NZ Maori protest march reaches Wellington for rally against Indigenous bill

SYDNEY - A nine-day march by Maori and their supporters across New Zealand will culminate in Wellington on Tuesday at a rally where thousands are expected to protest a bill that opponents say seeks to dilute the rights of the Maori.

The march, or hikoi, began last week in the country's far north. Thousands have attended rallies in towns and cities as marchers travelled south to Wellington for a planned rally against the Treaty Principles Bill that is currently before parliament.

The bill reinterprets the clauses in the 184-year-old Treaty of Waitangi. First signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Indigenous Maori chiefs, it lays down how the two parties agreed to govern. The interpretation of clauses in the document still guides legislation and policy today.

Rulings by the courts and a separate Maori tribunal have progressively expanded Maori rights and privileges over the decades. However, the ACT New Zealand party argues this has discriminated against non-Indigenous citizens.

The party, which won 8.6% of the vote in last year's election, is a junior partner in the ruling centre-right coalition government. It unveiled the bill earlier this month to enshrine a narrower interpretation of the treaty.

While the bill lacks enough support to pass parliament, its introduction has sparked protests across the country and in parliament by those who see in it a desire to reverse decades of policies designed to empower Maori.

Maori make up around 20% of the population of 5.3 million and are over-represented in many measures of social and financial disadvantage. REUTERS