Thousands of people joined a march towards New Zealand's national capital on Friday after a contentious bill that would reinterpret the country's 184-year-old founding document passed its first hurdle in parliament.

Thousands of people joined a march towards New Zealand’s national capital on Friday after a contentious bill that would reinterpret the country’s 184-year-old founding document passed its first hurdle in parliament.

Several rallies against the Treaty Principles Bill are being staged in towns across the country as a nine-day march, or hikoi, moves to Wellington. It is expected to reach the national capital on Tuesday.

An estimated 10,000 people marched through Rotorua, about 450 km (280 miles) north of Wellington, New Zealand police said in a statement. Protesters, some wearing traditional clothing, were greeted by hundreds waving the Maori flag and chanting.

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    6·
    11 hours ago

    Coalition partners the National Party and New Zealand First are only supporting the legislation through the first of three readings. Both parties have said they will not support it to become legislation, meaning it will almost certainly fail.

    What fresh performative bigotry politics hell is this?

    They don’t even pretend to want to pass it, they just want the excuse to be racist bastards without consequences??