Many Europeans in Bastion arrests

Press, 27 May 1978, Page 6

Many Europeans in Bastion arrests

PA Auckland r Almost as many Europeans t as Maoris were arrested by'r the police when they cleared r Bastion Point of protesters on Thursday. s According to figures given; 3 by the Auckland police yes-| r terday, 104 Europeans — 67 : P men and 37 women — were v taken into custody n One hundred and eight 11 Maoris, 65 men and 43 . women, were arrested, as ? well as 10 Pacific Islanders. J' Altogether, 220 were 0 charged with wilful trespass/' and released on constable’s p summons. Two were charged., with obstruction. I J' The protesters will all appear in Court on June 22. h It is believed that 100 T policemen were still staying'° in the Hotel Intercontinental T in Auckland last night. butl c they were booked to leave e early this morning. ,P “They could have bought 11 Bastion Point several times; t over at market rates for the cost of putting everyone up/ here last night,” said oneic staff member at the hotel 0 after the “take-over” by 331 Government guests the pre- t vious evening. t The number was made up v of 275 policemen. 31 Lands/ and Survey Department staff, and 25 others. The Intercontinental has * 325 rooms. S

The management would! not discuss the accommoda-! tion bill but the normal twin- 1 room rate at the Intercontinental is $39. Travel industry sources say the ordinary group rate at the hotel is $33 for a twin room but that “special” rates, perhaps as low as $25 a room, would probably have been negotiated by the Government. The Minister of Lands (Mr V. S. Young) yesterday rejected criticism of the size of Thursday’s police action to remove the Bastion Point protesters. It was the only way the job could be done, he said. “It is significant that there has been virtually no criticism of the Government’s decision to remove the protesters. Criticism has centered on the size of the exercise, but the size of the police contingent was determined by the number of trespassers on the point. “The fact that over 200 people were arrested is obvious justification of the size of the police force. “If we had moved at night,; or in the early morning when) the numbers at Bastion) were lower, there would have) been cries of outrage from all quarters,” he said. A black community leader in) Sydney reacted angrily yes-1

;terday to the eviction from; Bastion Point. The president of Sydney’s Black Defence Group (Mr Kevin Cook) lodged a strong protest against the New Zealand Government’s action, and organised four Australian trade unions to telegraph their support to Auckland for Maori land rights. The Christchurch Catholic Commission for Justice and Development yesterday «.riftcised the' statement by Government leaders that the Bastion Point protest group was funded mainly by communist sources. The struggle for Maori land rights dated back well before any Communist involvement. said the commission’s executive officer (the Rev. J. Curnow). Father Curnow said that the Government’s statements sounded ominously like claims made by overseas Governments which opposed the struggle for justice in their countries, claiming they were resisting communism. Bastion .’oint highlighted a I critical moral issue of the Maori people, said. Father Curnow, and the Christ- ; church Commission supported the protest. It had made a grant of $5OO last year to the group, and was considering another grant of $5OO.