Tens of thousands of people have marched on the New Zealand parliament in Wellington to protest against a bill that critics say strikes at the core of the country’s founding principles and dilutes the rights of Māori people.

Thousands of people are marching the length of New Zealand in protest of a proposed law that would redefine the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown.

By Lucy Craymer and Lewis Jackson WELLINGTON (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of New Zealanders rallied in front of parliament on Tuesday in one of the country's largest ever protests to oppose a bill, which opponents say seeks to dilute the rights of Maori and threatens to set race relations back decades.