New Zealand Wars memorial statue defaced by anti-colonial activists

Thursday, 11 January 2018

The Zealandia statue, paying tribute to soldiers who fought during the Land Wars in the 19th century, was vandalised overnight.

A war memorial statue in Auckland's CBD has been vandalised by an anti-colonial group.

The Zealandia statue on the corner of Symonds St and Wakefield St was attacked in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The axe had since fallen or had been removed.

A group attached an axe to the statue's head and a poster to the plaque, which reads: 'Fascism and White Supremacy are not Welcome Here'.

The axe, which appeared to be glued to the statue, had since either fallen or been removed and was lying on the steps of the monument.

Protestors stuck a poster to the monument.

The vandalised statue on Kaiti Hill in Gisborne, close to where Cook first landed in 1769.

* Captain Cook statue in Gisborne repeatedly defaced

* Vandalism at Auckland RSA seen as desecration

* Remembering land war history goes beyond bricks and mortar**

Red paint had also been smeared across the statue.

The memorial is a tribute to the imperial and colonial soldiers who fought for Britain during the New Zealand wars between 1845 and 1872.

According to historian James Cowan, 2154 anti-Government Māori and 745 soldiers, colonists, and kūpapa (Māori allies) were killed in the wars.

The group sent a statement to Stuff saying the memorial was an 'ode to the violent and brutal occupation of Māori lands'.

'It celebrates the ongoing colonisation of Aotearoa, its lands and its peoples,' the statement said.

'The settler capitalist system imposed on this land is a poison that works to systematically oppress indigenous peoples throughout the world to the benefit of corporations and the super-rich. It is a system that is doomed to fail.”

Auckland Council manager arts and culture Richard McWha said the council was aware of the damage and a contractor had been dispatched to remove the vandalism, which appeared to be 'fairly superficial'.

'While sometimes uncomfortable and even inflammatory, these heritage memorials are examples of a colonial perspective that is part of our collective history,' McWha said.

Wherever possible, we should look to learn from our history and not try to erase it by simply removing or damaging the evidence, he said.

'A discussion about these issues is always preferred over acts of vandalism that inevitably end up costing the residents and ratepayers of Auckland and divert funds away from more positive initiatives.'

Auckland's Zealandia is one of three in the country. The others are located in Waimate and Palmerston.

The Auckland statue was organised by the Victoria League and unveiled in 1920.

It is not the first time it has been targeted: vandals stole the palm frond and the bronze flag Zealandia held in her left hand in 2016.

On Anzac Day, the memorial was reportedly covered in red paint.

In September, the council announced a monument of controversial figure Colonel Marmaduke Nixon in south Auckland would not be removed.

During the New Zealand Wars, in February 1864, Nixon took 1500 colonial troops into the village of Rangiaōwhia where elderly men, women and children were living.

Nixon was shot and his troops set alight the town church, killing 12 people hiding inside.

A statue of Captain James Cook on Kaiti Hill in Gisborne was repeatedly defaced in 2016.

In each attack Cook's face and crotch were painted blood red.