Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 3, 2019 6:27:50 GMT 12
PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS UNDER THREAT
A land protest near Auckland airport has serious implications for private property rights in New Zealand – if it is not handled properly by the Government.
Ihumatao represents a clash of generations, cultures, and leadership.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, political analyst Dr Bryce Edwards of Victoria University, has called it the ‘Zeitgeist of 2019’. In his analysis of media commentary over the conflict, he explains:
“The extraordinary Maori land protest at Ihumatao in Auckland is symbolic of our time. It is unlikely to have occurred, say, five years ago. It perfectly reflects heightened concerns and increased radicalism over racism, economic inequality, and the history of colonialism in New Zealand.
“This meant that when the police moved in last week to evict a long-running protest about the confiscation of Maori land, it suddenly ignited those values that have been brewing in many about injustice and a need to take a stand.”
The land at the centre of the dispute on the Ihumatao Peninsula overlooking the Manukau Harbour has had a chequered history.
Since being disposed of by the Crown following tribal rebellions in the 1860s it was privately owned and run as a farm. But in the late 1990s, the Manukau City Council, Auckland Regional Authority and Department of Conservation wanted 100 hectares of the surrounding area for the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve. The owners of the farm agreed that 21ha could be used for that purpose.
However, in 2009, when the Council proposed changing the zoning to capture the rest of the farm, the family objected and applied for the zoning to be changed to business development instead. The Council rejected their proposal, so they appealed to the Environment Court, which found in their favour, approving the land for future development.
The Council then offered to buy the land for a fraction of what it was worth, so the family refused to sell. Then, in 2014 after the Super City was formed, the Government and the Auckland Council designated 32ha of the land as a Special Housing Area.
In 2016 Fletcher Building bought the land to build 480 houses, after consulting with the local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki. In return for supporting their consent, the iwi’s Settlement Trust extracted generous concessions from Fletchers, including the return of a quarter of the land and 40 of the houses!
With tribal leaders now claiming that the land rights activists are disrespecting their elders by refusing to leave the site, the protest action is putting those substantial benefits at risk.
The well-funded protest action began three years ago when Fletchers bought the land. At the time, protest leader, Pania Newton, had just graduated as a lawyer and was spending a gap year working for her community. A top scholar at her Mangere Maori immersion school, she appears to have been radicalised at a young age: “When I was 9, I wrote in a time capsule at school that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up, to fight for Maori rights and for my family”.
Saving Ihumatao became her mission, and the ‘Save Our Unique Landscape’ (SOUL) campaign began.....
Continue reading Dr Muriel Newman’s explanative NZCPR column here > www.nzcpr.com/private-property-rights-under-threat/#more-29866
A land protest near Auckland airport has serious implications for private property rights in New Zealand – if it is not handled properly by the Government.
Ihumatao represents a clash of generations, cultures, and leadership.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, political analyst Dr Bryce Edwards of Victoria University, has called it the ‘Zeitgeist of 2019’. In his analysis of media commentary over the conflict, he explains:
“The extraordinary Maori land protest at Ihumatao in Auckland is symbolic of our time. It is unlikely to have occurred, say, five years ago. It perfectly reflects heightened concerns and increased radicalism over racism, economic inequality, and the history of colonialism in New Zealand.
“This meant that when the police moved in last week to evict a long-running protest about the confiscation of Maori land, it suddenly ignited those values that have been brewing in many about injustice and a need to take a stand.”
The land at the centre of the dispute on the Ihumatao Peninsula overlooking the Manukau Harbour has had a chequered history.
Since being disposed of by the Crown following tribal rebellions in the 1860s it was privately owned and run as a farm. But in the late 1990s, the Manukau City Council, Auckland Regional Authority and Department of Conservation wanted 100 hectares of the surrounding area for the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve. The owners of the farm agreed that 21ha could be used for that purpose.
However, in 2009, when the Council proposed changing the zoning to capture the rest of the farm, the family objected and applied for the zoning to be changed to business development instead. The Council rejected their proposal, so they appealed to the Environment Court, which found in their favour, approving the land for future development.
The Council then offered to buy the land for a fraction of what it was worth, so the family refused to sell. Then, in 2014 after the Super City was formed, the Government and the Auckland Council designated 32ha of the land as a Special Housing Area.
In 2016 Fletcher Building bought the land to build 480 houses, after consulting with the local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki. In return for supporting their consent, the iwi’s Settlement Trust extracted generous concessions from Fletchers, including the return of a quarter of the land and 40 of the houses!
With tribal leaders now claiming that the land rights activists are disrespecting their elders by refusing to leave the site, the protest action is putting those substantial benefits at risk.
The well-funded protest action began three years ago when Fletchers bought the land. At the time, protest leader, Pania Newton, had just graduated as a lawyer and was spending a gap year working for her community. A top scholar at her Mangere Maori immersion school, she appears to have been radicalised at a young age: “When I was 9, I wrote in a time capsule at school that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up, to fight for Maori rights and for my family”.
Saving Ihumatao became her mission, and the ‘Save Our Unique Landscape’ (SOUL) campaign began.....
Continue reading Dr Muriel Newman’s explanative NZCPR column here > www.nzcpr.com/private-property-rights-under-threat/#more-29866