Ihumātao timeline: From confiscation to a Crown deal to buy land

Monday, 14 December 2020

Ihumātao: Protesters gather to mark one year since police eviction sparked protests (first published December 14, 2020).

Ihumātao in South Auckland was confiscated by the Crown in the 1800s during the Waikato Invasion – a campaign to stamp out the Māori King movement and clear lands for European settlement.

It was owned by the Wallace family for generations. In 2014 it was sold to Fletcher Building, which planned to build 480 houses on the site.

Unhappy at the plans, campaigners established a “kaitiaki village” on Ihumātao Quarry Rd and have been living there full time, claiming the land is a sacred Māori site and should be preserved for future generations.

During the height of the campaign for Ihumātao’s return to mana whenua, campaigners regularly faced police.

After an earlier disagreement between the campaigners and the local iwi, mana whenua agreed they wanted the whenua back in late 2019.

* Ihumātao: SOUL's Pania Newton hoping resolution 'just over the hill'

Campaigners say the land is a sacred Māori site and should be preserved for future generations.

* Ihumātao: Campaign group 'winning' one year on from eviction notices

On Thursday, the Government struck a deal with the Māori King, Tūheitia, buying the land from Fletcher Building for $29.9 million and holding it in a trust.

Hundreds of people walked in a hikoi from Ihumātao to Mt Albert to deliver an invitation to visit the occupied land to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in August 2019.

The money comes from the Government’s Land for Housing Programme, as there has been a commitment that there will be housing on the site.

The Auckland Council will maintain the land while the Kīngitanga leads a process to determine the future of the site, in consultation with mana whenua.

Members of the hikoi do a haka as the invitation to the prime minister is presented.

Here’s how we got here.

1863: Armed British and New Zealand troops force Māori off Ihumātao, land they’d held for 800 years. The land is farmed for 150 years by the Wallace family.

The Kīngitanga is leading a steering group to decide what to do with the whenua. (File photo)

2007: The Manukau City Council intends to add the land to the Ōtuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve.

2011: The land is zoned for residential development.

Ihumātao campaigner Pania Newton says her group would like help conserving its own campaign paraphernalia, rather than handing them over to a museum.

2016: Ihumātao is purchased by Fletcher Building, which plans to build 480 houses. Pania Newton and other members from Save Our Unique Landscape (Soul) move onto the whenua.

2017: Soul travels to the United Nations to contest the alleged breaches under the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Ihumātao protectors gather on the land on July 23, 2020, to commemorate one year since the police eviction.

2018: Thirty protesters attend Fletcher Building’s annual meeting at Eden Park. Five directors respond to questions saying they support Fletcher Building’s decision to proceed with the development.

April 30, 2019: Soul says its power has been cut at Ihumātao for two weeks. “They’re trying to force us out,” Newton says.

Soul has had a “kaitiaki village” at Ihumātao since 2016.

May 2019: Fletcher announces plans to close Ihumātao Quarry Rd, where about a dozen campaigners are living, from May 6.

The future of the land at Ihumātao is still uncertain.

July 23, 2019: Fletcher arrives at Ihumātao, with Newton saying the company gave zero warning.

July 24 to August 2, 2019: Occupiers begin arriving in numbers from around the country. The protest turns into a movement, with well-known musicians such as Stan Walker, Ladi6 and Teeks helping to bring attention to the cause and entertaining the crowds. Arrests continue. Ardern announces a hold on development on July 26.

August 3, 2019: The Māori King, Tūheitia, visits the disputed site.

August 5-8, 2019: Police descend on Ihumātao in increased numbers on August 5. A five-hour stand-off between police officers and campaigners ensues. Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha visits the site on August 8 and says police numbers will be reduced. Protests in solidarity are held around the country.

August 16, 2019: Police reduce their numbers at the Ihumātao protest site, following Haumaha’s promise.

August 22, 2019: A petition carried by about 200 campaigners is delivered to Ardern’s Mt Albert office, calling for her to visit Ihumātao.

August 23, 2019: Reports that Tainui is set to buy the land at Ihumātao and stop protests are labelled “pure speculation” by the groups involved.

September 2019: King Tūheitia announces on behalf of mana whenua that they have reached consensus over what to do with Ihumātao, and their position is they want it back.

January 2020: King Tūheitia arrives at Ihumātao on January 22 to collect his flag, which served as a symbol of protection over the whenua. One of his representatives says this a reflection of his confidence that there will be a positive resolution before Waitangi Day. January 23 marks the six-month anniversary since protectors were served with an eviction notice. Campaigners say the fight to prevent the sacred land from being turned into a housing development remains strong.

February 2020: Fletcher Building is reportedly impatient for a solution on Ihumātao. It has previously said it would abandon plans to build 500 homes on the land and sell it for $40m.

June 2020: Ardern denies reports a deal for Ihumātao is near, saying Cabinet is yet to consider any resolution. There were reports that a deal would be done before June 30, and the Crown would buy the land using the Housing Act – though the Government would not stipulate that houses be built on the land, as per the act’s purpose.

July 23, 2020: One year on from eviction notices being served, the day is marked by karakia, waiata and kōrero. Whānau laugh, applaud and weep as Newton speaks to the crowd. “We are winning here. There are no pirihimana [police] here, there is no development here – we are winning,” she says.

December 14, 2020: Ardern is tight-lipped about reports an initial deal went to the Cabinet on Monday. RNZ reports the deal is for Fletcher Building to sell the land to the Government, the first step in reaching a resolution; with agreement from Fletcher and the Kīngitanga, on behalf of mana whenua. Ardern won’t comment on the reports when asked by media: “It’s understandable for an issue that has bubbled away for well over a year that there will be speculation,” she says. “I’m not giving you my confirmation of what was on the Cabinet agenda today.”

December 17, 2020: The Government anounces it has struck a deal with the Māori King, Tūheitia, buying the disputed land at Ihumātao from Fletcher Building for $29.9m and holding it in a trust. The money comes from the Government’s Land for Housing Programme, as there has been a commitment that there will be housing on the site. The Auckland Council will maintain the land while the Kīngitanga leads a process to determine the future of the site, consulting with mana whenua. The deal, made explicitly outside the Treaty of Waitangi process, ends one chapter in a long-running dispute over the land.