Ihumātao a reminder in making sovereignty our own

By
Christine Rose
-
51
896

We can take inspiration from the current occupation of Ihumātao and its reminders about the wider Treaty principles of tino rangitiratanga and kawanatanga, governorship and sovereignty. In fact, those principles, and occupation as an example of passive resistance, will be more important tools through time. Disruption is a dynamic force of change, and in Ihumātao, and in direct action by Extinction Rebellion and other activists, in resisting systemic injustices, we’re exercising governance and sovereignty ourselves.

It was a bleak midweek and wintery day when I went to Ihumātao to pay my respects and take some fruit and veges for those protecting the land there. But it’s not just the Fletcher Residential development that is the problem for Ihumātao.

Back in about 2008 I’d been a Resource Consent Hearings Commissioner on an application by the Auckland Airport (Company) to obliterate much of the Ihumātao landscape for logistics and warehousing. Iwi told the Hearings Panel of their deep historic links with the land. We heard about the later European farming heritage of the area too. And in any visit you could see the two cultures writ in stone on the landscape. The area has scenic, ecological and geological values. There are fossil kauri forests buried in ash for 29,000 years. There are intrepid and rare migratory birds that fly the globe. There are burial sites and garden beds. It’s where Ellett’s Ryegrass, an important pasture seed was developed. The whole landscape was so important on so many levels. During the Hearing to modify the land, both the submitters and the panellists cried at what was already lost, the scope of change proposed, and that development was a fait accompli.

The iwi story in particular is compelling, it’s one of colonial displacement and land appropriation, and then of economic, social and physical marginalisation as regional, national and international infrastructure, the wastewater treatment plant, the motorway and the airport, and associated masses of concrete and tarseal have dwarfed the remnant settlement of Ihumātao. Look up and down the road from the occupation site, and it’s a swarm of tilt slabs and big concrete boxes. The Ihumātao occupation is the site of the last stand. The home fires still burn there, but the hearth is tiny.

When we arrived for our visit to Ihumātao, there were some young guys good naturedly hooning about in a ute. The cops stood chatting on the side of the road. We were greeted warmly by all. It was like visiting a small village with its own order, and grace, and sense of place. There were lots of new moko on smiling faces with the tattoo studio beside the main tent. It was all so momentous but humble I was tempted to add to my tattoo collection with a moko too. The painted murals on the wooden fence reminded me of Belfast. People were friendly and kids walked around handing out rain ponchos to keep visitors dry. In the big tent, representatives of the group ‘Asians in Support of Tino Rangitiratanga’ encouraged the crowd. The Māori King came, the Cook Island Queen had visited. Muslims showed their support.

There were children playing, and a kuia being well looked after in a wheel chair. It was an equal opportunity occupation and it felt like home. There was free tea, coffee and milo, and free bowls of boil up, rich with watercress and dumplings. It was muddy, and there was fire smoke in the air. The tents looked both fragile and strong – vulnerable to the weather, but occupied by people of fortitude and commitment of a people who had spent centuries on the land. Strangers talked politics, occupation, racism, the nature of sacred sites, while aeroplanes flew overhead and construction machinery clattered and banged from down the road. The huge Tino Rangitiratanga flag draped on the maunga looked mighty and the United Tribes flags were noble. They looked like a promise to the past and the future. There was sovereignty and governorship going on strong.

The Ihumātao occupation is a seminal moment in time. It’s giving courage to others of all walks of life in their own acts of resistance. At Shelly Bay in Wellington an iwi authority and its people are in disagreement over development proposals, and the dispossessed Māori are watching Ihumātao for inspiration. In Auckland’s Western Springs, the Local Board plans to replace the home of the Auckland Horticultural Society with a resource recovery centre and even the genteel gardeners are threatening an an ‘Ihumātao’.

This week, Extinction Rebellion occupied train tracks in Christchurch to blockade a coal train on its way to Lyttelton Port. Among the ‘rebels’ were a styley older lady and the father of two young sons. Nineteen ordinary New Zealanders were arrested. The KiwiRail Operations manager apologised to his customers for the inconvenience caused. Even though KiwiRail weren’t the target of the protest, it is a bit ironic, apologising to customers for disruption caused by a response to an existential threat. He’s worried about unhappy customers, but protestors are worried about the end of the planet. Indeed, Extinction Rebellion is an existentialist rebellion. We’ve got everything to lose.

