Eight arrested at Maori protest

Press, 21 November 1978, Page 2

Eight arrested at Maori protest

PA WellingtonA Maori-rights campaigner, Teringa Manu (Dun) Mihaka, and seven others were arrested yesterday after they tried unsuccessfully to set up tent embassies in Parliament grounds and at Government House.

At Parliament grounds, Mr] Mihaka, shouting andi struggling, was arrested by I the police on instructions ] from the Acting Clerk of the House (Mr D. G. McKee). Mr Mihaka, with about 12 other Maori protesters, had tried to erect a tent. Shortly after noon,'l3 protesters managed to pitch a tent under a tree about 10 metres inside Government House gates.

Police reinforcements were called soon after 1 p.m. when two persons were arrested. The rest moved off and the tent was removed. Inspector K. Huggard, of the Wellington police, said that the eight persons arrested would be charged with wilful trespass and would appear in the Magistrate’s- Court at Wellington this morning. Mr Mihaka’s group, carrying a tent and banners saying that Maori members of i

Parliament were a farce, was stopped outside Parliament by Mr Huggard and Inspector W. Ratahi, holding an authority to arrest any Maori protesters who might trespass in Parliament grounds. The tent was seized by Inspector Huggard. I For several minutes In- | spector Huggard and Mr Mihaka argued, Mr Mihaka i using a megaphone he was ] told he was not permitted to use.

“All I want to do is erect a tent,’* said Mr Mihaka, “there will be no violence.’’

But Insp ctor Huggard replied: “You cannot erect a tent here. You are trespassing.” A six-man police detachment then marched up and arrested Mr Mihaka. They were part of a group of about 20 policemen who had arrived at Parliament shortly before noon — about 10 minutes ahead of the protesters.

After Mr Mihaka’s arrest, the police tried to persuade the others to move off. They refused and another five were arrested. At Government House, one of the protesters, David Ruru, using a loudhailer, spoke to a crowd of school-

children on the Maori land issue.

Other young protesters held placards such as “Maori members of Parliament a farce” and “Political problems require political answers, not police courts or jails.” When the police moved most of them out of the grounds Mr Ruru said that he and a woman intended to stay. They were subsequently arrested for trespassing.

Mr Mihaka said last week that an attempt would be made to set up a tent embassy in Parliament grounds before the election, but he refused to reveal a date.

A similar "embassy” was erected in Parliament grounds when the Te Matakite land marchers arrived in Wellington in October, 1975. It was dismantled by the police nine weeks later. Authorisation for the arrests and evictions at Parliament came from the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon), who signed documents giving the police power to act in his capacity as Minister in Charge of the Legislative Department. Normally authorisation for the removal of the public from Parliament comes from the Speaker of the House, but Parliament is in recess. A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office said Mr Muldoon signed the documents before he left for Invercargill early yesterday.