Protesters to discuss Maori objections

Press, 19 March 1984, Page 8

Protesters to discuss Maori objections

Peace groups who protested against the arrival of the U.S.S. Whipple in Lyttelton Harbour on Saturday will discuss complaints made by the Maori welcoming party at an open meeting next week-end.

Mr Hori Brennan, secretary of Nga Hau E Wha national marae, said that members of the Maori party, which welcomed the visiting crew of the American frigate on Saturday, were subjected to a tirade of abuse from anti-nuclear protesters. After completing the traditional welcome, the group had to pass a barricade to get to their changing rooms and cars, said Mr Brennan, and it was at this stage that protesters started calling out “traitors of the world,” “shame” and other abuse. Some of the women in the welcoming party were also tripped up by protesters, he said. “Although we sympathise with the protesters and their views against nuclear arms,” said Mr Brennan, “it is our tradition to welcome visitors to our shores.”

The Whipple was not the first ship to be given a traditional Maori welcome, Mr Brennan said. Maoris had welcomed ships to Christchurch since the arrival of the Glacier 25 years ago, he said. On one hand they sympathised with the protesters, Mr Brennan said, but on the other they considered the ship’s crew visitors to New Zealand who were just doing their job, and who, while in the country, should be well treated.

“There is no way anybody can tell us who to make traditional welcomes to, it is something we have been doing for generations,” said Mr Brennan.

A spokesman for the Christchurch peace movement involved in the protest, Mr Graham Harvey, said the movement was concerned about what happened and hoped to resolve the “conflict” at next weekend’s meeting. It would be open to all members of the peace movement and Maoris, he said.

Possibly some people in the peace movement were

not sufficiently aware of Maori culture, he said, and saw their welcome as a sign of support for the ship. We need to learn more about Maori culture, he said.

The meeting will be held in the Unemployed Collective rooms in Lichfield Street on Sunday at 1 p.m. Mr Harvey said that the incident was being used by the news media as a means of diverting attention from the ship. The most important point at issue was the arrival of a nuclear-armed warship in port, he said. Another spokesman for the protest against the Whipple, Mr Evan Webb, said the organisers of the protest were very pleased with the level of support both at Friday evening’s

march and the events at Lyttelton on Saturday “Even though we had only two weeks notice of the ship’s arrival, the over-all impact of the land and sea based activities achieved its desired objective of showing that a large number of concerned persons do not want nuclear-armed ships in our harbour,” he said. Most of the boat owners in the squadron reacted enthusiastically at the protest to the idea of maintaining an organisational structure for further protests in the harbour, said Mr Webb.

The organisers hoped that the people of Auckland would show the Whipple that it was not welcome in New Zealand waters when it arrived there on March 23, he said.