{"id":600933,"date":"2026-09-15T09:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600933\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T09:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:02:14","slug":"horse-hikoi-in-photos-the-day-ngati-kahungunu-rode-to-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600933\/","title":{"rendered":"Horse h\u012bkoi in photos: The day Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu rode to Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu, the iwi which spans much of the eastern lower North Island, led this convoy of riders from Waim\u0101rama to Wellington to protest Government policies they believe diminish Te Tiriti and negatively affect the environment.<\/p>\n

This included the Treaty references bills<\/a> (it is one policy spread across three bills as the different actions have different legal effects) and the RMA.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, Tainui, for example, lambasted the Government<\/a> over the halting of the PC1 river protections that were years in the making in place of new proposals under the RMA. The iwi stressed how its landmark settlement obliges the Crown, alongside Waikato-Tainui, to protect the river. <\/p>\n

\"OneOne horse, carrying the petition, was permitted onto Parliament’s grounds. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

The original plan was to ride all 40 horses onto Parliament\u2019s precinct (a move that would likely have been stopped), but iwi leader Bayden Barber and Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee compromised. <\/p>\n

One horse was allowed to ride onto the grounds to hand over a petition signed by more than 52,000 urging the Government to ditch efforts to repeal or amend Treaty references.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne horse, carrying the petition, was permitted onto Parliament’s grounds. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Treaty is here to stay, M\u0101ori are here to stay, we are not going anywhere,\u201d Barber said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny weakening of the Treaty of Waitangi, any removing of clauses that talk about the Treaty of Waitangi, it shouldn\u2019t happen, and that\u2019s why we are doing what we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HundredsHundreds of people and a sole horse gather for mihi outside Parliament. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell <\/p>\n

Barber said as the group rode through towns toward the capital, people cheered and gave koha or donations. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were P\u0101keh\u0101. It shows the support [for our cause] not just from iwi M\u0101ori but P\u0101keh\u0101,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Treaty is not just for M\u0101ori; it is for everyone in this nation. It is the foundational document that our t\u016bpuna signed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ng\u0101ti Kahungungu\u2019s demonstration is expected to be the last protest from M\u0101oridom at Parliament this term with less than two sitting weeks to go before the House rises for the election. <\/p>\n

\"HorsesHorses arrive at Parliament to protest. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

The protest bookends a term marred by action against policies many believe are anti-M\u0101ori or that undermine the Treaty. This is a charge the Government has consistently rejected. <\/p>\n

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is leading the Treaty reference review, which was part of New Zealand First\u2019s coalition agreement with National. <\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters on horseback arrive at Parliament at the conclusion of their h\u012bkoi. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

He said the repealing or amending of references in 19 pieces of legislation was needed to bring consistency, clarity and predictability to law. <\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 30 or 40 years, Parliament has made all sorts of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s \u2018honour\u2019, or \u2018have regard to\u2019, or \u2018give effect to\u2019, or \u2018take into account\u2019. We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not agree or accept that this legislation weakens Treaty obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeTe P\u0101ti M\u0101ori Ikaroa-R\u0101whiti candidate Haley Maxwell arrives on horseback to Parliament. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell <\/p>\n

The just-released bills reveal terms such as \u201cuphold\u201d or \u201chonour\u201d would be replaced with \u201ctakes into account te Tiriti o Waitangi\/the Treaty of Waitangi\u201d. <\/p>\n

The changes span several pieces of legislation<\/a>, including mental health and education spaces.<\/p>\n

Barber, who led the convoy, said he hoped the imagery of M\u0101ori of all ages riding horses to Parliament would spark people to vote, particularly other M\u0101ori. <\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters on horseback arrive at Parliament at the conclusion of their h\u012bkoi. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell <\/p>\n

\u201cIf our young people can ride their horses from Waim\u0101rama to P\u014dneke, then surely our wh\u0101nau can get along to the polling booth and vote. This is the most important election for this country, especially for M\u0101ori, in our generation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to send a message to this Government that we are serious about protecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding agreement of this country. Not only to this Government but whoever is there come November 7.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu, the iwi which spans much of the eastern lower North Island, led this convoy of riders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[295996,200441,28824,26695,1875,7794,5972,296099,71,34955,76322,14568,11551,78,127065,9933,20513,32573,5430,130,111,43,139,32141,69,24637,384,128,254,42562,7254,3598,42675,57301,97088,83113,31706,100053,131,223,1961,1529,296098,61,38961,14578,149427,27704,3608],"class_list":["post-600933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-295996","tag-amend","tag-arrived","tag-bills","tag-carrying","tag-contentious","tag-day","tag-dayslong","tag-from","tag-gates","tag-hkoi","tag-horse","tag-hours","tag-in","tag-kahungunu","tag-later","tag-legislation","tag-mark","tag-mitchell","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-ngti","tag-nz","tag-parliament","tag-people","tag-petition","tag-photos","tag-pieces","tag-policy","tag-proposing","tag-protesting","tag-references","tag-repeal","tag-rode","tag-signed","tag-tabled","tag-than","tag-the","tag-this","tag-three","tag-tiritithe","tag-to","tag-treaty","tag-tuesday","tag-waimrama","tag-waitangi","tag-were"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}