The occupation of Kaitaia Airport has stirred up debate.
The occupation of Kaitaia Airport has stirred up debate.
Tony Clemow writes that the one-day seizure of Kaitaia airport, with the damage and disruption it brought, is "healthy for us all" (September 15), yet letters and social media comments show that New Zealanders do not agree.
If Ngati Kahu insist that the land on which the Kaitaiaairport sits was confiscated, then Ngati Kahu members should provide evidence of confiscation. If it was a forced sale under the Public Works Act, details of the amount paid to the original owner should be revealed. Clemow writes that the legal system has always been loaded in favour of those in power. He goes on to cite Parihaka, Bastion Point and the Ureweras but all of these eventually had outcomes loaded against those in power.
Clemow cites Parihaka but does not say that members of the vehemently anti-government Hau Hau group squatted on Crown land which had been legally confiscated for 14 years before the government reclaimed it without bloodshed.
The theatrics of protest are fine.
But when protest escalates to intimidation, disruption, and damage, all to make a political point, the protesters have become terrorists.
