We are pausing our live coverage of the hīkoi march.

Protesters have started leaving the grounds of New Zealand's parliament. Many will head back to Wellington's Waitangi Park for a concert, a kārakia (a prayer) and a farewell, which will mark the formal end of this nine-day march.

The hīkoi, which is a peaceful protest, was in response to the proposed Treaty Principles Bill that seeks to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi - an 1840 agreement between the British and many, but not all, Māori tribes, covering issues including land and cultural rights.

Here is a summary of what we've seen today:

• Tens of thousands of people gathered at Waitangi Park early on Tuesday in preparation for the march to parliament
• The Māori Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō led the delegation where a sea of people - themselves thousands strong - was waiting on the lawns outside the building
• Police estimate that around 35,000 people were on the parliament grounds, which if confirmed would make it the largest hīkoi in New Zealand's history
• Inside parliament, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was a "significant day" and reiterated that the bill would not pass a second reading
• The march has covered about 1,000 kms (621 miles) since it began last Monday, travelling down to Wellington from the country's northern tip

Thank you for joining us. This live page has been brought to you by Jay Savage, Hannah Ritchie, Tiffanie Turnbull, Katy Watson, Simon Atkinson, Brandon Livesay, Imogen James, Ayeshea Perera and Gavin Butler in Sydney, Wellington, DC, London and Singapore.

Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News

For a country of just over 5 million people, this is a huge protest - and one of the most significant in recent history.

Crowds 35,000-strong were tightly packed on the lawns and roads surrounding parliament house, with some spectators even climbing up buildings to get a better view as speakers addressed the crowds.

And it's worth remembering this is only the crowd size for today. Many others had temporarily joined the march as it stopped off in cities and towns on its way south over the past nine days.

Protests over Māori right are not uncommon - there have been several since the change of government last year- but hīkois of this magnitude are rare, and if police estimates are correct, this is easily the largest.

As the group entered the final stretch of their journey, they were compared to the famous 1975 Māori land rights march, which drew 5,000 people and is credited as a nation-defining moment.

But today's protest is seven times bigger, and also at least double the size of another major hīkoi in 2004, which rallied for shore and sea ownership rights.

It also dwarfs the protests over New Zealand's Covid-19 measures - the biggest of which drew a couple thousand people - and rivals the tens of thousands who marched on parliament during the school strike for climate in 2019.

The largest protest in New Zealand history, however, was over the South African rugby team's 1981 visit to the country, as its government faced global pressure over apartheid. At the time, more than 150,000 people took part in over 200 demonstrations over 56 days.

Image source, Getty Images

Even as an estimated 35,000 people gather in protest outside, MPs inside New Zealand's parliament were discussing the Treaty Principles bill that triggered the march, according to local media.

Among them was Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who said that today was a "significant day". He also reiterated his position that the bill would not pass into law.

"Our position as the National Party is unchanged. We won't be supporting the bill beyond second reading and therefore it won't become law," he said, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Luxon described the bill as "simplistic", the newspaper added.

"We don't think through the stroke of a pen you go rewrite 184 years of debate and discussion."

Meanwhile, Act Party leader David Seymour, who reportedly came out to see the hīkoi, was booed back inside the Beehive as impassioned chants of "kill the bill" erupted among protesters, according to the Herald.

Wellington's rail network has seen what might have been its busiest morning ever as the hīkoi poured through the capital, according to the city's transport chair Thomas Nash.

Nash said that 35,000 - 40,000 people passed through Wellington Railway Station on Tuesday morning, compared to 16,000 -17,000 on an average weekday.

"Very full services, but good vibes," he wrote in an X post, published just before noon local time.

Two hours later, Nash published another post saying "we’ve had possibly our busiest morning ever on the Wellington rail network for the Hīkoi, with 40,000 people through the railway station.

"Crowd likely at least 50,000," he wrote. "If you’re heading out of town by train today, make a plan now because trains will only be running until 8:30pm."

Katy Watson
BBC correspondent in Wellington

Right outside the Beehive, leaders are addressing the huge crowds in both English and Māori.

Chants of Kill the Bill are met with huge rounds of applause.

There are refugee groups as well as those representing Asian communities - the modern New Zealand that the bill’s proponent David Seymour talks about.

Their view though is that without the founding document remaining as it is, they don’t have a right to live here - and they want it to stay the same.

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Wellington

Image source, BBC News

The man behind the bill to overhaul the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi is the leader of the Act Party, David Seymour. Act is a minor party in the ruling coalition. Seymour argues that the country should legally define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - that over time the treaty’s core values have led to racial divisions, not unity.

