Tens of thousands rally at New Zealand parliament against Bill to alter Maori rights

It's not the best way to have a conversation

Ngira Simmonds, a key advisor to the queen, said

I may have been suspended for 24 hours and not let into the gates of the debating chambers, but the next day I showed up outside the steps with a hundred thousand of my people, marching with our heads held high and our flags waving with pride

Speaking to the crowds she said

We never ceded sovereignty, we never handed it over. We gave a generous invitation to new settlers to create their own government because they were unruly and lawless at the time,

said Hartendorp

The National Party leaders including the PM and other cabinet ministers and the leaders of the other coalition party [New Zealand] First have all said they won’t support the bill beyond the committee stage. It is highly unlikely that the bill will receive support from any party other than ACT,

MacDonald said

They only agreed to allow it to go this far as part of their ‘coalition agreement’ so they could govern,

Porter said

This latest march is a protest against many coalition government anti-Maori initiatives,

Porter said

If this bill were to be enacted, it would be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Treaty … in modern times.”

Another report by the tribunal seen by The Guardian newspaper said

The English draft talks about the British settlers having full authority and control over Maori in the whole country,

Kassie Hartendorp, a Maori community organiser and director at community campaigning organisation ActionStation Aotearoa, told Al Jazeera

We are coming from across the country and showing our babies we can have a positive impact through kindness,

Collier said

I'm here for my grandchildren, my children and for their children,

said Hoana Hadfield from Wellington, who was marching in a protest for the first time

It's different to when I was a child,

participant Shanell Bob said

We're stronger now, our tamariki are stronger now, they know who they are, they're proud of who they are,

she said, using the Maori word for children

We are fighting for our tamariki, for our mokopuna, so they can have what we haven’t been able to have,

she added, using the Maori words for children and grandchildren

The Maori Queen is willing to help lead a conversation about nationhood and national unity but she will not accept a unilateral process that undermines the treaty,

her spokesperson, Ngira Simmons, said in a statement

There is a real strength and pride,

Hayley Komene, a protester from Wellington was quoted as saying by The Guardian

To those who will divide us, whanau, it is too late. We are already one people,

Modlik said to cheers from those gathered on the lawns of parliament

To be honest, there is probably a lot inside Toitū Te Tiriti movement who are related to us, working for us, working at the marae,

said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

Mark Mitchell (New Zealand politician)police Minister

I don’t think you are going to see a counter-protest group that will be able to turn out and overwhelm the hīkoi,

Mitchell said

I bumped into Seymour yesterday. We had quite a heated conversation. I saw him on the news this morning saying Rawiri Waititi told him not to come. Damn right, I told you not to come.”

Waititi said

The treaty is a document that lets us be here in Aotearoa so holding it up and respecting it is really important,

said Ben Ogilvie, who is of Pākehā, or New Zealand European, descent, using the Maori name for the country