Is Christchurch really the right place for the Erebus memorial?

Friday, 25 July 2025

As it becomes more likely the controversial National Erebus Memorial will end up in Christchurch, despite most victims’ families wanting it in Auckland, concerns are emerging about whether the project is being railroaded by bureaucrats. Mike White investigates.

At midday on November 29 last year, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger entered the Commodore Hotel on Memorial Ave near his city’s airport.

Meeting him there was Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae, the Ministry for Culture (MCH) and Heritage’s chief executive.

The day before had been the 45th anniversary of the country’s worst peacetime disaster, the crash of an Air New Zealand DC-10 on Mt Erebus in Antarctica which killed all 257 passengers and crew, with Leauanae attending a Christchurch service remembering those who died.

And that was the main reason Mauger and Leauanae were meeting.

Because, after 45 years, and seven years of planning by the ministry, a memorial to the Erebus victims still hadn’t been erected.

“MCH is under considerable pressure to deliver a national memorial for the disaster,” begins a briefing memo to the mayor for the meeting, obtained by The Post under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

The memo outlines how the memorial had always been intended for Auckland, but the chosen site hadn’t eventuated because of community opposition and, later, cyclone damage.

The ministry had looked at numerous other locations in Auckland and Wellington, but the only site remaining on the table was beset by problems.

“MCH has now turned their focus towards Christchurch as a potential site for the memorial.”

Two weeks later, MCH announced Mauger and his council had offered to host the Erebus memorial in Christchurch.

The eight-paragraph press release glossed over most of the memorial’s controversial history.

And it said virtually nothing of what had occurred in the preceding months, much of which is only emerging now.

The troubled past

When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a memorial for Erebus victims in November 2017 she hoped it could be built within two years, in time to mark the tragedy’s 40th anniversary.

“We have waited too long already,” Ardern noted.

The fact that nearly eight years after her promise a memorial still hasn’t been built is an embarrassment, according to many who lost loved ones on Erebus.

It was never questioned that the memorial would be in Auckland, because all crew, and the majority of passengers came from there, or nearby.

Flight TE901 left from Auckland and was due to return there after its sightseeing flight over Antarctica, via a refuelling stop in Christchurch.

For the relatives of the 60 international passengers, Auckland would be the easiest gateway if they visited the memorial.

A grassy slope in Parnell’s Dove-Myer Robinson Park was chosen in 2019, but protests from residents, and cyclone damage in 2023, led MCH to abandon the site.

It then considered 36 other sites in Auckland, ultimately ruling out all but Takaparawhau/Bastion Point, land controlled by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

Struggling to find anywhere in Auckland, MCH then looked to Wellington and proposed Pukeahu, the National War Memorial Park.

The backlash from the RSA and families quickly saw this option, and the capital, shelved.

So in November 2024, after seven years, MCH went back to square one and asked Erebus families where they supported having the memorial: Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch.

The ministry has suggested Christchurch received support from 40% of respondents.

Some family members argue this is misleading, as many respondents supported more than one site.

The reality is that from 145 respondents, 80% supported Auckland, 40% Christchurch and 22% Wellington.

If all 205 votes are considered, 56% support the memorial being in Auckland, 27% Christchurch and 16% Wellington.

But the fact that after seven years of frustration support for Auckland remained double that for Christchurch didn’t deter the ministry.

Within weeks, alongside Christchurch’s council, it began investigating possible memorial sites around the southern city.

Back to the beginning

The way MCH has portrayed it, the search for a site in Christchurch was sparked by feedback from the Erebus families’ survey in November 2024, and Mauger’s offer in December.

But the truth is, it was MCH that made the first approach to Christchurch, in September 2024, when it contacted the council’s Antarctic Office.

Documents obtained by The Post show discussions between MCH and Christchurch City Council continued through October 2024 - well before Erebus families or the public were informed the ministry was seriously considering Christchurch.

