Emotions run high as MPs address hikoi

3.00pm

Tariana Turia has given an emotional 20 minute address to a hikoi crowd on the forecourt of Parliament. In her speech she said the hikoi was for their Maori ancestors and for their children.

Turia drew on the words of Nelson Mandela, telling the crowd that they were 'more powerful beyond measure' reported Newstalk ZB radio. Veteran Maori sovereignty campaigner, Tame Iti, later spat at the feet of Labour's Maori MPs.

The MPs had fronted up to the thousands of protesters packing Parliament's grounds, but when Maori Affairs Minister Parekhura Horomia came out, the crowd erupted into boos and chants of "cross the floor".

Mr Horomia dismissed Mr Iti's insult as the actions of an old fashioned Maori. He spoke of a new breed of Maori these days, young and educated, who did not bother to turn out for the hikoi.

The minister then went on to offend those who did turn up by saying most Maori do not know what crossing the floor means.

Thousands of hikoi marchers earlier crammed into the forecourt in a spectacular, colourful and noisy display of Maori solidarity over the foreshore.

A march through central Wellington arrived about 12.30pm, with marchers and those who had been waiting for them greeting each other with a furious challenge.

Parliament Grounds echoed to the noise of a haka that stretched from the forecourt, out to the main gates - almost 100 metres.

One protester scaled the statue of former premier Richard Seddon to raise the flag of Maori sovereignity, to the joy of the gathered masses.

Labour Party Maori MPs under siege for their support of the Foreshore and Seabed Bill - which many Maori see as legalising land confiscation - slipped into the protesting crowd as the hikoi arrived.

They took their place behind Maori elders wearing the raukura - a white feather dating back to the Taranaki land grab of the mid 1800s, but also a symbol of peace.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen and Progressive MPs Jim Anderton and Matt Robson also sat among the protesters.

Lines of impassive police stood in front of Parliament buildings, in stark contrast to the seething mass of colour and movement in front of them.

Behind the police cordon, MPs from New Zealand First and the Green Party were prominent on the fronts steps - the Greens bearing a banner reading "Honour Te Tiriti" Maori for "Honour The Treaty".

Maori protest leaders Pita Sharples, Tame Iti and Ken Mair were prominent as the hikoi, which began in the Far North, reached its final destination.

It was a spectacular arrival as feathered cloaks, flags, banners, flax skirts, Maori sovereignty flags mingled with the grey business suits of Parliament.

A blustery wind added to the atmosphere, sending chairs provided for the marchers scattering like skittles, and hammering banners.

One banner likened Prime Minister Helen Clark to Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean dictator who she has attacked for taking land from white settlers.

"Helen Mugabe, what she won't do for power," it read, rubbing in the message with a cartoon of a black Miss Clark.

Tariana Turia, the Labour minister who last week resigned over the legislation, made an unheralded appearance on a second floor balcony as the hikoi arrived.

Though most marchers probably did not notice her, it was reminiscent of the famous Buckingham Palace scenes of British royalty.

Mrs Turia is seen as a heroine by many marchers, after putting her political career on the line over the foreshore legislation.

Students from an iwi school in her home city Wanganui told NZPA they would stay in Wellington to see her vote against the legislation tomorrow.

"She's the woman," one Te Kura o Kokohuia student said.

An adult with the school group said it was on the hikoi to "support iwi initiatives".

Miss Clark was not alone in having her name pilloried on banners.

Maori MPs Dover Samuels, John Tamihere, Mahara Okeroa, Mita Ririnui and Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, were urged to oppose the legislation on one banner.

"Don't be Subdued by Shame," it read.

The Maori MPs arrived on the forecourt of Parliament in the company of security staff.

Tainui MP Nanaia Mahuta, who has permission to abstain from a vote on the bill, joined the group awaiting the marchers before her colleagues.

- NZPA, Newstalk ZB

Continuous updates