Waiheke marina: Protectors vow to continue activism in face of court injunction

Wednesday, 10 November 2021

Tensions have been rising at the Kennedy Point Marina site on Waiheke Island, as activists and crew tussle and occupiers take over the floating pontoon. (First published July 8, 2021)

Protectors at Waiheke’s Pūtiki Bay say a court injunction to keep them away from the Kennedy Point Marina construction site is a “desperate act … to try to intimidate a community”.

The interim injunction was granted by the High Court in Auckland on Tuesday, ahead of eased Covid-19 restrictions that allow gatherings of up to 25 outside.

It bars 32 Waiheke residents – as well as “persons unknown”, or anyone intending to trespass in future – from going into the construction zone or 20 metres around it.

Protectors did not know about the injunction before it was granted. Kennedy Point Boatharbour Ltd (KPBL) argued relaxed restrictions would allow protesters to disrupt construction, and notifying them of the action would delay work.

* Police spent $36k arresting four Waiheke protectors, breaking up marina occupation

The injunction prevents protectors from entering the construction zone.

* Disorder at Waiheke marina site leads to charges for protectors, but not developers

Protect Pūtiki has opposed the marina since construction started in March. Its members call themselves protectors because they see their role as kaitiaki, or guardians of the area.

Spokeswoman Emily Māia Weiss (Ngāti Pāoa) called the action “an absurd, almost tyrannical, use of force”.

But she said the protectors were “not disempowered, but empowered” by the injunction.

Protectors occupied a pontoon in the construction zone for a week before being removed by police.

She said it showed the developers were aware of the level of opposition to the marina.

Kitt Littlejohn, director of Kennedy Point Marina, said the company took the action in response to “ongoing, aggravated trespass activity by protesters since construction began which has put them, company personnel, contractors and the public at risk”.

The injunction recognises the company’s legal right to exclude people from the construction area so the marina can be built, he said.

The injunction allows for protest at the bay, as long as protectors do not go in the marked construction area.

“We do not intend on going away,” Māia Weiss said.

“We don't recognise their authority that stems from the idea that this space is their private property,” she said.

“That’s the space from which our actions will come.

“As the climate crisis is continuing, so is our activism and our protection of the environment.”

Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick said the action mirrored what’s known overseas as ‘SLAPP’ (strategic lawsuit against public participation) suits.

In these lawsuits, the instigators’ main aim isn’t to win the legal argument, “but to put in motion a process that delays occupation or activism or critique and obviously burdens and potentially silences those in opposition,” she said.

She said a really “fascinating feature” of the injunction was how the easing of Covid restrictions was used as a rationale for urgency.

“Would it have been the case that an injunction like this could have been granted … had we not gone into lockdown and therefore the occupation being disrupted?” she questioned.