsense,” he said.
Maori crowds booed when Peters spoke.
They sang over an address by David Seymour, leader of the liberal free-market ACT party, which is also part of the government.
Protesters carried wooden signs shaped like torn pieces of the Treaty.
The issue of a Treaty Principles Bill, which would redefine the agreement and put it to a referendum, threatens to divide the fledgling coalition.
Seymour ultimately wants a public referendum so the treaty, which gives Maori special privileges, can be recast to confer equal rights to all New Zealanders.
“New Zealanders cannot flourish as long as some citizens have a different status,” Seymour told reporters at the ceremony.
Luxon has repeatedly said his National Party would not support such a referendum.
“It’s been a longstanding commitment of the National Party not to pursue a referendum at all,” Luxon said.
Tensions between Maori and the new government have been bubbling since December when thousands protested nationwide as the new parliament opened.
Around 10,000 people also gathered in January when the Maori king called for unity in the face of the government policies at a ‘hui’ — a rare nationwide meeting.
