Under the principles laid out in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, tribes were promised broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests.

The bill objects to certain to "ethnic quotas in public institutions," arguing protections for Māori culture defy "the principle of equal rights."

New Zealand’s parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Maori members staged a haka to disrupt the vote on a contentious bill that would reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty between the British and Indigenous Maori.