{"id":109648,"date":"2025-10-30T23:19:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T23:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109648\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T23:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T23:19:04","slug":"ngatiwai-lands-on-tapu-poor-knights-islands-in-defiance-of-marine-law-change-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109648\/","title":{"rendered":"Ng\u0101tiwai lands on \u2018tapu\u2019 Poor Knights Islands in defiance of marine law change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once there, the group climbed to the top of one of the islands and erected a flagpole.<\/p>\n

The flagpole was later removed but a carved pou whenua was concreted into the ground further down the island\u2019s rocky slopes, where it would be visible to passing vessels.<\/p>\n

Kerepeti-Edwards said the landing was a \u201cdirect and deliberate\u201d act of protest.<\/p>\n

It was done despite laws restricting access to the islands, even to Ng\u0101tiwai, which had mana whenua and mana moana over the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy doing so we declare that Ng\u0101tiwai, not the Crown, holds the rightful authority over these taonga.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerepeti-Edwards said the crew followed strict biosecurity protocols<\/a> to avoid bringing any pathogens, seeds or unwanted organisms on to the islands, and the waka was checked by a trained sniffer dog to ensure no rodents were on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese [islands] are our taonga, and we would not jeopardise them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The waka hourua returned to T\u016bt\u016bk\u0101k\u0101 late on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Kerepeti-Edwards said the landing was a protest against a recently passed amendment to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act, or MACA, in particular.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Poor Knights Islands have been tapu and uninhabited since the 1820s. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

However, it was also a response to what he called the Crown\u2019s broader agenda, including the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill and the removal of Treaty references from legislation.<\/p>\n

He said those initiatives were part of \u201can orchestrated effort\u201d to weaken the standing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and erode the rights of tangata whenua. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur relationship to these islands and waters is unbroken. As Ng\u0101tiwai, our identity is inseparable from the moana, and we won\u2019t allow our customary rights to be diminished or legislated away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerepeti-Edwards said Thursday\u2019s protest was something the iwi had considered for a long time, but the MACA amendment had prompted them to put it into action.<\/p>\n

He hinted at a summer of protest to come and urged all Ng\u0101tiwai descendants to raise flags on beaches, headlands and islands to \u201clet it be known our presence is unbroken, our authority is intact, and our resolve is unshakeable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kerepeti-Edwards has made no secret of his opposition to the MACA amendment.<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, he was ejected from Parliament\u2019s gallery for interrupting a debate about the law change, which he described at the time as \u201cludicrous and offensive\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy and large, it\u2019s the biggest raupatu [confiscation\/theft] that Te Ao M\u0101ori have faced,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has defended the law change, saying it was necessary and would restore the legislation to its original intent, following misinterpretation by the courts.<\/p>\n

However, the law\u2019s original architect, former National MP Chris Finlayson, disputed that, and said he believed the law change would be \u201cextremely harmful\u201d to race relations in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The law change makes it harder for M\u0101ori to gain recognition of customary marine title.<\/p>\n

It also applies retrospectively, invalidating court decisions made since July 24, 2024, and forcing many cases to be reheard.<\/p>\n

It passed its third reading, making it law, on October 21.<\/p>\n

The Poor Knights, known as Aorangi and Tawhitirahi, are located 22km east of Northland\u2019s Tutuk\u0101k\u0101 Coast. They have been uninhabited, and tapu, since a massacre in the 1820s.<\/p>\n

The islands are a sanctuary for rare native plants, wildlife such as the tuatara, and vast numbers of sea birds. They are home to the only known breeding colony of Buller\u2019s shearwaters.<\/p>\n

The waters surrounding the Poor Knights are protected by a marine reserve known for its sea caves and diverse marine life, and touted as one of the world\u2019s best cold-water diving destinations.<\/p>\n

Under the Reserves Act 1977 \u201cwilfully digging the sod\u201d or \u201cerecting any sign, hoarding or apparatus\u201d on a nature reserve is illegal, as is trespassing \u201cwith any vehicle or boat or aircraft or hovercraft\u201d.<\/p>\n

The maximum penalty for an individual is a two-year jail term or a fine or $100,000, while the maximum fine for a company is $200,000.<\/p>\n

-RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once there, the group climbed to the top of one of the islands and erected a flagpole. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12974,65240,60157,78,3096,78719,38692,8307,19635,111,43,139,78717,69,1118,90,5413,29848,78718],"class_list":["post-109648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-change","tag-defiance","tag-graaf","tag-in","tag-islands","tag-knights","tag-lands","tag-law","tag-marine","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-ngtiwai","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-on","tag-peter","tag-poor","tag-tapu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}