March 07, 2021
Candle of hope as protest prays for Mataharehare
The leader of a sit-in against the siting of an Erebus memorial on a Parnell pā site believes opposition to the project by nearby residents is growing.
Dame Naida Glavish from Ngāti Whātua yesterday joined the group camped out at Mataharehare or Dove Meyer Robinson Park for a karakia.
The karakia acknowledged the families of those who died in the Air New Zealand crash in Antarctica 41 years ago and also the whenua and the 180-year-old pohutukawa she believes will be damaged by the construction of the concrete and steel monument.
She was pleased to see Parnell residents among people from Ngāti Whātua and other areas.
They thought it was a done deal and they were feeling depressed about it but now they feel like a candle of hope is growing that the park will remain as it is," Dame Naida says.
She supports there being an Erebus memorial – but not on a site that had no connection to the tragedy.
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