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

A vote in New Zealand’s parliament was suspended and two lawmakers ejected Thursday amid debate over a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.

New Zealand’s parliament was disrupted by a haka on Nov. 14, during the reading of a controversial bill that proposes to alter the way the country’s treaty between the indigenous Maori and the British Crown is interpreted.