With SKP out of the picture, the Uri o Ngāti Pāoa occupation at Pūtiki Bay is now the focal point of community dissatisfaction with the marina at Kennedy Point.
Occupier Emily Māia Weiss says there has been some confusion that the occupation is part of SKP, but she says that is not correct.
“We are not SKP, lots of their members are coming down and standing in solidarity with us.
The community, through SKP, has taken all options and – hats off to them – they’ve done an amazing job, she says.
“Our occupation has always been about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the aspirations of kaitiakitanga and environmental protection that stem out of that document.”
Ms Weiss says that although opposition has been legally expressed through the courts to its full extent, if there was a community member who still opposed the marina they could stand in solidarity with Ngā Uri o Ngāti Pāoa and echo the demand to hold the crown to its responsibility under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“At Waitangi Day in 2018, Jacinda Ardern asked Māori to hold her and her government accountable,” Ms Weiss says.
“That is what we are doing. The breach of the Treaty of Waitangi that has always been, and still is, at the foundation of the resource consent granted for this proposed marina needs to be urgently addressed and responded to by the Crown.”
Uri o Ngāti Pāoa launched a petition on Wednesday 19 May. Ms Weiss says the purpose of the petition is to call on Minister for the Environment David Parker and Auckland Council to exercise their ability to call the resource consents issued for the marina into question, she says. • Erin Johnson
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