Prime minister 'absolutely committed' to National Erebus Memorial construction, despite protests

Friday, 26 November 2021

Protesters have occupied Dove-Myer Robinson Park in Parnell, Auckland, in opposition to the planned National Erebus Memorial. (First published March 2021)

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is reassuring whānau of those killed in the Erebus disaster that construction of a memorial will go ahead despite protests.

Sunday marks 42 years since Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus on Ross Island in Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board.

The crash remains New Zealand’s worst civil accident and, at the time, was considered the fourth-worst aviation accident in the world.

Ardern told the families she remained “absolutely committed” to the construction of the National Erebus Memorial at Dove-Myer Robinson Park in Auckland.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is reassuring families the memorial will go ahead.

“The long wait you have all endured is uppermost in our minds,” Ardern wrote in a letter to the families, a copy of which was provided to Stuff.

Ardern was writing in her capacity as the associate minister for arts, culture and heritage.

Construction was due to start in March, but has been repeatedly delayed due to protestors who are concerned the memorial would harm the giant 180-year-old pōhutukawa – known as Te Hā – nearby.

On Thursday a group protesting the planned memorial were handed eviction notices by Auckland Council, warning them to vacate the area by Saturday morning.

By noon on Saturday, protesters camping at the planned memorial site had packed up and left before being evicted - while vowing to continue to guard the area.

An artist's impression of the National Erebus Memorial, looking north over Waitematā Harbour.

Ardern said she was concerned the delays in construction were causing the families “frustration and distress”.

“I am confident construction of the memorial will be completed in 2022,” Ardern said.

The families have also issued an open letter venting their frustrations at the memorial’s delays “because of the objections of a few”.

“Imagine the Pike River families or the Christchurch earthquake families having to justify why a memorial should go ahead on a slope in a public park.

Stuff reporter Michael Wright, who's behind the podcast series White Silence, talks to RNZ about the importance of Erebus.

“Then imagine that the memorial in question relates to the largest loss of life this country has ever seen outside of war,” the letter read.

Dan Moloney, son of Nick Moloney who was the crew flight engineer, said the memorial had been designed to reflect the “size and impact” of the disaster and the resulting effect on the lives of all those involved.

“We acknowledge that those that never returned are still with us today in spirit and soul and they live on through their children and families,” Moloney said.

The memorial would provide a place for “all to visit, reminisce, reflect and focus on the great loss, deep emotions tempered by time, and the pain and anger of those affected,” he said.

“It is a spiritual place in which our joy and grief will meet in the memory of those we love, and it will honour the gratitude to those that risked their lives and made sacrifices in the aftermath.”

David Ling, who lost his mother, Alison, in the Erebus disaster, said the support of local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei made the memorial all “the more special” to himself, immediate family, and his mother’s relatives and descendants.

In March, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust chair Marama Royal said “since day one” the iwi had been “supportive of their [the families’] journey to have a place to reflect and remember.

Tents and camping equipment were scattered around the protest site at Dove Myer Robinson Park.

“We as tangata whenua understand very deeply the need to be able to grieve and acknowledge respectfully those we have lost,” Royal said.

The prime minister was confident the approval processes had been “rigorous” and due process was followed, particularly in relation to engagement with stakeholders including local iwi and hapū.

Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage chief executive Bernadette Cavanagh said she was disappointed by the current situation at the memorial work site and the way “this small number of protesters were behaving”.

The families of the Erebus accident were at the “heart of our continued mahi to create the memorial”, Cavanagh said.

“The ministry respects people’s right to hold different views, and to peaceful protest. It is our view that the concerns held by protesters have been fully addressed.”

She wanted to “provide assurance” the large pōhutukawa tree near the worksite would not be harmed, and it would be kept safe throughout the memorial’s construction and beyond.

Ling said his mother’s “one-day trip of a lifetime” had been followed by “more than 40 years of trauma and difficulty for the family left behind”.

“She visited the rose gardens every year with my father, and he continued to do so alone for the next 25 years.

“To have her recognised at last, there along with her fellow passengers, the crew and the recovery team personnel would be very special to us all and help bring a sense of closure,” he said.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff said he was “distressed” at the ongoing delays protests had caused to work on the memorial.

“I am also concerned at the misinformation being spread in regard to the memorial such as the damage to the pōhutukawa tree, which arborists have confirmed will not be damaged at all by the memorial,” Goff said.

In 2019, on the 40th anniversary, the prime minister and Air New Zealand chair Dame Therese Walsh made a formal apology to the families for the disaster and how they were treated in the aftermath.