Defiant Dame Naida Glavish addresses the Waitemata Local Board. Photo / Supplied
Defiant Dame Naida Glavish addresses the Waitemata Local Board. Photo / Supplied
Dame Naida Glavish did not mince her words when she addressed the newly elected Waitematā Local Board yesterday about the location of the National Erebus Memorial.
Before a packed meeting, the fiery Dame said she supports a National Erebus Memorial - but just not in proposed site of the Parnell Gardens, as it means destroying a Pohutukawa that has longer standing than the Treaty of Waitangi.
An appropriate memorial site to commemorate the ill-fated Air New Zealand flight on November 28, 1979, that claimed the lives of all 257 passengers and crew, has long been plagued with controversy.
At yesterday’s first public meeting post-local elections, the fate of extending the board’s landowner approval granting an extension of the consent to build the proposed National Erebus Memorial in Parnell hung in the balance.
“We are not against an Erebus Memorial – the opposition is about the siting of it and that needs to be made clear, in particular to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage,” the Dame said.
The Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua and Co-Chair of Pou Tikanga of National Iwi Chairs Forum encouraged the decision makers to consider beyond rational thinking to respect Kaitiakitanga principles of te Āo Māori.
“My intent today is to talk about a Tūpuna Rakau. I was raised by my Grandmother and in that era, Tūpuna Rakau were as good as the Tūpuna themselves,” she said.
Her opposition anchored in protecting Ta Hā, the ancient, sprawling Pōhutukawa tree on site that was planted before Te Tiriti o Waitangi and protected by a rāhui laid by local iwi with Ngāti Whātua kaumātua.
“This will set a precedent if granted. Is it okay for Ministry of Culture and Heritage to breach rāhui? Never.”
“I am a mokopuna of Tūpuna. We were raised to protect what we have. We are duty-bound to correct this. I cannot stand aside and watch anyone destroy that Tūpuna.”
However, her message was in sharp contrast with the staunch deputation of Laulu Mac Leauanae, chief executive of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
The packed session at the first Waitemata Local Board hui yesterday. Photo / Supplied
He sought an extension from December 7, 2022, indicating that the Crown is not only actively working at pace, but it will use the powers of the State against the Local Board to force construction work to resume.
“We don’t think these matters determine deference. This is an operational decision about when construction starts. It is not about whether the Park can be used for the Memorial.”
If the board chose to revoke or decline landowner approval, Leauanae was clear on the imminent next steps at his discretion.
“It will place Ministry of Culture and Heritage in an unsatisfactory position and the Ministry will consider all its options.”
Board member Sarah Trotman immediately questioned him about the threat of inferred litigation and the amount of respect shown to the Office of the Ombudsman by the agency.
“Will taxpayers litigate against the ratepayers? Trotman said. “We will take every option available,” Mac Leauanae confirmed. Trotman pressed him further about “authentic engagement with community”.
Dame Naida Glavish doesn't want the Erebus Memorial at the Parnell Gardens. Photo / NZME
The Chief Ombudsman’s Report investigating the council’s consenting process has not been released.
Trotman raised the fact that the Ministry of Culture and Heritage’s own advisers did not choose Sir Dove-Myer Robinson Park. She asked why the Domain was not considered as a potential site.
Former chairman of the previous Board Richard Northey acknowledged the “new insights and intensification of arguments about the consultation process”, foreshadowing before voting his preference for the Ombudsman’s report to be a “critical determinant”.
His fellow Waitematā Local Board member Alexander Bonham said the Chief Ombudsman had a case to answer given the circumstances.
She invited the Ministry to reconsider and offer its support to work together to go back over the process given the community distress felt by opponents and proponents alike.
“This is aroha in perpetuity to give up play space,” she said. “But where a process is flawed, that goes against policy and a community feeling – there is a case to review it.”
Councillor for Waitematā Mike Lee weighed in on the intense and, at times, heated debate, backing Glavish and Park protectors by encouraging the Waitematā Local Board to withdraw landowner consent.
“Stay close to the community – that is your strength and empowers you,” he said.
Admitting that he’d “followed the saga from the beginning” indicating there was a “curse about Erebus” and the divisiveness, anxiety and bitterness was “all unnecessary.”
“The local community say ‘no’ – so I make that plea today.”
The marathon four-and-a-half-hour business meeting, the first time Chaired by Genevieve Sage concluded with a roundtable discussion on either revoking, deferring, or extending the landowner’s consent to the Ministry.
The majority of the Members’ voted to press pause by deferring the extension pending the report of the Ombudsman. Member Trotman opposed.
Dame Naida remains resolute. The fences are to come down while parties wait.
“I would’ve preferred six months – it’s success in small doses. Remember, we can move a Memorial – but we cannot move that tree.”
Park protectors were disappointed yet understood the outcome, with many commenting about the hurt on all sides and mediation being the only way forward.
