On 45th anniversary of Erebus disaster, memorial seems further away than ever

Thursday, 28 November 2024

Seven years after a memorial was promised for the 257 people killed in the Mt Erebus plane crash, options are disappearing, and progress seems stalled.

And for some of the victims’ families, the latest proposals appear to have taken the process back to square one.

Despite Auckland always being the intended location for the memorial, because most of the victims were from there, officials overseeing the process last year controversially suggested it could be placed at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

Now, they seem to have taken a further step back, and have asked family members whether they want the memorial built in Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch.

It is the latest development in a bitter saga, with frustrated Erebus families beginning to walk away from the project.

In 2017, then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a memorial would be built to those who died when an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed into Mt Erebus in Antarctica on November 28, 1979.

Despite the accident being New Zealand’s worst peacetime disaster, there has never been a national memorial.

Ardern promised a place where victims’ families and friends could grieve, and the process was handed to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH), which had a memorial designed.

The ministry’s proposed location at Dove-Myer Robinson Park in Auckland attracted angry opposition from some Parnell residents and others, resulting in an occupation of the site, and pickets to prevent construction beginning.

In 2023, the ministry announced it was abandoning the site due to concerns about land stability.

Since then, it has tried to find another suitable location in Auckland, and a longlist of 37 potential sites was gradually whittled down to four, then two.

But as The Post revealed in July, one of those was Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington ‒ a city that had never previously been an option for the memorial, but was considered a possible solution because Pukeahu was Crown land, overseen by the ministry, and could be developed more quickly.

The other site was adjacent to the Michael Joseph Savage memorial at Auckland’s Bastion Point/Takaparawhau, on land controlled by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

However, the ministry recently advised the families of Erebus victims that Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei was continuing to discuss the issue, and “a decision about progressing Michael Joseph Savage as a potential site is unlikely in the near future.”

If the ministry opts to put the memorial at Pukeahu, it will be against the clear wishes of the Returned and Services’ Association (RSA).

Acting CEO Andrew Brown confirmed the organisation informed MCH it didn’t believe the central Wellington location was appropriate.

“What we want to say to the families is, we understand the tragedy, and that has gone on down the years. We absolutely support a memorial. We just don’t think Pukeahu National War Memorial Park is the right place to put the memorial.

“Our view is that the purpose of Pukeahu is to commemorate those that lost their lives in war and conflict. And most nations have something similar.

“And we believe that site and that purpose should be preserved for that use.”

Despite Pukeahu being on the ministry’s shortlist for the Erebus memorial for many months, the RSA only learnt about the proposal in July when contacted by The Post.

Brown says there were veterans on board Flight TE901 when it crashed on Erebus, and he respected the ministry’s efforts to find a home for the memorial, and how difficult that had been.

“We’re just saying, we don’t believe this is the place.”

The ministry’s chief executive, Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae, has stressed that any alternative site for the Erebus memorial “would need to have the full blessing of its landowners and stakeholders”.

But despite the RSA being a key stakeholder, its opposition to the memorial being built at Pukeahu hasn’t led to the site being abandoned yet, with MCH merely saying the RSA’s position will be “taken into consideration”.

And Brown admits there is little the RSA could do if the ministry decided to put the memorial at Pukeahu.

The ministry was asked how much support and opposition there had been for Pukeahu among Erebus families, but refused to answer any questions.

Previously, Glenis Philip-Barbara, who is leading the Erebus memorial project for the ministry, said she had received an equal number of calls supporting the Wellington location to those who didn’t want it there.

But nobody The Post has spoken to among Erebus families thinks it is an appropriate location, with strong opposition to a civilian memorial being placed among war memorials.

As Philippa Lewis, who lost her brother, Jon Broad, and her 21-year-old niece, named after her, told The Post: “They didn’t go to war ‒ they went on a sightseeing trip.”

(There is one non-military plaque at Pukeahu, to the victims of the 1918 influenza epidemic, due to the epidemic’s connection with WWI.)

Recently released documents show Pukeahu ranked lowest of the ministry’s four shortlisted sites.

A report by planning consultants Barker and Associates compared Pukeahu and three Auckland sites: Bastion Point, Cornwall Park, and Monte Cecilia Park ‒ even though the last two have already been ruled out because the landowners chose not to proceed.