“My Treaty Principles Bill says that I, like everybody else, whether their ancestors came here 1,000 years ago, like some of mine did, or just got off the plane at Auckland International Airport this morning to begin their journey as New Zealanders, have the same basic rights and dignity,” he told the BBC.

“Your starting point is to take a human being and ask, what's your ancestry? What kind of human are you?” adds Seymour who has Māori ancestry himself. “That used to be called prejudice. It used to be called bigotry. It used to be called profiling and discrimination. Now you're trying to make a virtue of it. I think that's a big mistake.”

As we've been reporting, massive crowds have been taking part in the march in New Zealand's capital, with many waving flags and chanting slogans in opposition to the proposed Treaty Principles Bill.

The march has covered about 1,000 kilometres over the past nine days, travelling down to Wellington from the country's northern tip.

Katy Watson
BBC correspondent in Wellington

The controversy over the proposed Treaty Principles bill comes down to interpretation of the treaty of Waitangi, which is a fairly broad document.

Over time, its core values have been woven into New Zealand laws, and the Waitangi Tribunal - which since 1975 has been charged with hearing claims about breaches of the treaty - has also based their decisions on the principles of the document and how it should be applied.

But exactly what those core values are has never been specified - they have evolved on a case by case basis, and there's now 50 years of history setting out principles which include partnership, protection and redress.

But David Seymour and his Act party say the principles need to be explicitly defined, and he’s also proposing they be extended to all New Zealanders.

“The Tino Rangitiratanga or self-determination, the ability to own property and develop your own language your culture and your aspirations should apply to all,” he says.

The worry is though that his proposals will mean Māori people are no longer specifically protected and that’s what the treaty was about in the first place.

The organiser of the protest, Eru Kapa-Kingi, has just addressed the crowd, thanking them for turning out.

"What a response this is," he said, according the the NZ Herald. "I’m proud of every single one of you for standing up today."

"It is up to us. We must make this moment live forever... The only thing standing in our way is ourselves. This hīkoi does not end here."

"Pākehā ma," he said, addressing white people, "you should not fear Māori liberation."

Katy Watson
BBC correspondent in Wellington

The grounds outside the Beehive, New Zealand's parliament building, are at capacity as police estimate that more than 35,000 are participating in the protest. The Māori Queen is there, as are several MPs.

It’s the culmination of the nine-day hīkoi that started at the northernmost tip of the North Island. In the sea of people are Māori flags and signs talking about unity and love, as well as respect for Te Tiriti (the Treaty).

The crowd is big, and it’s hard to get close to parliament with the number of people here.

“It’s an important day for us to stand next to our Government and our fellow Europeans. To stand as one together”, says Sahn Junior Whiunui from Hawkes Bay. “I’m here for Māori in general.”

Image source, Getty Images

As we have reported a short while ago, people participating in the hīkoi or peaceful march, has reached New Zealand's parliament in Wellington.

Here's a quick account of the journey it has taken to get here:

Nine days ago, the 1,000km (621 mile) march began in the far north of New Zealand, in Cape Reinga.

It proceeded to stop off in Whangārei, North Shore, Auckland, Huntly, Rotorua, Tairawhiti, Kaiti, Hastings, Palmerston North and Porirua.

Tuesday marks the final, and biggest day, of the peaceful protest. Around 30,000 people are expected to join in as the group marches through the capital.

Katy Watson
BBC correspondent in Wellington

Image source, BBC News

While crowds flow into the grounds of parliament in the centre of Wellington – widely seen as New Zealand's most liberal city – to support the hīkoi, out in the suburbs it’s easier to find more of what politician David Seymour calls “all the people who aren't making a noise”.

Barbara Lecomte says she doesn't like Māori politics getting “pushed to the forefront”.

"I don’t really know what the Māori are arguing about,” she tells the BBC.

“They seem to want more and more and more. I do not know why we should have more for one race than another. We’re all New Zealanders. We should be able to work together and have equal rights."

"It’s good you discuss things, but it is causing a big rift with the country, all these people marching down the highway," Ms Lecomte added. "I just wish we could all live in peace and get on with one another."

After nine days and more than 1,000km (621 miles), the hīkoi has reached New Zealand's parliament - dubbed the Beehive.

The Māori Queen Ngā Wai hono i te pō led the delegation into the grounds, but thousands of people behind her are still marching.