A council memo from October 15 outlines arguments why Christchurch would be appropriate, given its historic association with Antarctica, and TE901 planning to refuel and offload passengers there.

A week later, an MCH memo to Christchurch’s council details the history of efforts to create an Erebus memorial - curiously omitting any mention of public protests that stymied the Parnell site - and noting it had only two possible options elsewhere.

“We currently have concerns that either or both of these sites may not be able to be progressed and are therefore investigating potential suitable alternative sites.”

MCH asked that this information was kept “in the strictest confidence”.

The council has redacted many communications between itself and MCH, largely on the grounds of allowing it to continue negotiating.

But it is evident the pressure MCH is under.

An untitled document talks of MCH’s “urgent need for the delivery of the memorial”, and another memo says because iwi need to reach consensus on the only remaining Auckland site, Bastion Point, “MCH believe this will be a lengthy process that will not meet their hopes for the delivery of the memorial”.

A further memo is more blunt, saying delays with Bastion Point “make this option unsuitable”.

Why the sudden rush?

In the last six months, a working group identified about 20 potential sites in Christchurch for the Erebus memorial.

The Post is aware the Antarctic Centre, Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park, Godley Head, McLean’s Island, Styx Mill, Quail Island, Diamond Harbour and Wigram near the Air Force Museum were all considered.

On July 16, MCH announced three shortlisted sites: the Avon River in central Christchurch, St John’s Church in Harewood, and what has emerged as the favourite, Cracroft Reserve in Cashmere near The Sign of the Takahe.

But the suitability of all three sites still ranks lower than Bastion Point, according to MCH assessments.

Despite the process taking nearly eight years to this point, victims’ families were given just a week to return a survey asking for their preferences.

After complaints, MCH extended the deadline - by 36 hours, until midday Friday.

Family members point out this gives them no time to travel to Christchurch and visit the sites to make a proper decision.

The survey is the only input the family members - the people who the memorial is primarily for - will get.

Nowhere are they asked whether they prefer Bastion Point, known to be popular with families, compared to Christchurch sites.

After their responses are collated, MCH will advise Christchurch’s council of the preferred site by the end of August.

If councillors agree to offer a site for the memorial, a decision will be made by MCH’s head, Leauanae.

Christchurch Council is at pains to say it’s not in a contest with Auckland.

MCH is at pains to say it’s not ruling out Auckland and any Christchurch site will be weighed against Bastion Point.

But with MCH admitting progress on Bastion Point has stalled indefinitely (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei didn’t respond to request for comment), families sense it’s a fait accompli the memorial will be in Christchurch, despite the overwhelming preference among them that it should be in Auckland.

Richard Collin, who lost his sister Lorraine Burton in the accident, says families are being railroaded into having the memorial in Christchurch.

“It’s like a lot of consultations - they’ve got a firm plan in mind, and they’re paying lip-service to consultation.”

Collin, a Wellington taxi driver, couldn’t attend the recent meeting where Christchurch’s potential sites were unveiled because he was working, and there was no way his family could visit Christchurch before the survey closed.

“They’re rushing things through, and we’ve got no option.”

Collin loved the Dove-Myer Robinson Park site, and still wants the memorial in Auckland.

He’s previously had Mauger in his cab, and has nothing but praise for what Christchurch’s mayor has done to help the families.

But he has no sympathy for MCH, which has turned a simple task into an excruciating exercise in frustration and futility.

“They’ve worn us down, totally worn us down.

“My brother is 82, he’s not in the best of health, and he won’t be alive to see the memorial built.

“By the time it gets built, we might all be dead.”

Martin Stokes from Wellington, whose father, Alan, died on Erebus, says there has been a complete lack of transparency from MCH about its behind-the-scenes efforts to build the memorial in Christchurch.

“How on earth do you end up making a conscious decision to put the memorial somewhere where a minority have said they would support it?”

While Stokes remains resolute the memorial should be in Auckland, he knows others will be too exhausted to fight, and will simply accept any Christchurch option.