Bastion Pt was assessed as the best site, followed by the other two Auckland locations, with Pukeahu the worst performer.

MCH says iwi are supportive in principle of the memorial being built at Pukeahu, but further consultation with hapū would be needed.

It has told families a decision about building the memorial at Pukeahu will be made shortly.

If Pukeahu is chosen, partly because it is a simpler process due to it being Crown land, it will likely disappoint most Erebus families.

If it is rejected, that leaves only Bastion Point from the original longlist ‒ an option MCH has indicated will take much longer, and may not gain iwi approval.

To that end, MCH has seemingly gone back to the drawing board and its latest suggestion is Purewa Cemetery in Auckland, where a number of Erebus victims, including pilot Jim Collins, are buried.

The cemetery’s board will discuss the proposal in early December.

But in a move that suggests desperation to some family members, MCH has now pulled out a map of New Zealand in its search for potential sites.

In November, it sent a survey to Erebus family members asking: “In which of the following cities would you support a National Erebus Memorial? Please tick all options that apply: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch.”

MCH has indicated there are other possible sites in Wellington, apart from Pukeahu, but has not identified them.

The suggestion of Christchurch as a potential location has surprised many, though there is a polar connection with the International Antarctic Centre, and Flight TE901 was due to land in Christchurch before completing its return to Auckland.

For David Ling, who lost his mother, Alison, on Erebus, MCH’s latest survey wasn’t even going back to square one, it was a step further back.

“It’s actually retraumatising people, having all these arguments about whether or not there can be a memorial, and where it’s going to be, with no progress made over all these years.

“And I think they’re exhausted, and just frustrated it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere ‒ except backwards.

“A number of people have suffered quite seriously from the stress of this, and are thinking, ‘We just can’t keep bashing our head against a brick wall, and, well, maybe it will never happen.’ Which would be tragic.”

Ling struggles to understand how something so obvious and necessary can have become so protracted and difficult.

“It’s a very dark chapter in our history, with a lot of lies and cover-up, so it’s got a slightly bad feeling about it, in a sense.

“And some people think it’s so long ago, and they don’t want a reminder of such an awful thing in their backyard.”

The protests and ugly arguments that erupted over the Parnell site had made MCH “gun-shy”, Ling says.

“So they’re tiptoeing, and not tiptoeing in any sensible direction.

“They’re scared that the whole thing is going to blow up again if they don’t do it absolutely correctly.”

Ling doesn’t favour Purewa Cemetery, saying a cemetery is a gloomy place that doesn’t recognise the adventurous spirit of those who flew to Antarctica, and were lost on Erebus.

He also didn’t want the memorial at Pukeahu, which is beside a main transport artery from the airport, and on the edge of the capital’s CBD.

If it was built in Christchurch, Ling would prefer it somewhere on the Port Hills, looking towards Antarctica, rather than at the Antarctic Centre, which was about fun and entertainment.

Ling says many Erebus family members are beginning to believe a memorial will never be built.

“The ministry keeps on expressing their commitment to it. But what’s really going on down in Wellington, I really don’t know.”

Aviation historian Richard Waugh, who was one of the first to advocate for an Erebus memorial, says he understands the families’ frustrations, particularly regarding the Parnell protests, which prevented a memorial being built years ago.

“But I have confidence in the ministry in what they are doing.

“The funding is there, it’s advancing, they’re surveying the families ‒ but they’ve had to be that much more careful after the debacle of what happened.”

Minister for Arts, Culture, and Heritage Paul Goldsmith declined to answer questions on the issue and delays, other than to say: “The Government is committed to a National Erebus Memorial and would like to see it built as soon as possible.

“I have expressed this to my officials, who are keeping me regularly updated.”

A remembrance service for Erebus family members and those involved in the recovery mission, Operation Overdue, will be held at 1pm today at St James Church, 750 Harewood Rd, Christchurch. From 2pm the church will be open to the public to pay their respects.

Two new books about the Erebus disaster will be launched at 1pm, on November 30, at the Air Force Museum, 45 Harvard Ave, Wigram, Christchurch. Contact Richard Waugh for details of the two events: 022 533 9400.