Newly elected conservative government of New Zealand prompts indigenous backlash

Photo: ABC News (Mark Mitchell/New Zealand Herald via AP)

Last October, New Zealanders voted a new conservative government into office, after years of Ms. Jacinda Ardern’s Labor party in power. During the newly formed parliament's first session since the election, thousands of protesters gathered in Wellington to protest against the government’s Indigenous policies. Maori Party co-leader, Rawiri Waititi, said the new policies of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s administration would take New Zealand “back to the 1800s…Our protest this morning was an activation of our people.”

The backlash came after statements made by the conservative government which promised to review the Treaty of Waitangi and implement potential changes to how that the foundation document signed by British colonists and Maori chiefs in 1840 affects modern laws.

The government has also foreshadowed changes to the Maori Health Authority, a statutory agency responsible for ensuring that the New Zealand healthcare system meets Maori needs.

Concerning the protests, the Prime Minister said his government was “deeply committed to improving outcomes for Maori and non-Maori. Maori have done very well in [conservative] National-led governments in the past, and they’re going to continue to do well.”

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