Ihumātao: Reclaiming The Land

International

28th September 2021

In Aotearoa ⁽¹⁾, one of the major forms of social struggle is the indigenous Māori ⁽²⁾struggling to reclaim the land stolen from them by the New Zealand colonial government as part of the capitalist settler colonisation of Aotearoa ⁽³⁾. Since 2015, the greatest land struggle in a decade has been happening at Ihumātao ⁽⁴⁾ in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland ⁽⁵⁾, where Māori and non-Māori from the Save Our Unique Landscape/SOUL ⁽⁶⁾campaign have been occupying the land to stop the capitalist construction firm Fletchers from beginning a socially and environmentally harmful housing development ⁽⁷⁾and return the land to mana whenua ⁽⁸⁾. This land struggle is the most recent event in Ihumātao’s long history.

800 years ago, Ihumātao was one of the first places where Māori arrived and established settlements in Aotearoa, in the area now known as the Ōtuataua Stonefields ⁽⁹⁾. There, they cultivated 8,000 hectares of land to grow kūmara, taro, yams and gourds to feed themselves and later the British settlers/Pākehā ⁽¹⁰⁾ when they began to colonise Tāmaki Makaurau to create Auckland following the signing of Te Tiriti O Waitangi ⁽¹¹⁾between some Māori hapū/sub-tribes ⁽¹²⁾and the British Empire. However, such co-operation between Māori and Pākehā did not last, as the drive to accumulate capital inherent to capitalism led to the New Zealand government using various means to transform communal Māori land into state and private land, including the Native Land Court, land sales and war, in Aotearoa’s version of the enclosure of the commons ⁽¹³⁾.

When the Waikato War, part of the broader New Zealand Wars ⁽¹⁴⁾, began in 1863 between the New Zealand Government, led by Governor George Grey, their Māori allies the Kūpapa/Queenitanga ⁽¹⁵⁾and the Kingitanga/King movement ⁽¹⁶⁾that wanted Te Tiriti to be honoured, a British official was sent to Ihumātao and demanded that the Māori there take an oath of allegiance to the Crown and give up arms or be expelled to the Waikato ⁽¹⁷⁾. The Māori there refused, and in response the Crown illegally confiscated Ihumātao ⁽¹⁸⁾ and in 1869 gave it to the Pākehā family the Wallace’s to be developed into a capitalist farm, while the Māori there were left landless and destitute.

Over the course of the 20^th century, while the Wallace’s were running their farm, in the surrounding land ⁽¹⁹⁾ from 1960 to 2000 the Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant was built, polluting the air, water and sea bed, volcanoes are quarried for airport construction and Auckland’s road network. In 2009, Auckland Airport’s second runway construction leads to the bulldozing of a 600 year old urupā/grave site ⁽²⁰⁾on the Manukau Harbour foreshore, unearthing 89 graves. In 2012, Auckland Council tried to make the land a public space, but this was challenged in the Environment Court ⁽²¹⁾and they had to rezone the land for future economic development. In February 2014, the local iwi/tribe Te Kawerau ā Maki ⁽²²⁾signed a treaty settlement ⁽²³⁾ with the Government ⁽²⁴⁾to settle breaches of Te Tirti by the Government. In July 2014, the Government and Auckland Council designated 32 hectares adjacent to the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve as Special Housing Area/SHA 62 ⁽²⁵⁾for a future housing development.

*Ihumātao protesters at the climate change march on Auckland's Queen St on 27 September 2019*
*(Photo RNZ Veronica Schmidt*)

When this was announced, Ihumātao local Pania Newton ⁽²⁶⁾along with several of her cousins, formed SOUL ⁽²⁷⁾ in 2015 to stop the rezoning. In 2016, the Wallace’s sold the land to capitalist construction firm Fletcher’s ⁽²⁸⁾, which planned to construct 480 homes. In response, in November 2016 SOUL began their occupation of the land ⁽²⁹⁾ and demanded that Fletcher end their plans and that SHA 62 be dissolved. A month later, Joe Hawke, leader of the Bastion Point occupation ⁽³⁰⁾, visited to support the occupation and provide advice. For the next three years, SOUL would use a diversity of tactics to try and stop Fletcher’s plans, including going to the United Nations ⁽³¹⁾, taking Fletcher’s to the Environment Court ⁽³²⁾as well as taking petitions to Parliament in Wellington/Pōneke ⁽³³⁾and to Auckland Council ⁽³⁴⁾ with this all being complemented with an extensive ⁽³⁵⁾social media ⁽³⁶⁾campaign ⁽³⁷⁾. However, none of these measures succeeded, with Fletcher’s development going ahead. In response, Te Kawerau ā Maki negotiated with Fletchers ⁽³⁸⁾ to set aside some of the homes to be for the iwi and then supported the development, claiming that this was the best deal possible and that SOUL weren’t mana whenua.

With no more obstacles facing it, Fletcher’s now tried to begin construction at Ihumātao, with the Police being sent on 23^rd July 2019 to Ihumātao to serve eviction notices and arrest three protestors ⁽³⁹⁾. When this happened, the three years of SOUL’s campaigning now bore fruit, with hundreds arriving to blockade Ihumātao ⁽⁴⁰⁾to prevent construction from beginning, with members from Tāmaki Makaurau Anarchists ⁽⁴¹⁾ being amongst them. Due to holding this blockade ⁽⁴²⁾ the Government, after initially saying that they wouldn’t intervene ⁽⁴³⁾on 24^th July then said on 26^th July that construction at Ihumātao would stop ⁽⁴⁴⁾ while a solution was being negotiated between Te Kawerau ā Maki, Fletchers and Auckland Council.

