New Zealand lawmakers reject proposed law to redefine the country's founding Treaty of Waitangi

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand lawmakers dealt an overwhelming defeat Thursday to a controversial proposed law seeking to redefine the country's founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown.

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi bill was rejected by Parliament in a 112 to 11 vote in Wellington, halting its progress to a third and final vote. Cheers and applause erupted before lawmakers and the public sang a waiata — a traditional Māori song — after the result was announced.

The sweeping reinterpretation of the 1840 treaty signed by British representatives and 500 Māori chiefs during New Zealand's colonization was never expected to become law. But the measures provoked a fraught debate about Indigenous rights and last November prompted the biggest race relations protest in the country's history.

But its defeat did not spell the end for scrutiny of Māori rights in New Zealand law.

What is the Treaty of Waitangi?

The Treaty guides the relationship between the government and Māori, with its meaning established through decades of legislation and court rulings. It promised tribes broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests in return for ceding governance to the British.

But two versions of the document were signed – one in English and one in Māori — and while both promised Māori the rights and privileges of British citizens, the documents differed on what authority the chiefs were ceding. Crown breaches of both created steep disenfranchisement for Māori, who still face stark inequities.

What did the Treaty Principles Bill say?

The bill sought to end the 185-year conversation about the Treaty's meaning by enacting in law particular definitions for each clause and specifying that any rights should apply to all New Zealanders. Its author -- libertarian lawmaker David Seymour, who is Māori – has decried what he said were special rights and privileges on the basis of race.

In his speech to lawmakers Thursday, Seymour said New Zealanders should all have "the same rights and duties.''

He urged lawmakers outside his party to break ranks and endorse the bill. None did.

What did opponents say?

The Treaty of Waitangi ''is not about racial privilege or racial superiority,'' said opposition lawmaker Willie Jackson. ''It is and always has been about legal rights Māori have in their contract with the Crown.''

Parliament received 300,000 written submissions from members of the public — more than a proposed law had ever received before — 90% of them opposed to the measures.

''This bill has been absolutely annihilated,'' said Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, an opposition lawmaker from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori political party.

Maipi-Clarke faces disciplinary proceedings at Parliament for her protest of the bill's first vote last November, when she tore up a copy of the measures while performing a haka — a Māori chant of challenge — as she and colleagues walked towards Seymour. The lawmakers refused to attend a hearing on their conduct this month, because they said Parliament does not respect tikanga — Māori cultural protocols.

Why did the measures get so far?

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon agreed his lawmakers would endorse the bill at its first reading to fulfil a political deal with Seymour that handed Luxon power. Without enough seats to govern after the 2023 election, Luxon negotiated support from two minor parties, including Seymour's, in return for political concessions.

They included Luxon's early support for the Treaty Principles bill, although the New Zealand leader always said he would later oppose it. Luxon's opponents on Thursday derided his political dealings.

What happens next?

The Treaty Principles Bill was not the only measure Luxon agreed to that will scrutinize the Treaty's influence on New Zealand law and policy. Another of Seymour's initiatives, already enacted, directed public agencies to stop targeting policies to specifically redress Māori inequities.