It took six years to reach the public. It seems quite incredible now that the report, investigating how police handled the raid on the community of Ruatoki, should take that length of time to complete.
No one denies the police must do what they have to do when terrorist activities are suspected. But this was no small scale raid. We have never seen anything else like it before in New Zealand. But a six-year investigation to collect information from various sources and write up a report, that's dragging it out excessively.
The IPCA should have been given two years maximum to complete the job. Any longer and you start to suspect they may have hoped that memories of the raid will have dimmed, if not gone, from the minds of the public.
The report may not hold much interest for the general public, yet because of its findings it should, but Tuhoe will never forget the raid. They have long memories and still vividly remember the invasion of their lands, the removal of their people, and the confiscation of large tracts of Te Urewera.
Talking with relations from Ruatoki, since the raid, I think it may be difficult for many people to understand the depth of humiliation and indignation they still feel and the accompanying anger. They do not see any of their whanau, hapu and iwi as terrorists. They may have some whanau who act irrationally from time to time, this is not uncommon anywhere in New Zealand today and Maori do not have the monopoly on this type of behaviour. But full blown terrorist activities, never.
Apart from the ongoing impact and harm the raid had on the people of Ruatoki - there were smaller raids in other parts of the country that took place on that day too - you have to shine the spotlight in other places as well. One being the ambiguity of the Terrorism Suppression Act. This relatively new legislation should be clearly understood by the police when they're going to use it to justify their actions.
They still have to act within the law when planning and carrying out an armed raid. Was the Solicitor General also unclear about what the Act did and did not permit? What was his advice to the Minister of Police? Is this the best approach to take? This was a raid to surpass all other raids.
The report is scathing of numerous police actions. They detained, searched and arrested innocent people. Roadblocks were set up where cars and people were stopped, photographed and searched unlawfully. Houses were entered and searched without authorisation, warrants and valid reasons. This was an attempt to uphold the law by breaking the law. Someone got it badly wrong and messed up.
I suspect the Police Iwi Liaison Officers could have told their colleagues they were going about things the wrong way. Why not identify the five or so houses that needed to be searched and concentrate on them? Why lock down the whole community of Ruatoki? Apparently Iwi Liaison Officers were not consulted. Their years of community and iwi relationship building weren't valued. They were viewed as "a risk, a conflict of interest".
There are always exceptions but I have found Tuhoe to be honest, kind, mostly quiet and unassuming and overly generous. They are steadfast and committed to their Tuhoetanga. They are not only about those who are here today but also for those who are coming after. They strive for their whanau, hapu and iwi to be safe, strong and prosperous.
The armed raid on Ruatoki was unnecessary and unwelcome. Implementing the recommendations from the long overdue IPCA report will make little difference to a people with a clear sense of Tuhoe identity determined to take control of their own destiny.
