[kall]

New Zealand's national day has provided little cause for celebration for the country's top politicians in recent years.

Waitangi Day on February 6 commemorates the signing in 1842 of the Treaty of Waitangi under which New Zealand came under the control of the British crown in return for the protection of the rights and lands of the native Polynesian Maori population.

Within 40 years, the Maori had been swamped by mainly British settlers and their land holdings whittled away, often by often dubious land deals and occasionally by outright confiscation.

Commemorations of the treaty at Waitangi, 250 kilometres (156 miles) north of Auckland, have increasingly become a focus of protest over treaty issues and in the last year race relations have climbed to the top of the political agenda.

Maori, who now make up about 15 percent of the population, have enjoyed a cultural renaissance in recent years and this has also translated into greater political assertiveness.

During last year's ceremonies, Prime Minister Helen Clark was abused and jostled by protesters and opposition leader Don Brash had mud thrown at him. Clark plans to go back to Waitangi this year but will stay away from the Te Tii marae (meeting house), the focus of protests.

"Because the mana (prestige) of Te Tii has been quite seriously damaged it's not appropriate to go there and last year made that quite obvious," Clark said recently.

New Zealand has often been held up as one of the most successful models for race relations in the world. But a renewed emphasis on the Treaty of Waitangi in recent years and higher expectations amongst Maori for compensation for past wrongs have increased Maori activism and caused unease amongst many Pakeha (non-Maori) New Zealanders.

Brash, leader of the centre-right National Party, ignited the issue in a speech a year ago, saying the policies of Clark's centre-left Labour party government had caused a "dangerous drift towards racial separatism".

"Over the last 20 years, the treaty has been wrenched out of its 1840s context and become the plaything of those who would divide New Zealanders from one another and not unite us."

In 1975 the Waitangi Tribunal was set up to consider contemporary Maori grievances and this was extended 10 years later to include claims going back to the original signing of the treaty.

As well as encouraging the tribunal to deal with grievances, Clark's government has tried to encourage a revival of the Maori language and culture. It has also spent large sums of money to attack problems such as poor health, high unemployment and poor educational achievement, all of which disproportionately affect Maori.

In his speech Brash attacked special treatment for Maori. "Maori must build their own future with their own hands," he said.

He struck a chord with many non-Maori voters. The National Party's poll ratings rose from the mid-twenties to as high as 49 percent in the following weeks. The government, after initially accusing Brash of racial divisiveness, was impressed enough at being overtaken in the polls to later fine-tune some its policies to downplay any special treatment for Maori.

Brash's National Party now finds itself trailing in the polls again and he could be tempted to make further capital on the issue with an election due by late September.

Clark's government has also been attacked by Maori activists and supporters for being all too ready to sacrifice Maori rights in order to ease non-Maori fears, however irrational those fears might be.

In June 2003 a court ruled the possibility of Maori title to some foreshore and seabed areas could be investigated by the Maori Land Court. If such title existed, this could potentially be converted to private title. Previously, it had been assumed these areas were state-owned.

The ruling caused an uproar due to fears some beaches could be closed off to non-Maori. It is an article of faith for New Zealanders that everyone should have access to beaches, although around a third of foreshore areas - the strip of land between the high and low tide marks - are already in private hands.

The government decided to pass a law making it clear all non-private foreshore and seabed areas were government-owned and there would be no Maori title to any of them. Maori and their Pakeha supporters were incensed their right to test ownership of these areas in the courts had been removed.

Tariana Turia, a Maori minister in Clark's government resigned over the proposed legislation and set up the Maori Party. Traditionally, the great majority of Maori have voted Labour and her new party threatens to siphon off many of these votes in the coming election.

In May, thousands of protesters converged on parliament to oppose the foreshore legislation and Clark further inflamed the situation by calling some of the protest leaders "haters and wreckers".

The foreshore and seabed law was passed late last year and the government now finds itself in the firing line from both sides of the debate on Maori grievances.

Little wonder Clark plans a lower profile at Waitangi this year.