New Zealand deputy PM heckled day after saying colonisation good for Maori

PM calls for civil debate as government faces backlash over efforts to roll back policies to support Maori community.Published On 6 Feb 2026New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has rejected criticism of his claims that colonisation was positive for the country’s Indigenous Maori population.Dozens of people started booing and shouting when Seymour stood on Friday to offer a prayer during a dawn service at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where New Zealand’s founding document was signed in 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and more than 500 Maori Indigenous chiefs, setting out how the two sides would govern the country.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Six missing after landslide hits New Zealand campsitelist 2 of 3New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon calls national election for November 7list 3 of 3Australian writers’ festival apologises to Palestinian author after boycottend of listSeymour made his controversial comments that colonisation had been an overall positive experience for Indigenous people on Thursday during a speech to mark national Waitangi Day, an annual political gathering that gives Indigenous tribes a chance to air grievances.“I’m always amazed by the myopic drone that colonisation and everything that’s happened in our country was all bad,” said Seymour, who is leader of the right-wing ACT Party and a member of the Maori community.“The truth is that very few things are completely bad,” Seymour had said, according to local online news site Stuff.Describing his hecklers on Friday as “a couple of muppets shouting in the dark”, Seymour said the “silent majority up and down this country are getting a little tired of some of these antics”.Following Seymour’s prayer on Friday, left-wing Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins was also loudly jeered by those in attendance.On Thursday, Indigenous leader Eru Kapa-Kingi told parliamentarians “this government has stabbed us in the front,” and the previous Labour government had “stabbed us in the back”.