Hamilton City Council 'weak' for pulling down colonial statue

Friday, 12 June 2020

People gather to watch the statue of Captain Hamilton being removed from Hamilton's Civic Square. (Video first published in June, 2020)

Hamilton City Council has been accused of 'giving in to vandals' over its decision to remove the statue of Captain Hamilton.

In a series of Twitter posts, coming in the wake of calls for a nationwide review of the country's statues and place names, National Party MP Simeon Brown said the council decision to remove the statue was 'incredibly weak'.

The escalating row, sparked by the death in the US of George Floyd, comes in the wake of a call from the Māori Party for an inquiry into colonial monuments and statues located around the country.

'[The council] gave into vandals straight away. This sets a dangerous precedent for other councils to follow across NZ,' Simeon wrote.

**READ MORE:

National MP Simeon Brown said the statue removal was giving into vandals and would set a dangerous precedent.

* Hamilton City Council take down Captain Hamilton statue

* Man vows to tear Captain Hamilton statue down

* Calls for colonial statues to go start to pick up in New Zealand

'Once we have finished tearing down statues should we start burning books?'

Hamilton City Council removed the statue on Friday morning after a formal request from Waikato-Tainui and a man's pledge to tear it down.

On Thursday, Huntly kaumātua Taitimu Maipi told Stuff he intended to remove the bronze during a protest march on Saturday.

'I went up to my tribe [on Thursday] and told them I'm taking the statue out, I left my name at Hamilton City Council and said I'm taking it out.'

Maipi said Hamilton was a 'murderous a….hole' standing in the city as though he was a hero.

The statue of Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, who the city is named after, was gifted to Hamilton by the Gallagher Group in 2013.

Kaumatua Taitimu Maipi first protested against the Captain John Hamilton statue in Civic Square in 2018.

Fellow National MP Judith Collins also added her voice, via Twitter.

'It's a slippery slope to start judging yesterday's heroes by today's standards.'

Collins also commented on a Tweet from political commentator David Farrar about New Zealand's first Labour Prime Minister Michael Savage which said that in 1920 he 'called for steps to deal with the menace of an alarming influx of Asiatics'.

'Why then does the PM have a photo of such a man behind her desk?' Collins said.

Condemnation of the Captain Hamilton statue removal also came from lobby group the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.

“Hamilton ratepayers are currently dealing with the fallout of a literal pandemic. Their livelihoods are threatened, and they’re set to have their rates hiked yet again,' spokesman Jordan Williams said.

“Why has Hamilton City Council focused on a statue? Don’t they realise that by so swiftly agreeing to pull it down, they’re inviting wasteful new debates over other statues, and even the city’s name?”

“This is a pathetic capitulation to a small group of agitators. Councillors need to refocus their time and attention away from petty controversies and onto issues that matter: namely, their annual budget. Tear down wasteful spending, not statues.”