TPP is the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal which had been signed in Auckland just before, which had been widely criticised by Māori as undermining the self-determination that should be guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori activist and nurse, Josie Butler threw a dildo at the face of New Zealand's economic development minister Steve Joyce while speaking at an event for Waitangi Day. Waitangi Day is a National holiday which celebrates the anniversary of the initial signing in 1840 of the Treaty of Waitangi. During her act of protest she shouted "That’s for raping our sovereignty." She was arrested but later released without charge.