Subdued tone as political leaders spoke on eve of Waitangi Day amid some fatigue in Māori communities over divisive coalition policies

When New Zealand’s political leaders gathered to speak at the Waitangi treaty grounds where Māori chiefs and the British Crown forged a nation 186 years ago there was a striking absence: the public.

As a light rain fell on the green peninsula in the far north of New Zealand on Thursday, fewer than 100 people gathered to watch the leaders welcomed onto the grounds, and only a handful of people heckled ministers as they spoke.