Every picture tells a story and the story told by the aerial photos published by Honour the Maunga protesters show that the scale of the tree vandalism wrought by the Ancestor Mountain Authority is much greater than thought.
A total of 345 exotics on Mount Albert are to be cut down in a five-week project that was supposed to start on November 11, before pesky protesters got in the way.
Approximately 193 trees were felled on Mangere Mountain in March this year, over 100 trees were felled on Pigeon Mountain in April, and approximately 150 exotic trees felled at Mount Wellington in May.
Looking ahead, all exotics are to be removed from One Tree Hill, Mount Eden, Mount St John, Mount Smart, Mount Hobson, North Head, Big King (Three Kings), Mount Roskill, Mount Victoria, and Wiri Mountain.
The person on the Ancestor Mountain Authority driving this destruction is Paul Majurey who, somewhat ironically, is a director of a specialist environmental law firm named Atkins Holm Majurey.
Perhaps we were naïve to assume that environmental law aimed to protect the environment, not destroy it.
Trees are not the only target of the fruitcakes at the Ancestor Mountain Authority. Cars have been blocked, coloniser cattle removed, coloniser memorial plaques painted over, and the cross/star on Mount Roskill has gone.
The Ancestor Mountain Authority claims that they are “restoring” native vegetation but these mountains were bare for centuries before colonisers turned these areas into reserves and started planting the trees that the Ancestor Mountain zealots are now cutting down.
When missionary Samuel Marsden climbed Mount Albert in 1820, he was told that there had been no occupation there for 100 years after massacres that took place in the Auckland area in the 1700s.
The whole sorry saga goes to show the downside of giving control of a public resource to a group of ideologues because of their ancestry. Not a word from the former Treaty Negotiations Minister who created this debacle.
Petitions update
Work on housing at Ihumatao in Auckland remains at a standstill, although there was some indication that a loan from central Government to the Auckland Council had been discussed as a way to break the stalemate. Nothing was said about the Auckland Council giving the land to the protesters. Our petition to evict protesters at Ihumatao, and for the Government to allow both Te Kawerau a Maki and Fletchers to proceed with their lawful business, has collected 2704 signatures. If you have not done so already, please sign our petition at http://chng.it/xPN6P55k
Our petition which asks Parliament to amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to restore public ownership of the coastal area, put all claims through the High Court, and repeal customary marine title, while affirming customary rights has picked up 7338 signatures. We need your support. The petition may be signed at http://chng.it/stXwrrtFLY
Thank you to the 6229 people who have so far signed our petition to welcome the visit of the flotilla that includes the replica of the Endeavour that carried Captain James Cook here 250 years ago. The visit continues until December 6. We set up the petition to counter another petition to stop the visit, claiming it was racist. Our petition may be signed at http://chng.it/jKMjXXMwGd
Frequently asked questions
- What is Hobson's Pledge? Hobson’s Pledge supporters think it is absurd to argue in the 21st century that people who chance to have a Maori ancestor, always with other ancestors too of course, should have superior rights to those who don’t. And utterly absurd that there are politicians who want to be taken seriously who still push this nonsense.
- What are the issues we're facing today?
- Who are the people behind Hobson's Pledge Trust?
- What are our campaigns?
Join the debate on Facebook. You may visit this page at https://www.facebook.com/hobsonspledge/
Visit our website at http://www.hobsonspledge.nz/
Grow the movement. Forward this email to your friends and family
Donate. Visit https://hobsonspledge.nationbuilder.com/donate
Buy a book. Visit http://www.hobsonspledge.nz/resources