A sea of red and black - themselves thousands strong - has been waiting for the hīkoi on the lawns outside the building, where a small delegation of MPs is expected to greet the protesters.

Image source, Getty Images

The Treaty of Waitangi, or Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the Māori language, is one of New Zealand’s key founding documents.

Signed in 1840, it is an agreement between the British and many, but not all, Māori tribes, covering issues including land and cultural rights.

The treaty resulted in the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand, allowing the Crown to establish a government there while granting Māori tribes broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests.

Dr Carwyn Jones, a leading academic in Māori laws and philosophy, says the document explicitly preserves the authority of the Māori chief - meaning there are "two spheres of authority coexisting here in Aotearoa". Aotearoa is the Māori-language name for New Zealand.

The treaty is contentious, however, as it was written in both English and Māori, and the two versions contain fundamental differences when it comes to issues such as sovereignty.

While the treaty itself is not enshrined in law, its principles have, over time, been adopted into various pieces of legislation in an effort to redress the wrong done to Māori during colonisation.

The protest that has descended on Wellington brings thousands of people, flags, and signs as they head towards parliament in the country's capital.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Atkinson
reporting from Wellington

Image source, Reuters

The protesters are preparing to depart Waitangi Park for their Hīkoi mō te Tiriti through Wellington's city centre to parliament.

Police say more than 15,000 people have already arrived here.

Over 2,000 people have already assembled on parliament grounds ahead of the hīkoi arriving.

New Zealand has long been considered a leader in indigenous rights, with the Māori language being widely embraced across the country and Māori people being relatively well represented in the halls of power.

But the current conservative government, elected in October 2023 under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, has introduced a series of measures that have been criticised by Māori people.

They include the closure of the Māori Health Authority, which was set up under Jacinda Ardern's Labour government to help create health equity, and reprioritising English over Māori when it comes to the official naming of government organisations, for example.

Opponents of the Treaty Principles Bill fear it puts indigenous rights in deeper jeopardy.

While roughly 18% of New Zealand's population consider themselves to be Māori, according to the most recent census, many remain disadvantaged compared with the general population when assessed through markers such as health outcomes, household income, education levels and incarceration and mortality rates.

There remains a seven-year gap in life expectancy.

The controversy surrounding the Treaty Principles Bill drew an international spotlight on 14 November, when MPs in New Zealand's parliament performed a Māori haka in protest.

Opposition party MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke began the traditional ceremonial group dance after being asked whether her party supported the bill, which faced its first vote that day.

Maipi-Clarke responded to the question by standing up and tearing what appeared to be her copy of the legislation. She then started the haka, turning to face Act Party leader David Seymour, and was swiftly joined by other opposition members on the floor as well as people in the gallery.

Parliament was brought to a temporary halt as a result of the dance and Maipi-Clarke was suspended - but footage of the incident quickly garnered global attention.

It has been introduced by Act, a junior member of the governing coalition, and aims to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi which has long been fundamental to race relations in New Zealand.

Although not an official legal document, the treaty’s core values have, over time, been woven into New Zealand's laws in an effort to redress the wrong done to Māori during colonisation.

Act claims this has resulted in the country being divided by race, and argues there is a need to legally define the principles of the treaty in order to grant equal rights for all. They claim that their proposed bill, known as the Treaty Principles Bill, would allow the treaty to be interpreted more fairly through parliament, rather than the courts.

Critics say the legislation will divide the country and lead to the unravelling of much-needed support for many Māori.

The bill passed a first reading on Thursday, backed by all parties from the ruling coalition.

It is unlikely to pass a second reading, as Act's coalition partners have indicated they will not support it.

Katy Watson
BBC correspondent in Wellington

People started gathering in central Wellington early this morning.

Thousands of people have now packed into Waitangi Park waving the red, black and white Māori flag. Others are carrying signs in support of the Māori community.

“It’s awesome to see everyone come together from all parts of the country,” says Aly Payne. He is here with his wife Emily and their two children, who have been taken out of school for the day, because the family sees the hīkoi as an important part of the country’s history.

“There’s a lot of pride and a lot of frustration about why we’re here in the first place,” says Aly. “It seems across the world there’s these strange political goings on and a lot of it is pointed to indigenous people.”

But he says New Zealanders are special because they rally together.

“There’s a lot of polarisation and we in Aotearoa [New Zealand] believe in coming together,” Emily adds.

“There’s a lot of mamae [hurt or grieving people] here today. We are doing it for our kids and pride.”