Felling of Haka Man overshadows 'Stand in Black' campaign

The launch of a "Stand in Black" campaign to counter the Barmy Army was overshadowed last night by controversy surrounding the felling of one of the campaign's icons.

Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and boxer David Tua joined Jonah Lomu and current All Blacks at the SkyCity Convention Centre for the launch of the joint campaign between adidas and the Rugby Union.

But MC Hamish Mackay could not help joking that Watchman Island's Haka Man - one of several giant figures erected throughout the country for the campaign - would not be the "last man standing" after it was toppled on Monday night.

Earlier, the Maori group who attacked the statue said it took the action because adidas did not ask permission to build the figure on Watchman Island or to pay.

Pita Turei, spokesman for the group Nga Hunga Tiaki o Tamaki, which toppled the 6m-high crouching Haka Man figure, said adidas spoke to Ngati Whatua about using Mt Hobson and Bastion Point for the figures, but not Watchman Island.

The tiny island lies in the upper harbour west of the Harbour Bridge and was an ancestral site for at least four iwi, including his own, Ngatai, said Mr Turei.

"Here's a multinational which exploits cheap Asian labour to sell products to the rich Western world. It could afford to make a contribution," he said.

But adidas marketing manager Craig Waugh said the company consulted Ngati Whatua as well as the Department of Conservation, Auckland City Council and Ports of Auckland.

He could not say who in Ngati Whatua was spoken to and said ownership of the island was something of a mystery because it belonged neither to the Crown nor Maori.

"No one was either in a position or said they had an issue with it, so away we went," he said.

The difficulty of finding an owner meant the company did not know who it could have paid.

Mr Turei, a film-maker and Treaty of Waitangi researcher who ran in the 2002 local body elections, said it did not matter who officially owned the island because iwi in the Greater Auckland region had ancestral links to all islands in the Hauraki Gulf.

Nga Hunga Tiaki o Tamaki's job was to protect all ancestral sites and it did not want heritage sites becoming ringed with advertising.

The group also wanted to avoid the attack on the statue becoming a "Mike Smith-type" situation, said Mr Turei, referring to the chainsaw attack on the Monterey pine atop One Tree Hill.

"Instead of it becoming about an individual with a prosecution case and all that, we want to keep [focused] on what the issue is this time."

Mr Waugh said no decision had been made on whether to go to the police, rebuild the figure or simply take it away. The statue had cost $15,000 to build and put in place.

The company did not want to get into a "conflict situation" with anyone and hoped New Zealanders would get behind the All Black campaign "and learn how to support their team and each other".

Department of Conservation northern area manager Beau Fraser said adidas contacted the department two months ago with some suggested sites for the statues to be erected round Auckland.