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It’s hard to have confidence that even well intended political parties can affect the necessary system change to address the extinction crisis, climate change, and inequality and poverty – the crises of capitalism. The escalation of these problems requires an escalated response. Voting doesn’t cut it. We can’t just wait for politicians to do what’s right. We can’t continue to hand over our sovereignty and our right to self-governance to the parliamentary political process. Only in disrupting the system itself, can we combat inertia and the status quo. Only in activism and resistance can we claim the important principles of tino rangatiratanga and kawanatanga back from the state and make them our own.

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51 COMMENTS

  2. Awesome and inspirational words Christine. This is it. Ordinary people from all walks and cultures saying to big money that its just not worth it. May it continue to grow.

  3. Thank you Christine, so important to know of the recent history. This counters the trash coming out of NZ First. Ihumatao is a treasure for all NZ’ers, the history of this site must not be lost. Sure we have a housing shortage, but this site is not the answer. Kia Kaha Soul – Ihumataoe Protectors.

    • Heres a wee mirror for you to look into Marc. The words have value but I’m afraid they have no price so you wont be able to possess them. The idea in this situation is to let the words possess you and change you and then maybe feel a little more connected to the real.

      Only part of us is sane: only part of us loves pleasure and the longer day of happiness, wants to live to our nineties and die in peace, in a house that we built, that shall shelter those who come after us. The other half of us is nearly mad. It prefers the disagreeable to the agreeable, loves pain and its darker night despair, and wants to die in a catastrophe that will set back life to its beginnings and leave nothing of our house save its blackened foundations.

      ― Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, 1941

      It comes from here and relates to your desire Marc to possess every thing and to relegate others to the trash heap.

      https://dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/bodies-on-the-ground-and-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-economic-elite/

      • Spikeyboy: “It comes from here and relates to your desire Marc to possess every thing and to relegate others to the trash heap.”

        Marc has provided a very useful link; did you read it? I did.

        I can’t see how, on the basis of that link, you could impute to Marc the motivations adduced by you, as above.

        The law applies to the situation at Ihumatao; that’s what the link above shows. No matter what any of us thinks about it, neither Fletcher nor the iwi has broken the law.

        Perhaps you wish that it were different, that the government could swoop in and buy the land and hand it to the iwi (who will still wish to build on it, by the way). It cannot; were it to do so, private property rights are potentially undermined everywhere in NZ, and for all of us. Maori included.

        That’s the way things are; no amount of wishing, hoping or activism will alter that state of affairs.

        • Private property ownership/rights were over ridding with confiscations.

          How selective do we have to be to uphold one and not the other.
          A sense of justice tends to look at the chain of vents and not events alone.
          \
          Lets go back to square one for a bit regardless of fears of precedent that can hardly be applied as each confiscation had unique circumstances.

        • Actually no. Reading and understanding the points of law is not the point here. Obviously Ihumatao has reached the end of the road in the courts. Hence the occupation and protest.
          But it is never left to the courts to have the final say in a democracy. The law serves the people which is why parliament is placed at a layer above the courts. The people decide the laws through their representatives in parliament. Homophobic laws were finally recognised as unfair and unjust through a long struggle. The struggle to decriminalise abortion has been even longer. Non violent demonstration and disruption is a legitimate democratic option to gain support for changes in law. If the occupation is determined enough and attracts enough support the govt will have to choose whether to bring in the shock troops or compromise. Its that simple. The present standoff is a wait and see by those in power. How great is the support? Can we knock them over with deceitful practises such as the 100 middle of the night police? Time will tell but its not something the govt has a lot of with elections next year.
          I know of no other cases where the law accepts the purchase of stolen property as a means for legitimising the original theft except in the case of Maori land. There are many adjectives to describe this state of affairs and unjust, especially for a Treaty partner, is certainly one

  5. Pania Newton and others have failed before, what has changed?

    https://www.maorilandcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Decisions/Hetaraka-v-Auckland-Council-Allotments-170-176-Parish-of-Manurewa2017158-Taitokerau-MB-248.pdf

    “[14] The statement of claim filed by Mr Hetaraka contains a general assertion that Allotments 170-176 Parish of Manurewa is Māori customary land. The pleading in support refers to karakia, the Bible, He Whakaputanga (the Declaration of Independence in 1835), the Treaty of Waitangi, the British Intention Standing Orders in Council 1839, Te Ture Whenua Māori Act, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, the District Courts Act 1947, the Declaratory Judgments Act 1908, Mandamus Writ, and various court decisions. This pleading is prolix, unintelligible, contains irrelevant pleading, and pleads matters of evidence.”

