Waiheke marina: Protectors hīkoi to High Court at Auckland for injunction hearing

Tuesday, 18 January 2022

People march from the Auckland ferry terminal to the High Court in Auckland, protesting the injunction placed on them by the developer of the planned Kennedy Point Marina.

Opponents of a marina on Waiheke took part in a hīkoi (march) to Auckland’s High Court before a hearing about a controversial injunction on Wednesday morning.

Chants of “What do we want? No marina!” and “Protect Pūtiki!” rang out through Queen St as about 100 people marched from the waterfront to the court, waving signs and banners.

Protect Pūtiki, a Ngāti Pāoa-led group, has been protesting the Kennedy Point Marina at Pūtiki Bay since construction started last March.

About 100 protesters marched up Queen St shouting chants, singing waiata and waving placards.

In November, an interim injunction was issued by the High Court, banning 32 Waiheke locals linked to the group from the construction zone.

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The protectors gathered outside the High Court in Auckland for speeches before the hearing.

It was granted without notice, meaning the protectors could not oppose it.

They challenged the injunction in December. The court hearing on Wednesday was the first regarding the challenge.

Before the hearing, Protect Pūtiki member Maia Piata Rose Week said the hīkoi’s purpose was to challenge the injunction, the “colonial entities” that allowed it to be granted, and the government.

“We’re not content with waiting for an apology in 50 years.”

Protectors from Waiheke and the city gathererd to support the 32 people named in the injunction.

Week, who was raised on Waiheke, said it was “heartbreaking” to see the developers taking over the bay.

“They’re pushing the community out, they’re pushing mana whenua out and tāngata whenua out. It’s an inappropriate development for this island.”

“We are here to get justice for Pūtiki,” Protect Pūtiki’s Emily Māia Weiss said.

“Not only do we not want a marina … but even to have the right to express this at the bay we have to defend ourselves against this injunction.”

The injunction has stopped protectors from going into the construction zone to take direct action, such as kayaking and swimming, as a way to stop work on the marina.

The developers applied for the injunction ahead of Auckland’s drop to step 2 of alert level 3, under which gatherings of up to 25 people were allowed.

Kennedy Point Boatharbour Ltd (KPBL) argued less stringent Covid restrictions would allow protestors to gather and disrupt construction.

At the time, director Kitt Littlejohn said the company took the action in response to “ongoing, aggravated trespass activity by protesters since construction began which has put them, company personnel, contractors and the public at risk”.

The injunction allowed for protest at the bay, as long as protectors did not go into the marked construction area, he said.

Lawyers for the 32 people named in the injunction raised a series of objections, including claims the developers failed to disclose material they should have when seeking a without notice injunction.

They claimed there were legal defects in the developers’ assertions about the extent of their right to exclude people from the area around the development.

They also highlighted rights under the Bill of Rights Act, and legal issues relating to tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

At the hearing, lawyer Ron Mansfield argued that the consent did not allow for the developers to exclude people from the bay during construction.

While the injunction has changed the protectors’ tactics at the bay, they have maintained a presence with regular observations of wildlife.