From AFP News Agency.
A Maori folk song rang through New Zealand’s parliament after lawmakers voted to defeat a bill that many feared would erode Indigenous rights. The contentious "Treaty Principles Bill" sought to redefine the principles of New Zealand’s founding Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between 540 Maori chiefs and colonising British forces. Its principles today underpin efforts to foster partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous New Zealanders, and protect the interests of the Maori community. Many critics saw it as an attempt to wind back the special rights given to the country’s 900,000-strong Maori population.
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