    “[15] A large amount of supporting documents are attached to the statement of claim. This includes various court decisions, copies of legislation, and a letter from a Cabinet Minister. These are not pleadings and do not advance the statement of claim.”

    “Decision
    [31]I dismiss the applications by Mr Hetaraka and Ms Newton seeking discovery. [32]I grant an order striking out the entire pleadings by Mr Hetaraka and Ms Newton. Applications A20160006578, A20160005969 and A20160005924, are dismissed.”

    Bang, boom, what next?

    • Whats next is whats happening now. Protest and occupation of the land. Standing up to those like yourself that block your ears to anything other than the price of everything and the value of nothing. Luckily for us there is a decent number of people, predominately Maori ,who know a lot more about value and whats right AND are prepared to put the other parts of their lives aside for the time that it takes to get that value recognised.
      Thankyou from the bottom of my heart to all those brave protectors at Ihumatoa that are making the Marcs of this world irrelevant. This is our Standing Rock and this time there is wide support from many diverse communities in NZ who feel the pain of alienation precisely because they too have experienced it.
      https://asiapacificreport.nz/2019/08/10/the-call-of-ihumatao-migrant-communities-alongside-maori/

      • Sorry, Spikeyboy, you really have a problem. All I am presenting is what has been put before courts and tribunals before, and what has been thrown out and decided. So are you above the law, are you going to do the perhaps inevitable, declare war to the establishment and law as it is?

        Show some GUTS!

      • Spikeyboy: “Protest and occupation of the land.”

        The protesters are trespassing on private land. As I’m sure you know.

        “Standing up to those like yourself that block your ears to anything other than the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

        Who are you to presume to know Marc’s character, purely on the basis of a link detailing the workings of the legal process? Though when people make grandiose statements such as this you’ve made, I conclude that you’re fresh out of substantive arguments, and so are obliged to fall back on ad hominem attacks.

        “This is our Standing Rock and this time there is wide support from many diverse communities in NZ who feel the pain of alienation precisely because they too have experienced it.”

        Nonsense. Again: the land is owned by Fletcher. Not by the iwi; who – to their credit – are well aware of this and have acted with integrity at all times, as far as I can tell. Which is more than can be said for the protesters.

        Pania Newton: now there’s a woman who – as the saying goes – has come to believe her own publicity. It’s high time that she and her followers accepted that they’re wrong; their most honourable course of action is to decamp from the land pronto, and allow development to proceed, unimpeded by their grandstanding.

        • I dont seem to recall any time when Maori ownership of land was repected in the recent or distant past. Tresspass is hardly a hanging offence though you may like to make it such. And your continual banging on about property rights is laughable in its one eyed unidirectional gaze

          • Spikeyboy: I’ve been away for a few days; so I’ve come back here to see what’s been posted meantime.

            “Tresspass is hardly a hanging offence though you may like to make it such.”

            I don’t think that anybody has suggested that trespass is a hanging offence: that would be a bit excessive. However. Our undisturbed, peaceful and quiet enjoyment of our property is a cornerstone of property law. Given that, trespass is certainly a call-the-cops offence in towns and cities. And in the rurals, it’s very likely also to be a shotgun-blast-up-your-backside offence. Probably not something you’d stick around for, I’m guessing.

            And whether urban or rural, trespass is considered to be criminal, so it’s an appear-before-the-judge offence.

            “And your continual banging on about property rights is laughable in its one eyed unidirectional gaze”

            Now I’ll just take a punt here: if you are in fact Maori, you’re probably one of those wanting the return of land that you characterise as stolen or confiscated. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that property rights matter as much to you as they do to any of the rest of us, right?

        • Their best plan of action is to stand firm. Many have been slandered in the past for taking a stand so I’m sure your opinion of her will just be the same as that put out by establishment media. These days it seems that accusations are enough. No need to trouble ourselves with whose putting it about.

    • So selling land that doesnt belong to you is kosher to you Marc? Or would that just be Maori land that doesnt belong to you?

      • From the introduction:
        There is an assumption that proper planning can protect this heritage
        and still accommodate more and more development. There is a feeling that with enough research and stronger conditions somehow all will be well. It is an assumption that can no longer be held. For the Manukau the critical questions are when is enough enough?

