Activists are protesting proposed changes to New Zealand's foundational document, the Treaty of Waitangi. But is the bill more bark than bite?
A defiant convoy of activists on Monday began a nine-day hikoi — protest march — from the remote northern coast to the parliament in Wellington.
"You end up with some government departments that have two chief executives, one representing each treaty partner," he"You end up with an education curriculum where honouring the treaty becomes almost more important than maths." "Let's be clear: this bill is divisive, is costing millions just to draft, and has no support from any other party in parliament."A sheet of The Treaty of Waitangi, signed between the British Crown and Māori chiefs in 1840.The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Māori chiefs.
While no definitive list of treaty principles exist, tribunal decisions have helped establish how the treaty should be interpreted and manifest in a modern context.Mr Seymour argues these interpretations are too broad, too vague and give Maori an unfair advantage at the expense of other ethnic groups.
"People raise these arguments that we're a multicultural society, not a bi-cultural society and I wouldn't dispute that," he said. "The National Party is under a lot of pressure from its junior coalition partner to change its view and if public sentiment is shown to be in favour of the bill, then I think it's still quite possible," he said
"Māori voices are there , they are just not the voices that have special seats reserved at the table to practice a certain version of what it means to be Māori," he said.Dr Jones expects the select committee consultation to be "a very divisive process" and "very damaging for social cohesion, for trust in governments".
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