Tūpuna Maunga Authority supporters threaten tree protection group with violence
Threats of violence by Tūpuna Maunga Authority supporters have resulted in the Ōwairaka / Mt Albert tree protection group calling on the Authority to stop inciting racial discord for fear someone will get hurt.
Honour the Maunga has campaigned peacefully and lawfully for seven months to save 345 healthy, mature trees from being felled – something it has so far achieved. The group accepts the Authority’s long-term vision of native vegetation regeneration but is against the environmentally destructive nature of the proposed process.
During this time, the group has been subject to an ongoing and deliberate campaign of highly inflammatory and racially-based accusations by the Authority and its supporters, none of which are true.
Honour the Maunga’s leader Anna Radford says the Authority’s modus-operandii has been to throw as much mud as it can and hope some of it sticks so that it distracts attention away from the real issues.
“It’s a very Trumpian tactic and it’s sad to see such an ugly thing happening in New Zealand.
Ms Radford says some news media outlets had published the Authority’s untrue accusations of the group without giving any right of reply or verifying the truth of the Authority’s accusations. Misperceptions about Honour the Maunga have subsequently spread on social media.
As a result, things have become very stirred up in the local community to the point that Tūpuna Maunga Authority supporters have made threats against Ms Radford personally and the group as a whole. These threats have been referred to the Police.
“Tūpuna Maunga Authority has become increasingly bold in the misinformation it is spreading about us, including a recent media release that accused our group of racism, anti-Treaty sentiments, anti-Semitism, white supremacism, inciting hate speech, escalating intimidation, being responsible for offensive graffiti and it even contrived to link us to the Christchurch massacres for good measure.”
Honour the Maunga subsequently lodged an official information request under LGOIMA* asking what information the Authority relied upon when making these claims about it.
“Unsurprisingly, their response demonstrated no evidence for the claims made about our group.”
Ms Radford says Honour the Maunga is – and has always been – an environmental group whose mission is to protect Ōwairaka / Mt Albert’s environment by preventing the felling of nearly half its tree cover. Achieving this goal will affect fates of around 2000 trees on Auckland’s other maunga.
“Inciting racial discord and making untruthful and highly inflammatory statements about us is undignified and highly irresponsible behaviour for a co-governance authority that ironically was designed to give positive expression to a Treaty partnership.
“It’s time for the Authority’s Chairman to stop doing this before someone gets hurt and it is time for the Mayor to start showing some leadership given that half of the Authority’s members are Auckland Council representatives who are by association supporting this behaviour.”
Ms Radford has formally complained to the Authority and advised that she will lay a formal Police complaint next time it makes untrue claims against the group.
Background information: The Authority was established to administer 14 volcanic cones (maunga) following a 2014 Treaty settlement that vested ownership in a collective of 13 iwi / hapu but placed the land in trust for the common benefit of that collective - and the other people of Auckland.
The “other people” includes Māori excluded from that settlement, and people from other ethnicities. The lands were designated reserves, thus guaranteeing public access.
To reflect this Treaty partnership, the Authority equally comprises iwi and Auckland Council members. Any questions about its processes are therefore directed at its Auckland Council representatives as much anybody.
* LGOIMA = Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.