Unfortunately SOUL was not invited to negotiations and they continued the blockade due to this as well as due to the Police and Fletcher’s remaining at Ihumātao, with the katiaki/protectors ⁽⁴⁵⁾ of Ihumātao being able to push the blockade line closer to Ihumātao ⁽⁴⁶⁾ while also facing an increased police presence by 5^th August. On the following day, there was a national day of actions in solidarity with the reclamation of Ihumātao ⁽⁴⁷⁾. This helped keep pressure on Fletcher’s and the Government after the Kingitanga offered to hold a hui ⁽⁴⁸⁾ between SOUL and Te Kawerau ā Maki to come to a common position on Ihumātao that both sides accepted.

As the negotiations continued, the blockade held, with the majority of the Police withdrawing from Ihumātao ⁽⁴⁹⁾ on 16^th August, while SOUL organised a hikoi/march ⁽⁵⁰⁾ to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Mount Albert office to get her to visit Ihumātao, which she refused to do. The negotiations ended on 18^th September, with SOUL and Te Kawerau ā Maki agreeing that Ihumātao should be returned to mana whenua ⁽⁵¹⁾. Since mid-September 2019, negotiations have continued, although SOUL have been locked out of them ⁽⁵²⁾. However, there are positive signs that a resolution may be reached soon, with the Government stating on 16^th November that it’s considering loaning Auckland Council money to purchase Ihumātao from Fletcher’s ⁽⁵³⁾to turn it into a public space, while Pania Newton announced on 23^rd December that a resolution would be announced soon ⁽⁵⁴⁾. This great news led to Ihumātao having a very Meri Kirhimete/Merry Christmas in 2019 ⁽⁵⁵⁾.

The struggle for Ihumātao in 2020 started well with Fletcher’s removing their fences ⁽⁵⁶⁾ at Ihumātao. In addition, there was an expectation that a resolution would be reached ⁽⁵⁷⁾ before Waitangi Day, with the Kingitangi lowering their flag from Ihumātao to symbolise, as their work in helping to resolve this struggle had finished. Unfortunately, Waitangi Day 2020 came and went without a resolution being announced. However, the Kingitanga said following Waitangi Day 2020 that a resolution was imminent ⁽⁵⁸⁾, but that some work still needed to be done to finalise the resolution.

This work continued throughout 2020 until 17^th December 2020 ⁽⁵⁹⁾, when it was announced that the Government would purchase Ihumātao from Fletcher Building for $30 million under the Government’s Land for Housing programme. This was done as part of a Memorandum of Understanding/He Pūmautanga that was signed by the Kingitanga, the Government and Auckland Council which set out how they would decide the land’s future. In the Memorandum, it was agreed that the land should be used for housing, which could take on various forms, including state housing, mana whenua housing or Papakāinga housing ⁽⁶⁰⁾. The Memorandum also clarified that the agreement does not amount to a new Treaty settlement to ensure it didn’t re-open the previous Treaty settlement, as all Treaty settlements are considered full and final. In addition, the Memorandum outlined that a steering committee, or Rōpu Whakahaere, made up of three ahi kā/those with links to the land ⁽⁶¹⁾representatives who are supported by the Kingitanga, one Kingitanga representative and two Government representatives, would be formed to co-govern the land. The steering committee will engage in talks for a period of five years to make the ultimate decision on the future ownership and use of the land, with one possible option being returning the land to mana whenua ⁽⁶²⁾. Pania Newton ⁽⁶²⁾ said at the time that the deal was a good first step and that it would be up to whānau to decide what to do with the land, although she said it wouldn’t necessarily be used for housing.

Since the deal was reached, as of 17^th March 2021 ⁽⁶³⁾, the steering committee has not yet been formed as the ahi kā representatives and Kingitanga representatives have not been selected yet. In addition, on 20^th April 2021 ⁽⁶⁴⁾, the Auditor-General announced that the Government’s purchase of Ihumātao was unlawful and Parliament needed to pass legislation to make it lawful to resolve this technical error. What both these reports show is that while mana whenua have won an important battle, the struggle for Ihumātao is not over yet.

Looking back ⁽⁶⁵⁾, SOUL’s campaign to #ProtectIhumātao has been a phenomenal success, with them being able to transform their initially small reclamation action into a direct action campaign that has created a mass movement in Tāmaki Makaurau and across Aotearoa to stop Fletcher’s housing development backed by an excellent social media campaign. It’s also led to a new approach to Māori politics, with a new generation seeking to engage in direct action to return stolen land instead of relying on corporate iwi structures (to the exclusion of hapū) negotiating with the Government to get treaty settlements that provide monetary compensation and only return Government land, enriching a new Māori capitalist class ⁽⁶⁶⁾.

However, there is still a long road to reaching a final resolution to this struggle. In addition, the Government ensured that the Memorandum did not set a precedent to return private land to Māori in future treaty settlements ⁽⁶⁷⁾. If that had happened, then all stolen land in Aotearoa could possibly be returned to Māori, destabilising one of the pillars of settler colonial capitalism in Aotearoa: private and state land ownership. Despite this, SOUL’s campaign to reclaim Ihumātao has put into practice the anti-colonial cry from the Māori rangatira/chief Rewi Maniapoto ⁽⁶⁸⁾during the Waikato War: 'Ka whawhai tonu mātou, Ake! Ake! Ake! - We will fight on for ever and ever!'

Tāmaki Makaurau Anarchists

https://tamakimakaurauanarchists.org.nz/

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Ihumātao: Reclaiming The Land

International

Tāmaki Makaurau Anarchists

https://tamakimakaurauanarchists.org.nz/

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