New Zealand parliament overwhelmingly rejects bill reinterpreting Maori treaty

WELLINGTON: After months of protest and discussion on the role of indigenous Maori in the Pacific nation, the New Zealand parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a bill that sought to redefine the fundamentals of the country's founding agreement.

Over 500 Maori chiefs and the British Crown initially signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, outlining their agreed-upon system of governance. Today's laws and policies are based on how the document's clauses are interpreted.

The failed bill was a policy of David Seymour's ACT New Zealand party, which garnered 8.6% of the party vote at the 2023 election.

Seymour had said the purpose of the Treaty Principles Bill was for parliament to define the principles of the treaty, provide certainty and clarity, and promote debates on its place in constitutional arrangements.

In coalition negotiations, ACT's governing coalition partners National and New Zealand First had committed to support the bill through the first of three readings but had said they would not support it into law.

The law, needing a simple majority to pass its second reading, failed with 112 votes against it and just 11 votes for it.

"The Treaty Principles Bill is dead. Our movement for Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) justice lives on,” said Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, whose party did not support the bill. "Instead of dividing and conquering, this Bill has backfired and united communities across the motu (country) in solidarity for our founding agreement and what it represents."

The bill has garnered significant attention. In November, tens of thousands of people marched on New Zealand’s parliament as a show of opposition to the bill, in what was one of the largest protests ever in New Zealand. A deluge of submissions to the committee considering the bill followed.