Ihumātao: Why Ardern and the Government couldn't order police out

Friday, 9 August 2019

Protestors have occupied the contested Ōtuataua Stonefields site at Ihumātao, South Auckland.

Calls for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern or the Government to remove police from Ihumātao displayed a dangerous misunderstanding of a concept underpinning New Zealand democracy, a legal expert says.

Before Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha announced a reduction in police numbers at Ihumātao, eleven Māori public health medicine specialists urged Ardern to 'withdraw the police' for the safety and wellbeing of people at the South Auckland site.

Qiane Matata-Sipu speaks to media about interactions with police at Ihumātao.

Dr Bill Hodge said the suggestion the PM or even Police Minister Stuart Nash could direct police to pull out of a protest site was misguided.

He said the New Zealand Government should be careful not to meddle with the independence of police.

Pania Newton has been trying to stop a housing development at the site.

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'We're not the police force of the People's Republic of China,' the University of Auckland academic said.

Protesters and members of the public have had complex, sometimes hostile relationships.

'Each police officer, in some respects, has discretion… Police have considerable discretion on allocation of resources and decisions to arrest or not arrest.'

Hodge said the oath each officer swore underpinned that independence.

'If they're given an instruction by the minister, they can say 'get stuffed'.'

By law, a police employee could become a constable only by taking the constable's oath.

The oath, sworn in English or Māori, involved a person swearing to serve the Queen and her heirs and successors 'without favour or affection, malice or ill-will'.

Fletcher Building planned to start earthworks last month but development stalled after opposition.

'The police have a duty that is more fundamental… than the usual employment relationships,' Hodge said.

Even when the old Police Act was reviewed before the new Policing Act replaced it in 2008, constabulary independence was one of three 'foundational' features not in dispute.

Other features were a national, centrally funded service, and one which was largely unarmed, not routinely carrying guns.

The ethos of constabulary independence was incompatible with political direction on operational matters.

But in practice, the Government could influence police methodology and allocation of future resources, Hodge said.

The minister's diary summary, a public document, showed Nash met frequently with police officials at the Beehive, at Police National Headquarters, and other events.

The major way the Government influenced police was through the annual budget, Hodge said.

'You would listen carefully when someone has control of your pursestrings.'

IHUMĀTAO

* Includes artefacts from the earliest Māori settlement, missionaries and early European farmers.

* The Crown confiscated the land in the 1860s and Protect Ihumātao argues an 1866 surveyor's 'carve up' dissected the culturally rich landscape.

* The Wallace family farmed the land for some 150 years after a Crown grant was issued to Gavin Struthers Wallace.

* The area dubbed Stonefields was largely preserved, with Ōtuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve created in 2001.

* The old Manukau City Council tried but failed to add Ihumātao to the reserve.

* The National Party-led government and Auckland Council designated 32 hectares a Special Housing Area in 2014.

* In 2015, law student Pania Newton of SOUL (Save Our Unique Landscape) became engaged in efforts to oppose zoning and block construction.

* Makaurau Marae Trust and Te Kawerau ā Maki Tribal Authority have criticised Newton.

* Fletcher Building bought the land and got permission to build 480 homes in 2016, the same year Bastion Point veteran leader Joe Hawke visited and offered support to occupiers.

* Fletcher said it partnered with Te Kawerau ā Maki and Makaurau Marae Trust, who represented mana whenua.

* Planned earthworks stopped in July 2019 after protesters blocked machinery.

* In late July, numbers of protesters surged.

* About 100 police arrived and stand-offs with some protesters ensued.

* On July 27, Jacinda Ardern said no construction would happen until a solution was reached.

* On August 8, Haumaha said fewer police and more Māori wardens would attend the site.