‘A Te Urewera Maori protest group that is demanding a halt to 1080 poisoning has denied booby trapping a popular walking track in the national park with road spikes made from nails and planks of wood.
John Sutton, Conservation Department Rangitaiki area manager, said the improvised road spikes were found buried on a tramping and mountainbike track near the Okahu Valley access road, which has become the centre of a land rights protest in Te Urewera National Park.
The public access has been blocked for the last 10 weeks by Maori sovereignty group Majesty’s Authorised Incorporated to oppose aerial 1080 poison drops and to promote land rights issues in the park.
Mr Sutton said Okahu Valley Rd was a public road and the road block was illegal but the department was powerless to demand it be removed.
“Everyone has a right to protest but to interfere with public access is against the law.”
He had been physically stopped from driving up the road, he said.
“The police are the only ones who can authorise the protest to stop.”
Area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said last week he had met the protest group to discuss the issues and work toward a resolution.
A meeting between all parties is to be held at Ngaputahi church near the road block today. source
If I were to block a public road for any reason the police would be all over it like a rash. Similarly, if I stole a body from an undertaker, claiming a “right” to have it buried in a place of my choosing against the wishes of the next-of-kin, the police would act immediately. Or I disrupted public ceremonies…or illegally occupied private property and made threats of violence…..aaah, what the hell, the list is almost endless. In any of these cases, the police would act immediately and “negotiation” wouldn’t be an option.
But if I happened to be maori, the police response would be tailored to suit my race. What’s that called again? The name eludes me…
