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

Tuesday, 6 July 2021

Aiya van Kooten was left with a sprained neck, and wrist and chest bruising, after trying to enter the marina construction zone.

A protector at the Kennedy Point marina site was left with a sprained neck and wrist after construction crew “rammed” her with their boat while she was protesting in the water.

Days after the incident, Aiya van Kooten said she was still shaken and recovering after she was trapped between buoys and had her head held underwater.

The 28-year-old has filed a police complaint after experiencing what she called “extreme violence” while “peacefully protesting” in her ancestral moana.

The developer, Kennedy Point Marina, confirmed it is reviewing the incident, and said protesters had “deliberately putting themselves into the path” of the vessel.

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Aiya van Kooten said she was injured while peacefully protesting the Kennedy Point Marina.

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Van Kooten (Ngāti Pāoa, Waikato, Ngapuhi) is part of Protect Pūtiki, a Ngāti Pāoa-led group protesting a planned marina at Waiheke’s Pūtiki Bay.

They call themselves protectors because they see their role as kaitiaki, or guardians of the area.

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

A screengrab from the video footage shows a worker with his hand on van Kooten as she’s in the water.

Van Kooten said her intention was to force work to stop by going into the construction zone last Tuesday.

But video footage shows she only got as far as the two rows of buoys ringing the construction area before she was confronted by three workers in a boat.

The video shows her ducking under the first row of buoys before the boat charges at her, propelling the buoys – with her sandwiched between them – outwards.

The workers continue to use the boat to shunt the buoys, even as people in the background shout “What are you doing?” and “That is a human being”.

The construction zone for the marina, which van Kooten was trying to enter when the incident happened.

It left van Kooten with bruising to her chest, diagnosed as a chest contusion. Her wrist was sprained and is now in a splint, and she also suffered a neck sprain.

Another video shows one of the workers grabbing and pushing van Kooten.

She said he held her head underwater for “prolonged periods of time”, pulling and “smashing” her against the boat even as she was trying to leave the construction zone.

She said at one point she thought: “I could … die here right now.

“I thought he was trying to drown me.”

After leaving the beach and seeking medical attention, van Kooten went to the police station to file a complaint.

Kennedy Point Marina director Kitt Littlejohn said the company was talking to the police about the incident and reviewing it internally.

Police said they took the heru for “safety reasons”, but Emily Maia Weiss said officers used “extreme force”.

He said the crew in the boat were trying to keep protesters “out of harm’s way”.

“It is important to note that this occurred as a direct result of the protesters knowingly trespassing into a clearly marked, active construction zone and deliberately putting themselves into the path of the construction crew’s vessel.

“The construction crew are simply trying to do their jobs in line with the project’s legal consent to build.”

The developers are also talking to police about vandalism and threats to workers, he said.

It’s not the first time protectors say they’ve been hurt in altercations with the police and developers.

Protect Pūtiki spokesperson Emily Māia Weiss (Ngāti Pāoa) said she was “disgusted at the level of force from the police, developers and security”.

Her heru (traditional Māori hair comb) was forcibly removed from her head by a police officer when she was being arrested for trespassing on the rocks.

In a statement, Inspector Gary Davey said the decision to remove the heru was made “for safety reasons” after she “waved it around with the sharp ends pointing outwards”.

Weiss said “extreme force” was used when she was grabbed and held, resulting in a shoulder injury.

“It was deeply traumatising and really disturbing,” she said.

She was not charged and the heru was returned when she returned to the other side of the fence.

Six other protectors have appeared before the courts charged with trespassing.