Mori protests against injustices

Some early examples:

Hone Heke cuts down the flagpole at Korerareka 1844-5;
1843 Ngti Toa disrupt a party of surveyors on their land in Wairau;
1847 Tainui leader Te Wherowhero writes to Queen Victoria asking for reassurance
regarding land rights;
1858 Kingitanga is established to resist loss of authority and land;
1860 Taranaki Mori resist illegitimate purchase of their land at Waitara;
1862 establishment of Pai Marire faith promising divine deliverance from Pkeh
domination;
1863 Waikato people resist General Cameron's encroachment on their land; 1882 a
delegation from Ngapuhi goes to London is refused an audience by Queen Victoria;
1884 Mori king Tawhiao goes to London and is also denied access to Queen
Victoria.

1975 Land March

In 1975 a large group (around 5000) of Mori and other New Zealanders, led
by then 79-year-old Whina Cooper, walked the length of the North
Island toWellington to protest against Mori land loss. Although the
government at the time, the third Labour government, had done
more to address Mori grievances than nearly any prior
government, protesters felt that much more needed to be done.
Following the march, the protesters were divided over what to do
next. Some, including Tame Iti, remained in Wellington to occupy
parliament grounds. A 1975 documentary from director Geoff
Steven includes interviews with many of those on the
march: Eva Rickard, Tama Poata and Whina Cooper.

Bastion Point (1977-8)

Bastion Point in Auckland was originally part of a large area of
land owned by Ngati Whatua. Between 1840 and 1960 nearly
all of this was lost, leaving Ngati Whatua with only the Point. In
the 1970s the third National government proposed taking the
land and developing it. Bastion Point was subsequently
occupied in a protest which lasted from January 1977 to May 1978. The
protesters were removed by the army and police, but there continued to be
conflict over the land. When the Waitangi Tribunal was given the power to
investigate historical grievances, this the Orakei claim covering the Bastion
Point area was one of the first cases for investigation. The Tribunal found that
Ngati Whatua had been unjustly deprived of their ancestral land hence
Bastion Point was returned to their ownership with compensation paid to the
tribe by the Crown.
Motua Gardens Occupation Whanganui (1995)
For 79 days in 1995, people of the Whanganui tribes occupied historic
Pkaitore (Moutoa Gardens), beside the river and within the city of
Whanganui. This protest was resolved peaceably. At the heart of all this is the
Whanganui tribes claim to the river, which is still seen as both an ancestor
and a source of material and spiritual sustenance.
The protest leaders vowed to continue their fight, including through further
land occupations. "As long as the Crown [government] buries its head in the
sand and pretends that issues of sovereignty and our land grievances are
going to go away- we are going to stand up and fight for what is rightfully
ours," Ken Mair declared.
Foreshore and Seabed (2003+)
In 2003 the Court of Appeal ruled that Mori could
seek customary title to areas of the New
Zealand foreshore and seabed, overturning
assumptions that such land automatically belonged
to the Crown. The ruling alarmed many Pkeh, and
the Labour government proposed legislation
removing the right to seek ownership of the
foreshore and seabed. This angered many Mori
who saw it as confiscation of land. Labour
Party MP Tariana Turia was so incensed by the
legislation that she eventually left the party and
formed the Mori Party. In May 2004 a hikoi(march)
from Northland to Wellington, modelled on the 1975
land march but in vehicles, was held, attracting
thousands of participants. Despite this, the
legislation was passed later that year.

Te Urupatu Tama Iti (2005)

