August 08, 2019
SOUL protest overlooks real threats to whenua
An iwi historian says the protection of wāhi tapu in Auckland doesn't start or end with the block being protested at Ihumātao.
Pita Turei says the people behind Save Our Unique Landscape were nowhere to be seen when Te Kawerau a Maki fought the rezoning of the former wheatfield through the courts, or when it then negotiated with developer Fletcher Residential to get houses for its people and land returned.
He says SOUL has undermined the traditional leadership around Makaurau Marae.
"While those so called protectors or kaitiaki have been sitting on that land, a stone's throw away development has wiped out all the watercress beds that have sustained that marae for generations. SOUL is not protecting the land and it has created a situation of confusion that means no one else has the status to protect the land either," Mr Turei says.
He says iwi cannot protect their wāhi tapu unless the wider population of Tāmaki Makaurau understands and cares about the history of the area.
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