Haka chants rang out during the demonstration in Wellington on Tuesday - Mark Tantrum/AP Tens of thousands of people have marched on New Zealand’s capital against a bill to redefine Maori rights in one of the largest protests in the country’s history.

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.

The Treaty Principles Bill seeks to revise New Zealand’s foundational agreement with Maori people and is hugely unpopular, with even the prime minister deriding it.