Legislators stage Maori protest in New Zealand’s parliament

Protesters against the Treaty Principles Bill stand by a Maori sovereignty flag outside parliament in Wellington, New Zealand (Charlotte Graham-McLay/AP)

A vote in New Zealand’s parliament was suspended and two legislators ejected when dramatic political theatre erupted over a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Maori and the British Crown.

Under the principles laid out in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which guide the relationship between the government and Maori, tribes were promised broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests in return for ceding governance to the British.