March 06, 2017
Waka prepares to confront oil giant
A Givealittle page has been created to help Ngati Kahungunu's voyaging waka Te Matau a Maui out of the waters off the lower North island.
Protest spokesperson Tere Harrison says the Amazon Princess, the largest oil exploration ship in the world, is seismic testing from Cook Strait to Napier.
The waka needs provisions to get onto the water and confront the ship before it is due to leave at the end of May.
She says whanau and hapu along the coast are united in their opposition to oil exploration and want to see a shift from the fossil fuel era to renewables like solar power.
"If there's a solar spill, the largest damage we would incur would be a sunny day. If there's an oil spill, we have the mess of the Rena. If there's an oil spill, we can look to the Gulf of Mexico spill. Our position is we need to end fossil fuels and we need to protect our waters," Ms Harrison says.
She says New Zealanders have a proud history of protest at sea, even as the Government tries to criminalise such protest for the benefit of foreign oil companies.
The Givealittle page is at givealittle.co.nz/matauamaui
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