Vol. 71/No. 13      April 2, 2007

“We still don’t trust the Crown. We’ve been burnt before by their lawyers,” said Joe Davis March 4. He was explaining why the protest occupation at Whenuakite on the Coromandel Peninsula—begun six days earlier—would continue in spite of the government’s announcement of a one-month delay to “review” the sales process. Organizers of other such actions at Rangiputa in Northland and Tongariro in the central North Island have also pledged to continue their occupations.

Davis is a spokesperson for Ngati Hei, part of the Hauraki grouping of tribes, which organized the Whenuakite protest, where about 20 people are camped. He spoke to the Militant at the occupation site where outside tents are decorated with Maori motifs. Placards read, “Hands off Hauraki Taonga" (property, treasure), and “Labour sells Maori Land.”

Davis said the government had taken the land in 1859 under dubious leasing arrangements. “We're now here to repossess it,” he said.

As part of the land claim process, the current Labour Party-led government originally agreed to pay up to $NZ7.5 million (NZ$1=US 68 cents) to Hauraki and set aside land for possible purchase with this money. This land consists of small, unconnected parcels, compared with the 2,755-acre Whenuakite block, which has a market value of $NZ10 million. “That’s rats and mice stuff,” Davis said, referring to the government set-aside. “But Whenuakite would give us an ideal economic base.”

He continued, “Farmland has been turned into coastal developments, luxury housing, where you rarely see a Maori. People on $10 or $12 an hour—and that’s us—can’t afford to buy a house around here.”

Ngati Hei’s stand has received support from local farmers, residents, and major tribes such as the Tainui Waka Alliance and Tuwharetoa.

As this issue goes to press, the government announced it has deferred the sale of land at Whenuakite and Rangiputa for a year, and has widened its review to encompass all contested Crown-owned land.
 
 
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