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November 15, 2024

Thousands March to New Zealand's Capital to Oppose Rollback of Māori Rights
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Over 10,000 people in New Zealand are taking part in a march toward the
capital Wellington to protest legislation that would reinterpret an 1840
treaty - considered New Zealand's founding document - and rolling back
long-standing rights for Indigenous Māori communities. On Thursday,
22-year-old Maori lawmaker Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke tore up a copy of
the proposed bill and was joined by other lawmakers in performing a
Māori haka on the Parliament floor, suspending the session.

This comes just days after New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher
Luxon offered an apology to the survivors and families of hundreds of
thousands of children and vulnerable adults who were physically,
sexually and psychologically abused in state institutions over the last
70 years - a large proportion of whom were from the Māori community.