October 03, 2017
Goff seeks compromise on Nixon monument
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is meeting today with descendants of colonial soldier Marmaduke Nixon and the Waikato hapu he attacked.
There have been calls to remove a statue of Marmaduke Nixon that has stood for almost 140 years in Otahuhu at the junction of Great South road and Mangere road.
Nixon, a farmer in the Mangere area who raised a volunteer cavalry force to support imperial troops in the invasion of the Waikato, was fatally injured leading an attack on Rangiaowhia near Te Awamutu, during which residents were forced into a church which was then set on fire.
Mr Goff's proposal is to put a plaque beside the statue to give a modern interpretation of history.
"I think it's possible to keep an historic monument, erected and reflecting its time in history, with another plaque saying let's look at the victims of the land wars, let's look at he victims of this particular battle and let's analyse in today's terms what happened and what the background was," he says.
FULL INTERVIEW MAYOR PHILL GOFF
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