World reacts to te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti to Parliament

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By RNZ

International media coverage of the hīkoi to Parliament has largely focused on the historic size of the turnout in Wellington on Tuesday and the wider contention between Māori and the Crown.

Some, including the New York Times, have also pointed out the recent swing right with the election of the coalition Government as part of the reason for the unrest.

The Times article said New Zealand had veered “sharply right”, likening it to Donald Trump’s re-election.

“New Zealand bears little resemblance to the country recently led by Jacinda Ardern, whose brand of compassionate, progressive politics made her a global symbol of anti-Trump liberalism.”

The challenging of the rights of Māori was “driving a wedge into New Zealand society”, the article said.

Coverage of te Hīkoi mo te Tiriti in The Guardian in the UK.

Coverage in the Guardian explained that the Treaty Principles Bill was unlikely to pass.

“However, it has prompted widespread anger among the public, academics, lawyers and Māori rights groups who believe it is creating division, undermining the treaty, and damaging the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities,” it said.

Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT World said New Zealand “faces a critical moment in its journey toward reconciling with its indigenous population”.

Al Jazeera's coverage of te Hīkoi mō te tiriti reaching Parliament.

Al Jazeera agreed it was “a contentious bill redefining the country’s founding agreement between the British and the indigenous Māori people”.

The Washington Post pointed out that the “bill is deeply unpopular, even among members of the ruling conservative coalition”.

“While the bill would not rewrite the Treaty itself, it would essentially extend it equally to all New Zealanders, which critics say would effectively render the Treaty worthless,” the article said.

The hīkoi, and particularly the culmination of more than 42,000 people at Parliament, was covered in most of the mainstream international media outlets including Britain’s BBC and CNN in the United States, as well as wire agencies including AFP, AP and Reuters.

Across the Tasman, the ABC headline called it a “flashpoint” on race relations, while the article went on to say it was “a critical moment in the fraught 180-year-old conversation about how New Zealand should honour the promises made to First Nations people when the country was colonised”.

Most of the articles also linked back to Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke’s haka in Parliament, which also garnered significant international attention.

– RNZ

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