Category Archives: Māori

New Zealand coalition votes to make English an official language as critics slam ‘cynical’ bill

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Push to give English same status as Māori and NZ sign languages sparks backlash from opposition parties and linguistic experts

A bill to recognise English as an official language of New Zealand has cleared its first hurdle in parliament amid ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who say it is “unnecessary” and “cynical”.

The bill seeks to give English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language. The bill said the status and use of the existing official languages would not be affected.

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UN to hear human rights complaint over New Zealand’s treatment of Māori

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UN committee to consider claim by prominent Māori leader Tureiti Moxon that alleges government policies have harmed Indigenous people

The United Nations has agreed to hear an urgent complaint against New Zealand’s coalition government alleging it is responsible for significant and persistent discrimination against Māori.

Prominent Māori leader, Lady Tureiti Moxon, has filed the complaint to the UN’s committee for the convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (CERD).

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Lee Tamahori, director of Once Were Warriors and James Bond movie Die Another Day, dies aged 75

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New Zealand film-maker became a Hollywood fixture in the 90s and 00s, including making Pierce Brosnan’s last 007 movie, before returning to his home country

Lee Tamahori, the New Zealand director of Once Were Warriors and Die Another Day, has died aged 75.

In a statement to Radio New Zealand, Tamahori’s family said he had Parkinson’s and died “peacefully at home”.

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Backlash after New Zealand government scraps rules on incorporating Māori culture in classrooms

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Minister says obligations for school boards to ‘give effect’ to the treaty are unfair while critics argue the move will sideline Indigenous education

A plan by New Zealand’s government to scrap a legal requirement on schools to incorporate local Māori culture in classrooms has been condemned by teachers, principals and school boards.

Since 2020, school boards have been obligated to “give effect” to the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document signed in 1840 between Māori tribes and the British Crown and instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

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Jim Bolger, former New Zealand prime minister who drove reconciliation with Māori, dies at 90

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Tributes flow from across political spectrum for man known for high ideals but also remembered for controversially slashing welfare and health spending

Former New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger, whose political legacy was defined by his deep commitment to reconciliation with Māori as well as his brutal cuts to welfare and deregulation of the labour market, has died aged 90.

Bolger died peacefully surrounded by his wife, Joan, nine children and 18 grandchildren, his family said in a statement on Wednesday. Bolger suffered kidney failure last year and had been undergoing dialysis.

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Guaranteed Māori seats on New Zealand councils to be slashed by more than half

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Controversial law change that forced councils to put the fate of Māori wards to a public vote saw 25 vote to disestablish the guaranteed seats

The number of guaranteed seats for Māori representatives on New Zealand councils will be slashed by more than half, following a controversial law change that forced local governments to put the fate of hard-won Māori seats to a public vote.

Māori wards, which may have one or more councillors depending on local population numbers, were established in 2001 to give Indigenous voters the option to vote for a guaranteed Māori representative in local and regional authorities. Initially, councils could only establish a Māori ward by first putting it to a public vote in their area. Communities often spent years generating local support and pushing their councils to create Māori wards.

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New Zealand attorney general warns her government’s electoral reform could breach human rights law

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Judith Collins also said the controversial electoral law reform could disenfranchise Māori

New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has defended his government’s plans to overhaul its electoral laws, despite warnings from his own attorney general the changes could breach human rights law and disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters.

The right-wing government last week announced its plan to shake up electoral laws it said were “outdated and unsustainable”, including closing voter enrolment 13 days before election day, reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting and prohibiting anyone from providing free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting station.

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New Zealand MPs who performed haka in parliament given record suspensions

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Parliament votes to enact punishment after hours of fraught debate including attitudes towards Māori culture

New Zealand legislators have voted to enact record parliamentary suspensions for three MPs who performed a Māori haka to protest against a controversial proposed law.

Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Te Pāti Māori (the Māori party), Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had previously been the longest ban for a New Zealand MP.

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‘Grubby’ treaty principles bill voted down in New Zealand parliament

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Bill which sought to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown fails by 11 votes to 112

It was the bill that launched 300,000 public submissions, sparked New Zealand’s largest ever protest on Māori rights and prompted a haka in parliament that quickly went viral.

And now the treaty principles bill, which sought to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown, is dead.

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New Zealand’s controversial bill to reinterpret treaty with Māori should be scrapped, committee finds

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Justice committee said the majority of public submissions oppose the legislation, which seeks to reinterpret the country’s founding document

A parliamentary committee has recommended a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown should not proceed.

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.