The process of finding a home for the memorial has become riddled with political expediency, trade-offs, bureaucratic bungling, misleading statistics and deeply flawed logic, Stokes says.

MCH figures underline Flight TE901’s connection with Auckland: 106 passengers and crew (41%) came from Auckland; 77 (30%) came from other North Island towns; 60 (23%) were from overseas; and just 14 (6%) were from the South Island.

Only two passengers (0.7%) came from Christchurch.

MCH’s arguments why the memorial is appropriate for Christchurch - the city’s connection with Antarctica, TE901’s plan to refuel there etc - have been known for eight years, Stokes stresses, and if they were so strong, it should have elevated Christchurch to the top of the list from the start.

However, the far stronger reasons it should be in Auckland have always been recognised and accepted, Stokes says, and the sudden pivot to Christchurch was “indefensible”.

In his response to this week’s MCH survey, Stokes says if the memorial was to last for 100 years as planned, “it makes it even more critical to get it right at the beginning.

“I respectfully suggest MCH get on with the job of finding a suitable site in Auckland as soon as possible, and stop wasting valuable time looking at sites which will further embitter those who have already waited far too long.”

The ministry’s position

MCH failed to answer a range of specific questions from The Post about how it has presented information to Erebus families.

Glenis Philip-Barbara, MCH’s deputy secretary of Māori-Crown partnerships who heads the project, defended giving families only nine days to provide feedback to the new proposal, saying time was needed to collate their responses and present this to a scheduled meeting of Christchurch’s council, in early September.

She didn’t indicate why it had to be considered at this meeting, and not a later one, but some family members suspect MCH is determined to announce a site by the disaster’s next anniversary in November.

Philip-Barbara stands by MCH’s approach to finding a memorial site, and points to difficulties gaining approvals.

“We are aware there is a preference for the majority of families to find an Auckland site. However, we have not been able to secure an appropriate and available site in Auckland to date, despite assessing 36 sites and considering a further 14 in the city.

“Potential sites in Christchurch are being offered as an option for families to consider.'

Weary and worn down

David Ling admits he’s one of those absolutely exhausted by the protracted process of getting an Erebus memorial.

But he’s not willing to take any solution, just to make the problem go away.

“If they ended it quickly at a place I didn’t like, I’d feel just a constant source of frustration.”

Ling, whose mother, Alison, died in the crash, says Christchurch’s Cracroft Reserve is an attractive site, “but I’m increasingly coming back to thinking it really should be in Auckland.”

He says if Christchurch is chosen for the memorial, “I guess I’ll be very disappointed, and thinking how heartless it is of Auckland, that we’ve had to battle so much to get it there.”

Kathryn Carter’s father, Jim Collins, was Flight TE901’s pilot.

Carter is grateful to Christchurch for offering to host the memorial, but says it should be in Auckland.

“Because everyone gathered here to leave, from everywhere. Auckland is a touchstone of their departure.

Carter remains optimistic the right outcome will occur, and doesn’t believe all options in Auckland have been considered.

“But it’s hard and tiring to keep talking about it.”

Aucklander Paul Dykzeul, who lost two brothers and his brother-in-law in the crash, admits the process has gone “on and on and on and on”.

He has always advocated for the memorial to be placed in Christchurch, given it is the hub of New Zealand’s Antarctic activity.

“And I’ve always had the view, for Christ’s sake, why are we getting fixated with where it is? All of New Zealand was involved. We should be fixated with the fact it’s taken 46 years to get something.”

Last year, Dykzeul visited New York’s memorial to those who died during the 9/11 disaster.

“But we can’t even put up a bronze plaque anywhere. It’s just an indictment.

“It’s terribly sad, and we should be collectively embarrassed that something as simple as a memorial can’t be built.

“If it’s in Christchurch, and they have a grand opening, we’ll get on a plane and go down there.

“Just get it done.”