Bill to reinterpret founding treaty with Māori would make New Zealand a ‘laughing stock’, MPs told

Māori people protest outside parliament against a proposed law that would redefine New Zealand’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown, in Wellington in November 2024 Photograph: Mark Tantrum/AP

A marathon public hearing into a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown began on Monday amid widespread outcry the proposed changes are unconstitutional, socially divisive and an attack on Māori rights.

The treaty principles bill, which was introduced to parliament by the minor coalition Act party, seeks to abandon a set of well-established principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities in favour of its own redefined principles.