Ahipara occupation marks first anniversary as leader trespassed

Occupation leader Rueben Taipari reads a trespass notice barring him from the property at 1 Wharo Way. Photo / supplied

Hundreds of people are expected in Ahipara on Sunday as the occupation of a coastal section marks its first anniversary.

The occupation of the Wharo Way site in October 2021 was triggered by the partial felling of a culturally significant pōhutukawa, but leader Rueben Taipari said the issues went well beyond the tree to how hapū lost the land in the first place and subsequent actions by developers and the council.

He saw the land, known historically as Moringai, as a stake in the ground and symbolic of Māori land losses in the area.

Taipari's participation in Sunday's commemorations will, however, be complicated by a trespass notice issued on Wednesday.

The notice, delivered by police on behalf of property owner Cecil Williams, prohibits him from setting foot on 1 Wharo Way.

Williams abandoned his plans to build a house on the section soon after the outcry over the pōhutukawa.

Now he just wants to sell the section, ideally to local iwi Te Rarawa, and recover his money.

Occupiers of a property on Ahipara's Wharo Way, with James Taniere at front, photographed in 2021 days after the pōhutukawa was partly cut down. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Taipari said he would attend the celebration regardless of the trespass order.

"I'm still going. It's too important not to. I can't tell everyone else to step up and fight, then sit on the outside ... That's all there is to it. I'll get arrested, I suppose."

The event was open to all, especially those who wanted to understand the reasons behind the occupation.

While the pōhutukawa was important the group's concerns went well beyond the tree to how the land was lost and developed, despite assurances after a previous occupation in 2011 that culturally significant areas would be protected.

"If we don't take a stand on this particular issue, we lose everything. No land would be safe and the future of our mokopuna is threatened. We've got nothing left so we've got nothing to lose."

Earlier this year Taipari told the Advocate he hoped the occupation would be resolved before winter. However, the group had made it through the cold months and remained in good spirits.

"Now there's no one who can move it. I couldn't even move it now. For years I've been doing these things on my own with a few hearty kuia who were raised in the old ways, but now we have a new crop of young kaitiaki (guardians) coming through. I'm just there to support and make sure it's done correctly."

He expected a few hundred people on Sunday from around the motu, including Ihumātao occupation leader Pania Newton and representatives of the Puketītī occupation at Ōpua which is about to clock up its second anniversary.

Members of the Parliament Grounds occupation had also indicated they would attend.

While they had opposing views on the pandemic — Taipari is a key member of Taitokerau Border Control, created when Far North iwi felt the Government wasn't doing enough to enforce Covid travel restrictions — they had found common ground in other areas, he said.

The event would start with a pōwhiri at 10am followed by wānanga about the site's history, a market, waiata and kids' activities.

Hāngī, T-shirts and calendar sales would help fund the occupation through summer.
If the hapū was successful in securing the land it would be used to benefit the Ahipara community, Taipari said.

Police on Wharo Way outside a kāuta (kitchen) erected by the occupiers. Photo / supplied

Williams, a long-serving Kaitaia GP, said he had been "extremely tolerant" of the occupation.

Initially, he didn't want the occupiers trespassed. Later it was a struggle to get the council or police to take action.

He eventually lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority, which he believed had prompted Wednesday's trespass order.

It was "extremely arrogant" of the occupiers to organise a one-year celebration as if it was their own land, he said.

Williams said he had planned to build his retirement home on the section, which had cost him around $500,000 once later expenses were included.

Now he wanted out but his savings were tied up in land he couldn't sell.

The trespass notice issued to occupation leader Rueben Taipari. Photo / supplied

He had hoped Te Rarawa, the local iwi, would buy it using Treaty settlement funds but the iwi had said it wasn't a good investment.

Williams said it didn't make sense to say on one hand that the land was culturally significant and on the other to say it was too pricey.

The occupation was a case of "expropriation of land without compensation".

"But no one wants to do anything about it," he said.

Regarding the pōhutukawa, Williams said it was slowly dying — reportedly due to previous earthworks in the area — when he had half of it cut down to make way for a building site.

Council staff had told him it was not protected and he did not intend to remove the entire tree.

The past year had had a detrimental effect on himself and his wife. He had been "bullied and victimised" and wanted to leave the area.

Moringai occupation leader Rueben Taipari. Photo / supplied

Taipari said he understood Williams' need to recover his money.

"But, hey, we have the same issue. We, as whānau and hapū, have lost a hell of a lot more than Cecil Williams. We are both innocent in this predicament."

Taipari said those who needed to be held to account were the earlier land owners, the Catholic Church to which the land was gifted, the developers, the Far North District Council and the Government.

Williams' message for the occupiers was simple: "Convince your people to buy the land and we can part ways without any grievances. Then I can get my money and get out."

Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi said the iwi had been assured after the 2011 occupation that the culturally significant area at the bottom of the subdivision would be made into a public reserve.

He was shocked to discover just last year that the Environment Court had later allowed the land to be sold with a much smaller area further up the hill designated as a historic reserve.

The iwi did not know about the change to the agreement at the time, Piripi said.

Senior Sergeant Dan Williams, of Kaitaia police, said Taipari had been informed of the consequences of breaching a trespass notice. It could be enforced if needed at the time or at a later date.