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Row erupts in New Zealand parliament over use of Māori name Aotearoa

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Dispute emerges after deputy prime minister Winston Peters questioned why MPs used the name Aotearoa in debates

The speaker of New Zealand’s parliament has told lawmakers to stop complaining about the use of the Māori name for the country, after the deputy prime minister strongly objected to hearing it in the house.

In a ruling on Tuesday, Gerry Brownlee said that while “New Zealand” is the official name, the Māori name “Aotearoa” is used widely, including on currency and passports.

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Māori protesters turn their backs on government ministers at Waitangi Day event

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Anger at policies that roll back Māori rights surface as rightwing Act party leader David Seymour has microphone removed twice and protesters stage walkout

If New Zealand’s coalition government had prepared for political fireworks from Indigenous leaders on the eve of the country’s national day, they were met with something arguably even louder: turned backs and silence.

Under a blazing hot sun on Wednesday, political leaders gathered at the Waitangi treaty grounds in New Zealand’s far north to celebrate Waitangi Day, which marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. The treaty, signed by Māori chiefs and the British Crown is considered New Zealand’s founding document and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

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

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Introduced to parliament by a minor coalition party, the treaty principles bill seeks to abandon a set of principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities

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.

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Waitangi Day: record crowds expected amid tensions over Māori policy in New Zealand

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Event in February that commemorates signing of New Zealand’s founding document expected to draw tens of thousands but PM will not attend

Organisers of New Zealand’s national day commemorating the signing of the country’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British crown are expecting record attendance in 2025, following a year of rising tensions over the government’s policy direction for Māori.

In February, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Waitangi, in New Zealand’s Northland region, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Māori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840 and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

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Scientists dissect ‘world’s rarest whale’ for clues on little-known species

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Only seven spade-tooth whales have ever been documented, now work is beginning on a specimen that washed ashore in New Zealand in July

A spade-tooth whale – thought to be the world’s rarest whale species – is undergoing dissection in New Zealand, in the first ever examination of a complete specimen.

Spade-toothed whales are a type of beaked whale named for their teeth resembling the spade-like flensing blade once used to strip whales of their blubber. Just seven have been documented since the 1800s, with all but one found in New Zealand.

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35,000 arrive at New Zealand parliament to protest against controversial Māori treaty bill – as it happened

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This live coverage has ended now. You can read our stories at the links below:

The hīkoi has reached parliament, filling the grounds and swelling out into the surrounding roads and streets.

It is shoulder to shoulder, with people and flags stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction. The notorious Wellington wind is whipping the flags high, their flicks and pops adding to the cacophony.

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Tens of thousands march on NZ parliament in protest against Māori treaty bill

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Police say about 42,000 people gathered at parliament in the last stage of the nine-day protest in opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi bill

A protest march estimated to be one of the largest in New Zealand history arrived at parliament on Tuesday, flooding the grounds with song in a display of unity against a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country’s founding treaty between Māori and the crown.

Police said around 42,000 people took part in the march, in what was likely New Zealand’s largest-ever protest in support of Māori rights.

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Insults and a haka in New Zealand parliament as MPs debate Māori rights bill

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Voting temporarily suspended amid disruptions including a Māori party MP ripping up a copy of the bill

New Zealand’s parliament has erupted into fiery debate, personal attacks and a haka over a controversial bill that proposes to radically alter the way New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the crown is interpreted.

The treaty principles bill was tabled by the libertarian Act party – a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government – and passed its first reading on Thursday, amid scathing speeches and disruptions.

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Controversial bill to reinterpret New Zealand’s founding document reaches parliament

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The widely criticised bill aims to redefine Treaty of Waitangi principles that guide relations between Māori and ruling authorities

A controversial bill that seeks to radically change how New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the Crown is interpreted in modern times will be introduced to parliament on Thursday, nearly two weeks ahead of its initial schedule.

The Treaty of Waitangi is considered New Zealand’s founding document and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights. The bill will be tabled in parliament by the libertarian Act party, a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government, which has regularly called for an end to “division by race”.

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Māori language ‘at risk’ as a result of government policies, commissioner says

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Prof Rawinia Higgins tells the Guardian that te reo Māori is under threat from the rightwing coalition despite long-running efforts to revive it

New Zealand’s Māori language commissioner has described government policies to limit the use of the Indigenous language in the public service as “a risk” to the half-century effort to revive it.

“Any affront to the efforts that we have been making has to be taken seriously,” the commissioner, Prof Rawinia Higgins, told the Guardian. “We’re seeing a reaction – only from a small corner of people, but enough that we don’t want that to snowball.”

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