Racial tensions boil over in New Zealand

BARE-CHESTED MAORI warriors led 42,000 protesters to New Zealand’s parliament on November 19th. Some of the demonstrators, waving red, black and white Maori flags, had marched hundreds of miles to oppose a bill that would pare back their rights. The protest was one of the largest in support of Maori people. The bill, declared Jenny Shipley, a former conservative prime minister, is “inviting civil war”.

That is hyperbole. But it has been decades since race relations were so fractious in New Zealand, a country known for its relative harmony. It has tried to honour a treaty struck in 1840 between Maori chiefs and British settlers. It has embraced its indigenous language and culture. But the tone has changed since New Zealanders elected a conservative coalition government, led by Chris Luxon, last year. It has revoked policies introduced by previous Labour governments. It has cut back the use of Maori language and abolished a Maori health agency.

Tempers frayed when ACT, a small libertarian party within the ruling coalition, introduced a bill that would erode the rights handed to Maori people under the treaty. Since the 1970s a tribunal has investigated past breaches of the treaty and compensated tribes for them. The treaty has wound its way into laws aimed at redressing colonial wrongs. Such measures have helped improve Maori lives. Though still disadvantaged, they live longer and are wealthier than Aboriginal Australians.

David Seymour, ACT’s leader (who has Maori heritage), complains that “activist judges have twisted the meaning of our founding document” to hand out ever-growing privileges to Maori, who make up 20% of the population. Ethnic quotas and shared-governance initiatives are giving them unfair advantages, he argues. His bill aims to curb the treaty’s modern applications. By trying to “rewrite the treaty”, it would undermine democracy, over 40 barristers wrote in an open letter. The bill is not likely to pass. Mr Luxon promises that his National Party will vote it down after a public consultation. Yet many worry that the damage has already been done. ■