New Zealand Axes Controversial Treaty Bill Aimed at Indigenous Rights

TaiwanPlus News

On Thursday, New Zealand's Parliament voted down a bill that sought to redefine the role of its founding treaty agreement, signed between the Indigenous Māori people and the British Crown. The controversial proposal sparked the country's largest protest in history. The right-wing ACT party, which introduced the bill, says Māori have been given special rights because of the way the treaty has been interpreted.

Transcript

00:00The ayes are 11, the no's are 112, the motion is lost.

00:08New Zealand's parliament overwhelmingly rejecting a contentious bill

00:13that triggered the largest protest and public response in the country's history.

00:18Introduced by the right-wing ACT Party, a member of the ruling coalition,

00:22the bill sought to redefine New Zealand's founding agreement,

00:25signed in the 19th century between the indigenous Māori peoples and the British Crown.

00:30It was meant to establish British law in the country while recognising Māori land rights.

00:36But the ACT argued the way it's been interpreted has given Māori preferential treatment in society.

00:41Some critics say that the debate is divisive.

00:45Well, I say it has revealed the division.

00:48I say it's revealed a sizable minority of New Zealanders who oppose equal rights,

00:52liberal democracy and treating each people, each person with the same basic dignity.

00:59ACT says their proposed bill would have evened the playing field,

01:03redefining the role of the founding treaty and emphasising the rights of all New Zealanders.

01:08But few agreed with them, and the bill faced opposition from the start,

01:12both from within parliament...

01:14...and on the streets.

01:20For the Māori, the proposed bill was a harsh reminder of historic injustice.

01:35Now numbering some 900,000, the indigenous group makes up 17% of the country's population.

01:41They've been here since the 13th century,

01:43and in their version of the founding treaty, called Te Tiriti,

01:47the Māori have the right to self-governance, to own their own land,

01:50and use their natural resources, agreements that were repeatedly ignored by the Crown.

01:56In 1975, the treaty was enshrined into law,

01:59and a tribunal was established to settle disputes.

02:02Treaty advocates say there wasn't a need to amend the law.

02:06And for decades now, the principles of the treaty has been the way that decision-makers

02:14have been required through law to honour Te Tiriti,

02:19and I've spent 20 years as a lawyer doing cases related to that.

02:25The bill could have rolled back decades of progress.

02:28The bill's rejection in parliament doesn't instantly smooth over long-standing social divisions,

02:34with many parliamentarians reminded of the country's deep social wounds by the public outcry,

02:40particularly from New Zealand's indigenous peoples, also called iwi.

02:44I felt so much shame and so much sadness in many of those submissions,

02:50as we had iwi come and talk to us, some so angry they were shaking.

02:55They couldn't even articulate the trauma that this whole process has rehashed.

03:01With the threat of ACTS bill now passed,

03:04many here see this as an opportunity to reaffirm the treaty's significance

03:08and the rights it gave to Māori.

03:10Rights, they fear, could still be taken away from them.

03:12Ryan Wu and Lauren Padamore for Taiwan Plus.

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