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Ngati Whatua Orakei is today marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the occupation of Takaparawhau/ Bastion Point.
That’s the day early morning commuters were surprised to see a convoy of army vehicles carrying more than 500 police along Tamaki Drive from the city.
For the occupiers the attack was expected but the scale came as a shock, with lines of police surrounding the makeshift camp where for 506 days they had held out against the then-National Government’s plan to sell the land for luxury housing.
In all 222 people were arrested that day.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she was reminded of the protest recently while looking at an photographic exhibition about the Topp Twins.
"It was a rallying point and it was a rallying point for New Zealand alongside Maori and so a historic moment for so many reasons," she says.
The commemoration started with a dawn service, and there’s a powhiri at 10am and a concert this evening at the Tuning Fork beside Spark Arena.
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