Hīkoi mō te Tiriti

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti (Māori for 'March for the Treaty') were hīkoi protests in New Zealand against the Treaty Principles Bill that occurred from 10 November to 19 November 2024. The bill would redefine the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The bill was introduced in November 2024 by the right-wing coalition government as a key policy goal of David Seymour (leader of the libertarian ACT party). Seymour rejected the idea that the Treaty of Waitangi was a partnership between the New Zealand Crown and Māori iwi. He also argued that the original treaty did not sufficiently define the legal rights of New Zealanders, and that this had never been rectified. Seymour is himself of Māori descent.

The bill provoked opposition from several disparate groups, including senior lawyers, opposition parties and supporters of Māori rights. Opponents argue that Māori rights would be eroded and that insufficient consultation took place; proponents say the bill would enshrine equal rights for all New Zealanders regardless of ethnicity. The other two parties in government, National and New Zealand First, have distanced themselves from it. They maintained that they would vote it down at the second reading while Seymour suggested they may support the bill following the select committee process.

Members of Parliament performed a haka in the House of Representatives, which delayed the bill's first reading. The hīkoi took place the same week and traversed the length of the country. By the time it reached the capital, Wellington, over 20,000 people had already marched and around 42,000 people would march in the city. Attending the march in Wellington were politicians, as well as the Māori queen, Nga wai hono i te po.

After a government committee recommended that the bill should not move forward, it was defeated at its second reading by a vote of 112-11, with only the ACT party voting in favor.