275 Times July 2017

PLAN TO BREAK IHUMĀTAO DEADLOCK
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amount, we then have our starting
point for serious negotiations
with the Government.”
SOUL’s submission called on
the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local
Board to hold urgent discussions
with the Government, Auckland
Council, Auckland Airport, and
mana whenua, to put together
a combined offer of purchase
(estimated at up to $30 million)
to Fletcher Residential, to acquire
and safeguard the land.
The Local Board was also asked
to include an appropriate amount
as a budget item in the Long
Term Plan 2017 for this purpose.
The proposed multi-source
purchase offer would be considered
a revival of the former Manukau
City Council’s uncompleted
project to establish and protect
the landscape as the Māngere
Gateway Heritage Area.
The proposal noted that the
Gateway Heritage project was
“developed in full consultation with
local communities including mana
whenua.” And as the inheritor of
the project, the Local Board takes
on the duties of its “protector
and champion.” Chair Lemauga
Lydia Sosene stresses the need to
“protect and preserve” the land.
The submission also noted that the
Manukau City Council shareholding
in Auckland Airport was retained
when many other Local Bodies sold.
These shares, which are now
controlled by Auckland Council,
generate approximately $10 million
per year. SOUL proposes that –
combined with other funds – “this
revenue source be allocated for the
purchase of the Wallace Block and
the ongoing development of the
Māngere Heritage Gateway Area.”
The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local
Board received SOUL’s submission
and reiterated its long-standing
opposition to the SHA62
housing plan at Ihumātao.
Lawyer Louis Te Kani and SOUL’s
Pania Newton, defend SOUL’s injunction
move in the Māori Land Court.
IHUMĀTAO: WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
While awaiting a Waitangi Tribunal
hearing on the Ihumātao dispute, SOUL
has applied for an interim injunction
to halt Fletcher’s development plans.
The injunction centres on the legality
of Fletcher buying confiscated land.
On 26 June, Fletcher and the
Auckland Council asked the Māori
Land Court in Whangarei to “strike
down” SOUL’s injunction before it
even had a chance to be heard.
A strong SOUL contingent supported
lawyer Louis Te Kani who argued for
the right for the injunction to proceed.
The judge reserved his decision.
History
under our feet
THE GREAT NZ WAR
IN MĀNGERE
By Farrell Cleary
Historian Vincent O’Malley
brought our little-known
history to life when he
spoke to an audience of
150 at Māngere Bridge
Primary School recently.
In conversation with
archaeologist Dave
Veart, Vincent provided
a fresh and enlightening
perspective on the invasion
of the Waikato by British
troops in July, 1863.
To an attentive audience
– many of whom are
involved in the campaign
to save confiscated
land at Ihumātao from
development by Fletcher
Residential – Vincent
explained the background
to the confiscations that
followed the invasion.
Setting out one thesis of his
new book “The Great War for
New Zealand 1863–2000”,
Vincent explained that the
Waikato War was started
by Governor George
Grey and a settler
government led
by speculators
hungry for
Māori land.
“WHY HAVEN’T WE
LEARNED ABOUT
THIS BEFORE?”
The
government
lied
about a socalled
Māori plan
to attack Auckland
and used that lie as
false justification for the
invasion and subsequent
confiscation of huge
swathes of land from
Māngere to Maungatautari.
Vincent showed that the
Proclamation justifying the
invasion was not issued
until after the troops had
moved onto Māori land
in South Auckland.
The invasion destroyed a
dynamic Māori economy
which supplied the growing
colony of Auckland.
Māori grew wheat at
places like Ihumātao and
Rangiaowhia. St James’
Church in Māngere Bridge
was built by Pōtatau, the
first Māori King, whose
protection of the infant
colony was rewarded
by conquest and ruin.
It has only been in the last
30 years that research by
Vincent and other historians
has laid the foundations
for Waitangi Tribunal and
government acceptance
that the war was a war
of invasion and that the
confiscations were theft.
Vincent reports that the
response to his book
has been powerful
and positive.
One Waikato farmer,
a descendant
of a recipient of
land confiscated
from Māori, asked
him, “Why haven’t
we learned about
this before?”
Stephanie Tawha, principal
of Māngere Bridge School,
gave a warm mihi to
Vincent and Dave, and
led a spirited waiata to
close the evening.
Vincent’s important
book is available from
book shops and at
Auckland Libraries.
Above: Historian and author
Vincent O’Malley (left) and
archaeologist Dave Veart reveal
the history of Māngere.
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