        Precisely the question being asked at Ihumatao

    • The law is not something set in stone unless you are talking the US constitution though even that stone will wear away in time. The law in apartheid SA was changed because it was unjust. Many colonial laws have been changed because they were unjust. Protest is the main avenue for focusing the need for change. Hence Ihumatao and the focus on the illegality of the crowns possession of the land. Smuggly asserting “that colonial activities have mostly been accepted as accomplish (sic) facts” does not change the power of protest and occupation to change that acceptence. If enough people support the principals of the protest the govt is forced to either acquiesce to the demands as is right in democracy by the people for the people or to bring in the army and support the elite and to deny democracy. The elite and their voices like yours Marc always try to portray the law as something like Moses tablets set in stone. But as in all things to do with life rather than a slow strangulating death, the law is fluid. Maori are particularly able to see this because their tradition is oral and oral traditions are far more flexible and able to be adapted. In the West we are far more likely to be trapped or pretend we are trapped by the written word such as the bible or US constitution. The result is slow strangulation. So I’m all for loosening the grip on mine and everyone elses neck and I say Kia Kaha Ihumatao. It is imperative that you succeed here or somewhere else

        • Marc did you not realise that the people of Ihumatao have already decamped once in historical times due to a Crown ultimatum?

          They decamped and moved down into the Waikato to avoid Crown aggression.

          They did not sell their land at Ihumatao,they simply left the area temporarily and went to visit their relatives.

          While the people of this land were away visiting relatives in the Waikato,the Crown has trespassed onto their land,illegally seized/stolen it,surveyed it and sold it to a European family,who went on to farm this land,until in more recent times they have on sold it to Fletchers.

          Please confirm these facts Marc,they are provable,common knowledge.

          Now remember the Court and the Law that you have referred us to…

          Knowingly receiving stolen property is an offence under the Crimes act and is punishable by the recovery of said property and fines/imprisonment.

          Even if stolen property is received unknowingly,the remedy is the return of said property to the guardianship of its rightful custodians,in this case the Protectors at Ihumatao,on behalf of the general public.

          Remember Marc,Pania and the Protectors are adamant that the land they are occupying should be an eternally protected public reserve,for all of us,including you.

          This is partly why people from diverse backgrounds with no financial interest in this land are coming in their thousands to show solidarity.

          They know the moral difference between right and wrong and that in a troubled world,wrongdoing has been legalised by the illegitimate leadership.

          There is a so called ‘tribal Authority’ involved,but it is important to understand this ‘tribal Authority’ is far from a democratic majority,instead representing the agendas of a minority of “Material Maori’s”,the ones who turn up to interviews wearing gold rings and gold watches,without so much as a mention of the 30 pieces of silver which was used to buy this jewellery.

          This ‘tribal Authority’ has betrayed Pania and the younger generation.

          Its interesting isn’t it Marc,that the so called ‘tribal Authority,overweight from gorging on the fat of the land and also weighted down by a heavy burden of Gold,Silver (30 pieces)and greed…have little support other than from the small group of businessmen and Politicians who stand to profit from this divisive development project ….

          And of course,people like yourself who either don’t understand or don’t really care.

          You don’t seem to realise that the occupation at Ihumatao is no longer just about the land there.

          It is about demonstrating how the people of this country,Maori,Muslim,Asian,European,all of us have more in common than we have at first appreciated.

          We have a common enemy in the British Crown…

          The more the Police would try to secure the site for the future profits of Fletcher Building,the closer we come to a full scale revolt…

          • Why have the Waitangi Tribunal, the Environment Court and others not listened, and ruled in their favour then, as the ‘tribal authorities’ tried themselves to push for their rights, and then settled for a compromise, as their original approach to get ALL their land and rights back led to no success?

            What you are suggesting is that the younger persons, or younger generation, can simply reject any legal arrangements their parents made, and demand different things, no matter what, also disregarding the law as it stands, and the views and opinions of the rest of society.

            In essence, you are simply suggesting revolution and revolt and occupation is right, full stop, no matter what, and that is because revolution is in itself a right and correct action, at any time.

            That opens the door for constant revolutions, so the revolutionaries of once, and what they may achieve, will be challenged and toppled afterwards, at some time, to be replaced by those leading a revolution against them.

            Are you saying that the so called democratic process is therefore obsolete, irrelevant, and has to make way for revolution, occupation and activism, as the ones that force and occupy must be given their way, and that others have to let them get their way as they please?

            I am just wanting to know, I am not taking positions here, I challenge you to clarify your position, so we know what journey you propose.

