Waiheke marina: Occupiers set up floating camp, one apparently kicked in the face

Thursday, 8 July 2021

Tensions have been rising at the Kennedy Point Marina site on Waiheke Island, as activists and crew tussle and occupiers take over the floating pontoon. (First published July 8, 2021)

Opponents of a Waiheke Island marina have taken over a construction pontoon after a day of escalating violence in which one person was apparently kicked in the face.

The group’s members – who call themselves protectors because they see their role as kaitiaki, or guardians of the area – set up tents on a floating pontoon in the Kennedy Point Marina construction zone and were vowing not to leave.

The action came after a day of escalating tension at Kennedy Point, where altercations between construction crew members and protectors led to one person needing surgery on an injury.

A still from a video appears to show a person being kicked in the face as tensions escalate at the Kennedy Point Marina construction zone.

Video from Wednesday appeared to show construction crew members pushing protectors into the sea from the platform, workers and protectors tussling, and a man wearing hi vis apparently kicking someone in the water in the face.

**READ MORE:

Protectors have set up camp on the pontoon and are vowing not to leave.

* Waiheke protector injured after being 'rammed' by marina developer's boat

* Waiheke marina opponents in court charged with trespassing construction zone

* Kennedy Point marina: Waiheke community vows ‘it ain’t over yet’

Last week, a woman was left with a sprained neck and wrist after the construction crew “rammed” her with their boat while she was protesting in the water.

The developer, Kennedy Point Marina, said it was investigating the incidents that unfolded on Wednesday. It said the videos showed only a “small segment of a confrontation” between protesters and security personnel.

Protectors have regularly tried to stop work by trespassing the construction zone.

Marina director Kitt Littlejohn said there had been “significant offending” aimed at the company’s property and staff “in what has become an unnecessarily confrontational situation”.

The occupiers are part of Protect Pūtiki, a Ngāti Pāoa-led group protesting the planned 180-berth marina.

Spokeswoman Emily Māia Weiss (Ngāti Pāoa) said the protectors had no plans to leave the pontoon.

“We’re taking a firm stance and saying this is our ocean, this is everyone’s ocean, and it will not be taken away by the developers.

“It may be construction of their marina, but it’s the destruction of our bay.”

She spent Wednesday night on the pontoon, where a miniature campground of three tents and a clutch of folding chairs was set up underneath a banner that said “Arohatia te moana – love the ocean”.

About a dozen protectors are occupying the pontoon.

Weiss said “extreme force” was used against the protectors on Wednesday.

“We had our women being grabbed by all four limbs and flung off boats, others pushed into the water, people in headlocks and having their heads pushed under.

“It’s completely unnecessary for this amount of force to be used against peaceful protesters and that’s why we want the intervention of the ministers sooner rather than later.”

Meegan Mānuka says the protectors were not using violence.

A petition asking the Auckland Council and the ministers for conservation and the environment to intervene has been signed more than 20,000 times.

The marina opponents are concerned the resident kororā, or little blue penguins, will be harmed by the work, and say mana whenua were not properly consulted during the consenting process.

Meegan Mānuka, a protector who was previously charged with trespassing the construction site, said the protectors were “not here to present any violence whatsoever”.

She said she saw someone get punched in the face, and another protector take a kayak paddle to the face.

Waiheke locals come to tautoko (support) from the fence line at Kennedy Point.

“I never thought I'd see the day in New Zealand when this kind of violence was tolerated.

“I just hope New Zealand can see we’re trying to protect our moana, our ocean, our beaches.”

But the developer said the protest was no longer being conducted in a “peaceful manner”.

“The construction crew and site security staff are simply trying to do their jobs to protect the construction area from trespassers in line with a legal consent to build,” Littlejohn said.

He said construction crew members had received threats, including ongoing physical and verbal abuse, which were being investigated by police.

Inspector Gary Davey from Auckland Central Police said police were investigating Wednesday’s incident between protesters and security staff after a number of complaints.

“Police will be investigating all allegations relating to criminal offending and this will take some time to complete.”

Police were speaking with both parties on Thursday to try to come up with a resolution, he said.

Bianca Ranson (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa) from environmental group Mauri o te Moana, has been observing the kororā at Pūtiki Bay and was concerned about the adverse affects of construction on the penguins.

She said the violence against protectors was “really, really concerning”.

“It’s completely new to Waiheke. We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Littlejohn said the developer was meeting with its security consultant and would “thoroughly investigate” the incidents.

He said work would continue once they were satisfied it was safe to do so.

Greenpeace has called on police to ensure the safety of protesters at Pūtiki Bay.

Programme director Niamh O’Flynn said non-violent civil disobedience was a “cornerstone” of Aotearoa’s democracy, and the group had a right to peacefully protest.

“The first duty of police is to protect the safety of all people, and protect them from violence.

“The police are failing in their duty to keep the peace by standing aside and allowing contractors to assault peaceful protesters.”