Hīkoi mō te Tiriti brings 42000 to Parliament
RNZ / Craig McCulloch
Wellington.Scoop As the leaders of the hikoi arrived at Parliament this morning, the march stretched back through the CBD to Taranaki Street.
RNZ reported that 35,000 people were taking part in the hikoi. Police had earlier estimated that 15,000 people were marching, with another 4000 waiting in the grounds of Parliament. They later updated their estimate to the total of 42,000.
Iwi leaders from around the motu arrived with Kuini Nga wai hono i e po and were welcomed onto Parliament grounds by mana whenua.
As the grounds of Parliament filled up, thousands were still arriving. Traffic wardens were directing people into the surrounding streets instead.
MPs from National, Labour and NZFirst came out into the crowd. Chris Hipkins said he would be meeting the hikoi. There was uncertainty about whether Christopher Luxon would do the same but he decided not to.
ACT party leader David Seymour – the chief proponent of the Treaty Principles Bill which the hikoi is opposing – ventured out but only for a few minutes before going back into the Beehive. He had four uniformed police officers and three diplomatic protection officers with him. He was met by chants of “kill the bill … kill the bill.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau joined the hikoi and said she was proud of her “political, progressive” city for supporting it. Speaking to Midday Report after arriving at Parliament, Whanau (who whakapapas to Taranaki) said she was “wholeheartedly opposed to the Bill”.
“Look, I’ve seen a couple of negative messages online that it’s not my role to be participating in something like this, but the clear majority have been positive. People forget that I’m the first Māori mayor of Pōneke. It would almost be offensive if I didn’t participate in this.”
Among the speakers at Parliament, RNZ reported that iwi leader Helmut Modlik said: “To those who want to divide us, you’re too late … we’re already one people.” And Hīkoi leader Eru Kapa-Kingi told the crowd, the “Māori nation has been born” today. “Te Tiriti is forever” he said, saying they want to make this moment “live forever.”
Photo: Ashleigh McCaull / RNZ
The Maori Queen (far right) was in the crowd listening to the speeches.
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke – whose haka in Parliament during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill attracted global attention – was one of the speakers.
Regional councillor Thomas Nash told RNZ there were 40,000 people through the Wellington train station this morning. Normally on a busy weekday, there would be 17,000. He said that was a conservative estimate, because many people weren’t tagging on or off, and it was possibly the busiest morning on the rail network they’d ever seen.