            It appears you favour disregard for the law as it stands, so that will make for interesting times ahead.

            • Poor wee Marc. Gets a bit exhausted after one revolution does he? Likes to put his feet up and have a rest?

              As to

              What you are suggesting is that the younger persons, or younger generation, can simply reject any legal arrangements their parents made, and demand different things, no matter what, also disregarding the law as it stands, and the views and opinions of the rest of society.

              Of course that is what we are saying!!

              How do you think NZ became nuclear free?!?
              How do you think apartheid SA got destroyed?!?
              You want a break from people demonstrating?? You must be becoming one of the old ossified geriatrics always dissing the younger generation for wanting a better world!!

              • I can visualise you with a leather jacket, studs and punk rocker hair cut, getting on the bus with your Gold Card, mate.

                As for revolution, good luck, I have no problem with people taking action they see necessary, as long as it will lead to some better outcomes.

                New Zealand is not totally nuclear free, though, nuclear materials are regularly used here, for medical, scientific and other purposes.

                And the so called nuclear free policy could be reversed any time in the future, given a government, perhaps pressured by the US ‘ally’, does this, with most people having become complacent and taking it for granted.

          • Here is a report on what you suggest:
            https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/396060/calls-for-government-to-allow-return-of-privately-owned-land-to-maori

            I have no direct personal interest in any of these disputes, as I am NOT a landowner, I am only living on land owned privately and renting a property on it, so whether land is owned by Pakeha, other New Zealanders who once immigrated here, or by Tangata Whenua, that would not matter all that much to me, as long as they obey the rest of the law and treat their leaseholders fairly and respectfully.

            What I am raising here is the concerns that many others may have, and the consequences any changes to the treatment of once confiscated land and then on-sold may have for society and the economy as a whole.

            You may call for a new battle over rights and land rights in this country, which people like Don Brash would only be too happy to take part in. That is what must be thought about also.

            And whether you love or hate capitalism and the status quo, insecurity, whether based on questions about law and so, or based on other matters, that is something any investor shies away from, there could be serious consequences for New Zealand, should the government step in here and make a deal, even just creating a heritage kind of reserve.

            This would certainly help bring this government down, and it may well lead to a National dominated government for a few terms to follow, is that a good outcome?

      • Of course the law can be changed, and Parliament has the powers to do so, that is its job. What is lacking though is the wider public support to change the law according to the wishes of Pania Newton and others, who are presently occupying and ‘protecting’ the land at Ihumatao.

        So get on with it, convince enough in numbers, through whatever action, to get the numbers to push for the changes of law.

        Serious problem is, how can you roll back all the injustices that occurred throughout history, without in the end using force, which will lead to new injustices that others will lament in future.

        I am no defender of the injustices done to Maori as the people that lived here prior to the arrival of Cook and others. I am just trying to be realistic, also challenging opinions, as to what can and should be done.

        Also am I not surprised that some Maori hurled abuse at cops of different ethnic backgrounds, who appeared to be immigrants to New Zealand, first or second generation here, who may not have got permission by Tangata Whenua to come here.

        Where is that consultation on immigration, has it ever been had?

        Where do we draw the line, Spikeyboy?

      • Spikeyboy: “Hence Ihumatao and the focus on the illegality of the crowns possession of the land.”

        Either you’re being disingenuous, or you really have no idea about the situation at Ihumatao. I suspect the former.

        The Crown DOESN’T own the land. It hasn’t owned the land since the 19th century, when it was sold to the family which owned it and farmed it, until they sold it to Fletcher in 2016. I’m sure that you know this.

        But it suits your purposes to dissemble, regarding the real situation. You want it to be something it’s not: the brave protesters up against the big bad Crown.

        But that’s not at all how it is, is it? In fact, it’s a bunch of protesters attempting to bully a private landowner over said landowner’s legitimate plans for the land: standover tactics, in fact. Nothing to do with the Crown at all.

        The best thing that Newton and her ragtag bunch of followers can do is to go home; leave the iwi and the landowner to carry on with their plans. If the protesters are lucky, nobody will bring trespass or other charges against them. Which is probably kinder treatment than they deserve.

  8. Tautoko. Social media has been great for the millenial resistance movements of Indigneous people in raising the collective consciousness around the importance of tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and its place in our lives as Tangata Whenua. Its heart-warming to watch our people reclaim mana, acknowledge our ancestors and heal intergenerational trauma to some degree. Heoi, ka whawhai tonu!

