Direct causes of the Bastion Point Land Occupation
A significant long term cause of the Maori occupation of Bastion Point in years 1977 and 1978 was the complex purchase and settlement of Auckland in 1840. Ngati Whatua, a prominent tribe in Auckland, had sold land in Auckland during the 1840s as under chief, Te Kawau, the tribe invited Governor Hobson to establish Auckland as the new capital city. The land to be used would be 3000 acres of Ngati Whatua land. Te Kawau hoped that this gesture of generosity would safeguard remaining Ngati Whatua land in the future. As time passed the government gradually eroded the laws protecting Ngati Whatua land. By the end of the 1950s, the only land that remained for Ngati Whatua was a small section at Okahu Bay, Orakei. In 1951, Maori still residing at Okahu Baty were evicted by the government under the Public Works Act and relocated. Demanding government legislation saw most of the Ngati Whatua land taken away from them and served as an underlying cause of the 1977-1978 occupation of Bastion Point.
The immediate cause of the occupation of Bastion Point was the government’s plan to sell the confiscated Ngati Whatua land to housing developers. The land taken in 1959 was no longer needed for military purposes and therefore the Ngati Whatua Maori wanted their land returned to them. The Ngati Whatua Maori were outraged at the government’s announcement of the sale of their land, taken under the Public Works Act, to developers for high-income housing. The assumption that after the use of the land for defence it would be returned but the government had other ideas which resulted in the Orakei Maori Action Group (OMAG) instituting a land occupation at Bastion Point lasting for 506 days.
A significant long term cause of the Maori occupation of Bastion Point in years 1977 and 1978 was the complex purchase and settlement of Auckland in 1840. Ngati Whatua, a prominent tribe in Auckland, had sold land in Auckland during the 1840s as under chief, Te Kawau, the tribe invited Governor Hobson to establish Auckland as the new capital city. The land to be used would be 3000 acres of Ngati Whatua land. Te Kawau hoped that this gesture of generosity would safeguard remaining Ngati Whatua land in the future. As time passed the government gradually eroded the laws protecting Ngati Whatua land. By the end of the 1950s, the only land that remained for Ngati Whatua was a small section at Okahu Bay, Orakei. In 1951, Maori still residing at Okahu Baty were evicted by the government under the Public Works Act and relocated. Demanding government legislation saw most of the Ngati Whatua land taken away from them and served as an underlying cause of the 1977-1978 occupation of Bastion Point.
The immediate cause of the occupation of Bastion Point was the government’s plan to sell the confiscated Ngati Whatua land to housing developers. The land taken in 1959 was no longer needed for military purposes and therefore the Ngati Whatua Maori wanted their land returned to them. The Ngati Whatua Maori were outraged at the government’s announcement of the sale of their land, taken under the Public Works Act, to developers for high-income housing. The assumption that after the use of the land for defence it would be returned but the government had other ideas which resulted in the Orakei Maori Action Group (OMAG) instituting a land occupation at Bastion Point lasting for 506 days.