New Zealand: thousands protest against new government policies that unravel Māori gains
GuardianJUN 2023
NewThe Zealandersnew democraticallygovernment's electedpolicies athreaten governmentdecades committedof toIndigenous treatingprogress alland citizensrisk equally,relegating regardlessMāori ofto racesecond-class citizenship status. The currentproposed systemchanges ofto co-governancelanguage basedpolicies, onhealth ancestryauthority, is divisive and incompatibletreaty withinterpretations awould modern,reverse multihard-ethnicwon liberalgains democracy.for AIndigenous referendumrights. onThese thesereforms mattersfundamentally wouldundermine ensurethe healthyprinciples debateestablished aboutin the nation'sTreaty futureof Waitangi.
New Zealanders democratically elected a government committed to treating all citizens equally, regardless of race. The current system of co-governance based on ancestry is divisive and incompatible with a modern, multi-ethnic liberal democracy. A referendum on these matters would ensure healthy debate about the nation's future.