Why did Hamilton council vote to install controversial statue?
Sunday, 2 September 2018
The decision to accept the Captain Hamilton statue and place it in Civic Square was made behind closed doors.
The spotlight has been on the bronze statue of Hamilton's namesake since Huntly's Taitimu Maipi took to it with a hammer and red paint on Thursday morning.
Maipi said celebrating a man who murdered the ancestors of local Māori doesn't make sense.
The life-size statue was offered to Hamilton city by the Gallagher Group for the company's 75th anniversary.
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But questions about council's decision to accept it and place it in Civic Square will remain unanswered for now, as the call was made in public-excluded meeting sessions in 2012.
It was endorsed by an expert public art panel - which no longer exists - and considered by council through a set process, deputy chief executive Lance Vervoort said.
However, the council declined to release agendas, minutes, voting records, or talk about the discussions.
'I'm constrained by those resolutions and that item being in the public-excluded part of our agenda. We would need a [council] resolution to release that,' Vervoort said.
Such items used to be discussed behind closed doors to protect the reputation of project sponsors and artists if the artwork wasn't approved by council, he said.
Council's public art vision from the time states aspects such as artworks which challenge and surprise, which are relevant to the city's history, and engage diverse communities would be attributes to be considered.
The public art process has since changed, so proposals are dealt with by a council committee and reviewed by council staffers, rather than an independent panel.
Sculptor Margriet Windhausen said her statue was about explaining the city's name.
'History is controversial and that's why I want to say I respect [Taitimu Maipi's] feelings for Captain Hamilton,' she said.
'The sculpture of Captain Hamilton, in my opinion, was made to illustrate where the name Hamilton city came from. That's as far as it goes for me.'
That is why Hamilton is portrayed in a peaceful pose, she said.
You can't change history, former deputy mayor Gordon Chesterman said, but the city could present a more balanced view.
When councillors at the time heard about the statue - a gift he said that was worth at least $250,000 - they thought it was fantastic, because the reason for the city's name was not widely known.
'I don't think anyone actually discussed, well, is this going to upset Waikato-Tainui, because we had a very good relationship with the King, with Tame Pokaia, who was council's kaumātua.
'I don't recall anyone saying, oh, this is terrible, this is going to cause all kinds of ructions, because it was about the history of how the city got named.'
However, Chesterman suggested having a series of pou named after Māori monarchs in Garden Place for a more balanced view of the area's history.
Chesterman knows and respects Maipi and was shocked to hear about the vandalism.
'Did Captain Hamilton get shot at Gate Pā or didn't he? Was Hamilton named after Hamilton?' he said. 'All those things, you have to answer yes.'
If Chesterman had gone out and vandalised the Kīngitanga statue in Ngāruawāhia, he would be arrested within five minutes, he said.
However, he supported Maipi's call for the Land Wars to be part of the New Zealand history curriculum.