No apology for attack on wreck

The last surviving visable sign of the Favourite, still standing but under attack.

The man who last week attempted to fell the sole visible sign of the Favourite, which sank at Te Kohanga in 1870, and gives the beach its colloquial name Shipwreck Bay, knows he's made people angry. But he's not backing down.

"People demand to know why they weren't consulted about the decision to remove the remnants of the old boat post," Rueben Taipari Porter said yesterday.

"Did Simon Bridges ask any of you if it was OK to open up Te Reinga Basin for deep sea oil drilling exploration? How many hapu, iwi and public hui in Te Rarawa have adamantly 100 per cent opposed oil drilling? Yet he has ignored that message, and allowed Statoil to start its seismic testing programme today, right here, 30 kilometres off Tauroa Point and Te Kohanga Bay.

"Where is the anger at this government ignoring the rights of hau kainga and desecrating our spiritual pathways that return our spirits back to Hawaiki nui, Hawaiki Roa, Hawaiki Pamamao? Where is the anger at the danger that Simon Bridges has posed to the precious seafood gathering areas that have fed our communities for thousands of years, and for which have rahui have been set up to continue the kaitiaki work that is our responsibility, handed to us by our ancestors for the benefit of our children and descendants?

"Where was the anger at all the whales and dozens of seals that died on our shores this winter, and cries for accountability then? Where was the anger when Patito, the natural stone icon that had been seen around Tauroa Point for thousands of years, disappeared, gone forever?"

Mr Porter believed that Statoil would inevitably destroy the moana. It had confirmed that it had no experience of drilling below 2000 metres, and that there would be no sustainable jobs in Te Rarawa. Mr Bridges had confirmed that Statoil's contract released it from "any environmental disasters."

The community needs to wake up and defend the real taonga that their memories were connected to - the sea that provided paua, fish, kutai and koura, the best waves and surf in the country, memories and emotions for every generation, culture and history to those who called Ahipara home, and everything that a community that was dependent upon the sea really needed.

" I have been fighting this issue for more than 10 years, and we will be involved in more actions to hold this government and their foreign corporation masters accountable over the summer and for as long as it takes to #STOPSTATOIL," he added.

"You may not like what I have done; what are you doing about it? If your reply is that there is nothing we can do, then I will keep doing something until we change that korero taurekareka.

"Toitu te whenua, toitu te moana, whatungarongaro te tangata - ko te pataka kai o Tangaroa he oranga mo nga whakatipuranga kei te heke mai. Tu mai, tu mai, tu mai!"

Saddened

Heritage New Zealand was saddened and disappointed that damage had been done, however.

"It seems illogical that people who appear to have a concern about New Zealand's natural heritage would express this by damaging our historic heritage," chief executive Bruce Chapman said.

Under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, shipwrecks that pre-dated 1900 were legally classified as archaeological sites, and protected as important reminders of the unique cultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Ahipara shipwreck was believed to be that of the 59-tonne paddle steamer Favourite, built in Australia in 1863, which went ashore and sank on April 1, 1870. The only visible remains were the boiler and crankshaft, which were easily accessible at low tide.

Heritage New Zealand will be working with the police to investigate, Mr Chapman said.

"We would also like to remind people that the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act carries substantial penalties for unauthorised modification or destruction of archaeological sites, including shipwrecks."

A decision regarding any prosecution is yet to be made.