Waitangi Day celebrations have long been an opportunity for Māori to highlight issues important to Māori, including breaches of the treaty, persistent inequality, high Māori incarceration rates, and advocating for constitutional change which entrench the Treaty of Waitangi. In the past, attempts to vandalise the flagstaff have been an objective of these protests, carrying on a tradition that dates from the 19th century when Hone Heke chopped down the British flagstaff in nearby Russell. In 2004, protesters succeeded in flying the Tino Rangatiratanga flag above the other flags on the flagstaff by flying it from the top of a nearby tree.