On January 16, 2005 during a powhiri (or greeting ceremony) which
formed part of a Waitangi Tribunal hearing, Tme Iti fired a shotgun into
a New Zealand flag in close proximity to a large number of people,
which he explained was an attempt to recreate the 1860s East Cape
War: "We wanted them to feel the heat and smoke, and Thoe outrage
and disgust at the way we have been treated for 200 years". The
incident was filmed by television crews but initially ignored by police.
The matter was however raised in parliament, one
opposition MP asking "why Tme Iti can brandish a
firearm and gloat about how he got away with
threatening judges on the Waitangi Tribunal,
without immediate arrest and prosecution".
New Zealand Police subsequently charged Iti with
discharging a firearm in a public place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZsDUscLGjA&feature=related
Anti-terror raids (2007-2012)
On Monday, 15 October 2007, several police raids were conducted across
New Zealand in relation to the discovery of an alleged paramilitary training
camp deep in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki in the
eastern Bay of Plenty. About 300 police, including members of the Armed
Offenders and anti-terror squads, were involved in the raids[10] in which
four guns and 230 rounds of ammunition were seized and 17 people arrested,
all but one of them charged with firearms offences.[11] According to police, the
raids were a culmination of more than a year of surveillance that uncovered
and monitored the training camps. Search warrants were executed under the
Summary Proceedings Act to search for evidence relating to potential
breaches of the Terrorism Suppression Act and the Arms Act.
The police tried to lay charges under anti-terror legislation, but evidence could
not be admitted to trial, so gun charges were adopted. Four activists, including
Tama Iti were found guilty. He was sentenced to jail for over 2 years in June
2012, but he has since appealed. He was released in 2013.

And in May 2013 POLICE ACTED UNLAWFULLY IN THE RAIDS

See http://www.3news.co.nz/Police-acted-unlawfully-in-terror-raids/tabid/309/articleID/298710/Default.aspx

Protests Over the Sale of State-Owned Assets (2013)

Example1: A flotilla of waka carrying Mana Party leader Hone Harawira floated down the
Waikato River yesterday to protest against the
Government's sale of Mighty River Power shares.

Mr Harawira travelled with a protest group from Hamilton to

Ngaruawahia, to highlight what he called the Government's
"economic treason" as well as Maori rights.

"We are opposed to Government's refusal to deal

honourably with Maori over Maori rights and interests in
fresh water, we are opposed to the sale of New Zealand-
owned assets, and we are opposed to the privatisation of electricity which will lead to
increased power prices," he said.

www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8663803/Waikato-River-flotilla-protests-share-float
Example 2:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-asset-sales-nz/185603098198440

Example 3:

The protesters, from Rotorua,

Tauranga, Whakatane, Tokoroa and
Murupara, are this morning gathering
at the Murray Linton Rose Gardens in
Rotorua in preparation to protest to
the consultation hui at the Distinction
Hotel on Fenton St.

The protesters are to carry a coffin,

which has the words Treaty of
Waitangi written on it, which
symbolises their views the treaty is
dying.

A Maori warrior and a man dressed in

navy uniform are also going to be
part of the protest.
The Daily Post Maori affairs reporter Whare Akuhata, who
is at the protest this morning, said the protesters were
gearing up to send their key messages to the Government _
including their fears the Treaty is under threat, their
concerns over the selling of assets and the selling of the
Crafar farms

Iwi leaders from Te Arawa and Mataatua will pressure the

Government to include Treaty of Waitangi rights in new
legislation required to allow the Crown to sell up to 49 per
cent of the shares in state-owned energy companies.

www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/rotorua-iwi-march-on-asset-sales/1264603/

Example 3:

New Zealand gov't readies for asset sales after Maori court
bid rejected

2013-02-27 14:47:40
WELLINGTON, Feb. 27 - The New Zealand government on Wednesday vowed to begin its
controversial sell down of four state- owned energy companies and the national carrier this
year after a legal objection from New Zealand's indigenous Maori was rejected by the
Supreme Court.
Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall said in a joint
statement the government would proceed to sell up to 49 percent of shares in electricity
generator Mighty River Power in the second quarter of this year.
The sale of up to 49 percent of shares in the five state-owned enterprises was expected to
generate between 5 billion and 7 billion NZ dollars (4.12 billion and 5.77 billion U.S. dollars) in
proceeds, which would be used to control debt, Ryall said in the statement.
"It is also good for New Zealand's capital markets and it will improve the performance of the
companies in the share offer program," he said.
The government had hoped to issue shares in Mighty River Power last year, but had delayed
its plans in order to discuss with iwi (Maori tribal groups) compensation for their loss of
proprietary water rights in hydro-power and geothermal generating plants.
The Maori water rights claim was upheld in August last year by the government-
commissioned Waitangi Tribunal, which looks into Maori claims over the loss of rights and
assets set out in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi signed by Maori chiefs and the British Crown.
The Maori Council, which brought the case for water rights to the Waitangi Tribunal, took the
case to court in a bid to halt the widely unpopular partial privatizations.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-02/27/c_132196179.htm