  9. Marc did you not realise that the people of Ihumatao have already decamped once in historical times due to a Crown ultimatum?

    They decamped and moved down into the Waikato to avoid Crown aggression.

    They did not sell their land at Ihumatao,they simply left the area temporarily and went to visit their relatives.

    While the people of this land were away visiting relatives in the Waikato,the Crown has trespassed onto their land,illegally seized/stolen it,surveyed it and sold it to a European family,who went on to farm this land,until in more recent times they have on sold it to Fletchers.

    Please confirm these facts Marc,they are provable,common knowledge.

    Now remember the Court and the Law that you have referred us to…

    Knowingly receiving stolen property is an offence under the Crimes act and is punishable by the recovery of said property and fines/imprisonment.

    Even if stolen property is received unknowingly,the remedy is the return of said property to the guardianship of its rightful custodians,in this case the Protectors at Ihumatao,on behalf of the general public.

    Remember Marc,Pania and the Protectors are adamant that the land they are occupying should be an eternally protected public reserve,for all of us,including you.

    This is partly why people from diverse backgrounds with no financial interest in this land are coming in their thousands to show solidarity.

    They know the moral difference between right and wrong and that in a troubled world,wrongdoing has been legalised by the illegitimate leadership.

    There is a so called ‘tribal Authority’ involved,but it is important to understand this ‘tribal Authority’ is far from a democratic majority,instead representing the agendas of a minority of “Material Maori’s”,the ones who turn up to interviews wearing gold rings and gold watches,without so much as a mention of the 30 pieces of silver which was used to buy this jewellery.

    This ‘tribal Authority’ has betrayed Pania and the younger generation.

    Its interesting isn’t it Marc,that the so called ‘tribal Authority,overweight from gorging on the fat of the land and also weighted down by a heavy burden of Gold,Silver (30 pieces)and greed…have little support other than from the small group of businessmen and Politicians who stand to profit from this divisive development project ….

    And of course,people like yourself who either don’t understand or don’t really care.

    You don’t seem to realise that the occupation at Ihumatao is no longer just about the land there.

    It is about demonstrating how the people of this country,Maori,Muslim,Asian,European,all of us have more in common than we have at first appreciated.

    We have a common enemy in the British Crown…

    The more the Police would try to secure the site for the future profits of Fletcher Building,the closer we come to a full scale revolt…

    • “It is about demonstrating how the people of this country,Maori,Muslim,Asian,European,all of us have more in common than we have at first appreciated.”

      Hah, re your doubled up comment and this: We may have things in common, but also much that we do NOT have in common, when looking at each other more closely.

      Too often politicians and others dare claim they speak for ‘the people’ or ‘the people of New Zealand’, suggesting all do share the views they hold, and their limited number of supporters.

      I take it, you are a revolutionary dreamer, good on, good luck with your fight, I will get out the popcorn, as I like a bit of exciting times also.

  10. Too much Spikey boy, of course the law can be changed and people can influence this change like people power influenced our re-entry into the Pike river mine. We want to find out the truth and we do not want this to happen again to anyone.

  11. This standoff is becoming more ridiculous by the day, having read this and other ambiguous, non committing comments by Maori MPs, government ministers and so forth:
    “Government Minister Peeni Henare, the MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, arrived at the site at midday with Minister Willie Jackson.

    They were welcomed onto Ihumātao with a roaring powhiri.

    Earlier this week both ministers were reluctant to weigh in on the land dispute, saying there was nothing the government could do to resolve it.”

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/395326/ihumatao-government-ministers-welcomed-to-protest-site-with-powerful-powhiri

    More double speak here:
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/395242/ihumatao-disregard-for-mana-whenua-will-lead-to-trouble-willie-jackson

    It seems the government does not know what to do. Buying the land to turn it into a reserve or so, that may be possible, but it will only open the door for more such protest actions all over the country, and more renewed claims, and challenges to existing claims.

    Jacinda has unwittingly opened Pandora’s Box, it seems.

    If the government dares accommodate the SOUL ‘protectors’ of Ihumatao and their supporters, then there will be a strong backlash, not only by Hobson’s Pledge supporters, but by many private landowners and businesses owning land and using land.

    Also will this mean the end of the coalition government, rest assured.

  12. [Declined for publication. Repetitive, and already published elsewhere. Please do not ‘spam’ discussions with the same material/links. – Scarletmod]

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