Lawmakers stage Māori protest in New Zealand's parliament during fraught race relations debate

You are complicit in the harm and the division that this presents,

said Rawiri Waititi, a lawmaker from Te Pāti Māori, an Indigenous group, speaking to all who advanced the bill

Shame! Shame! Shame on you, David Seymour,

roared Willie Jackson, a veteran Māori lawmaker

If you vote for this bill, this is who you are,

Green party leader Chloe Swarbrick told Luxon's lawmakers

David Seymouract leader

What all of these principles have in common is that they afford Māori different rights from other New Zealanders,

David Seymour, leader of minor libertarian party ACT and the bill’s author, said Thursday

Chlöe Swarbrickgreen MP

My question to MPs is: are you here to hold on to power at any cost, or are you here to do the right thing

said Chlöe Swarbrick, the Green Party co-leader

I said some time ago that [Seymour] was the most dangerous politician in New Zealand, and that has come to pass,

Jackson said

The purpose of this bill is break this parliament’s 49 years of silence to define the principles in law so it is crystal clear what the treaty means to modern New Zealanders,

he said

At present, the progressing of the bill is having serious impacts on the relationship,

the tribunal said

Christopher Luxonprime Minister

I’d just say, the hard issues are in fact the hard things Kiwis are dealing with right now. What they are dealing with is the cost of living, what they are dealing with is the threat of losing their jobs, what they are dealing with is rising crime, what they have been dealing with is an education system that is failing their kids,

Luxon said

By the time we get to Wellington, this would have quadrupled in size and in mass, because people are really concerned about how the country has been divided through legislation like the Treaty Principles Bill,

he said