Community, mana whenua, tangata whenua and Erebus families have been united in their opposition to the 26-metre-long, 8m-high, double-walled concrete and steel structure that would have required 534 square metres of earthworks.
The public campaign by Protect Mataharehare was backed by 24,000 people who signed a petition started by Erebus family member Margaret Brough.
The campaign attracted unwavering support from a community of fervent protectors who camped at the site and collectively advocated to halt the development. Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei declared a rāhui at the site.
Today, after 3½ years of concerted people power, the ministry advised Erebus families that the site was not suitable after extensive slips occurred during the January and February weather events in Auckland.
Papatūānuku had had the last word, Dame Naida said.
“To me what’s important for the sake of the whānau of Erebus is that the Ministry of Culture and Heritage should have relocated it from the start.
“I feel extremely sad that we had to defend our tūpuna rākau, Te Hā, from ourselves. There was minimal consideration, if any at all, for the age of the tree that was here before the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“I have to say that my biggest disappointment over that tūpuna rākau is that the Green Party was nowhere in sight, so what are they about?
“Those of us who successfully protected our tūpuna rākau are the Green party of this country. We were the heritage protectors. Those of us who were prepared to stand in front of a bulldozer.”
The memorial has had a controversial history, with the Ombudsman calling the ministry’s process “unreasonable” and “flawed” and the site selected “tainted”.
Dame Naida reiterated that opposition was solely about the site selected.
“No one opposes a memorial to those lost at Erebus. The site needs to be appropriate, and this sacred site was simply not.”
Meanwhile Richard Waugh (initiator of the national memorial project) says the need for closure is as real now as it was in 1979.
“The process has taken so long to establish the national memorial to the Erebus air accident of 1979, still New Zealand’s worst peacetime disaster,” he said.
“From the recent report and photographs the recent extreme weather events have clearly rendered the Dove-Myer Robinson Park site unusable as a safe memorial site.
“I commend the Government, the Ministry of Culture & Heritage, Ngati Whatua Orakei, and Auckland Council as they now consider the best new site. I recall the significant consultation with Erebus families about the key characteristics regarding the memorial and site; which indicated families wanted a memorial that was easily accessible, attractive, and not in a cemetery nor at Auckland International Airport.
“I am confident about the new planning processes outlined by the Ministry that the families’ views will be well taken into account as a new site is decided upon.”
