A group protesting on an Auckland volcano has had their encampment removed for allegedly breaching the COVID-19 lockdown rules.
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority, a co-governance body comprising local iwi, Auckland Council and the Crown, said they had received reports protesters had been gathering on Mt Albert/Ōwairaka during the lockdown.
The 'Honour the Maunga' group have been protesting plans to replace exotic plants with native vegetation on the maunga since November 2019.
They believe the $1.1 million ratepayer-funded project to cut down the existing exotic trees and replacing them with 13,000 native plants and trees is a waste of money.
But the Tūpuna Maunga Authority says they learned protesters were flouting the new COVID-19 lockdown rules and were encouraged to maintain around-the-clock surveillance shifts and were putting in new signs.
Paul Majurey, Chair of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority says this was a clear breach of the rules making the removal of their camp necessary.
"As everyone is by now well aware, New Zealand is under a COVID-19 level 4 alert status with clear and strict rules set by the Government that all organised public gatherings are cancelled," he said.
"Everyone except those providing essential services should stay at home, people must only make physical contact with those that they live with, and that people can only visit local outdoor spaces for the purpose of exercising alone or with those they live with.
"The protest group has flaunted those rules by remaining active at the encampment, placing themselves and others at risk.
"The Authority was forced to take the responsible step of removing the encampment to eliminate the chance of further gatherings and activity not compliant with lockdown rules."
Majurey says they have "securely stored" all tents, marques and contents from the encampment.
They say this was outlined to the protest group in a letter and is supported by the New Zealand Police and legislation allows them to do so.
But the Honour the Maunga spokesperson Anna Radford says the camp has been "clearly unoccupied" since just before alert level 4 was enforced.
"Honour the Maunga's members all did the right thing and followed the Level 4 lockdown rules," she says.
"We are disappointed that the Authority cynically exploited the situation by conducting the clearly non-essential activity of sneaking in under the cover of darkness and taking absolutely everything from our base camp - tents, marquee, tables, chairs...the lot."
Radford says the letter incorrectly justifies removing the tents on the grounds that the group's presence on the maunga is "unlawful".
"As has always been the case over the past five months, we are a peaceful group of concerned citizens who are lawfully exercising our rights under the Bill of Rights to protest in a public place – in this case, a public reserve.
“Using flimsy excuses to remove all of our gear during the lockdown is a low blow but we are not deterred – if anything, we are more committed than ever to saving the trees on Ōwairaka/ Mt Albert - and on other maunga too. We will be back in full force as soon as COVID requirements permit."
The Tūpuna Maunga Authority says staff will continue to monitor the mountain during the remainder of the lockdown and the items will be returned "once changes to the alert level allows that to occur".
