Kaumātua have asked protesters at the former Marsden Point oil refinery to leave, saying they are "occupying ancestral lands" and showing "blatant disrespect".
The group began their protest in the weekend and are voicing their opposition to both the refinery's closure and vaccine mandates. Protesters have been claiming they want fuel security and have set up tents on the site.
On Monday, kaumātua, representatives of Patuharakeke Trust Board and Ngātiwai Trust Board met with protesters at Marsden Point to hear their concerns and why they were there.
"We have mixed feelings about the refinery closing. It has polluted our cultural landscape and harbour for over 60 years and is located on confiscated whenua. Poupouwhenua [Marsden Point] was illegally confiscated, occupied by the Crown, and eventually came into the refinery's ownership," Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board chairperson Deborah Harding said.
"Opportunities to re-establish hapū ownership of Poupouwhenua is top of mind for Patuharakeke. The battle has been long and hard for us and now we have this group of outsiders coming into our rohe to occupy our ancestral lands."
According to Harding, protest organiser Brad Flutey said he wouldn't seek permission from mana whenua and would occupy the land regardless.
"Our kaumātua shared their disappointment about the email received and the blatant disrespect the protesters demonstrated to Patuharakeke," she said.
In a video posted online, Flutey said they had been "respectfully asked to not engage in an occupation anymore".
"However, I have to acknowledge that I have not had my say, we have not had our chance to put our point forward. So although I will respect the lifting of the occupation, we're still going to inhabit certain locations," he said.
"The clear definition of an occupation is to hold space in a locality and never leave, to occupy. Inhabiting is different, convoying is different. We can inhabit a place at one point in time and then we can inhabit another place at another point in time."
Flutey said they went to Marsden Point "to do a job" and he hasn't had his say yet.
"You have my respect, absolutely, but there's a lot of people out there counting on this. I'm not going to let individuals from Ngātiwai use a tragedy to get their way. Conversations still need to be had, people still need to be advocated for. They ain't going to get rid of me that easily," he said.
"I'll respect that, I'll respect your request, but I know the definition of occupation and I know the difference between the definition of occupation and the definition of inhabit. You've asked me not to occupy."
The Ngātiwai Trust Board said it supports Patuharakeke's position.
"Through our kaumātua at the meeting, the protesters were invited to pack up their things and leave Poupouwhenua," Ngātiwai Trust Board chairperson Aperahama Edwards said.
"Our kaumātua stated the importance of this whenua to the protesters, our role as ahikā in the rohe and as kaitiaki with humility they asked the protesters to leave and return to their homes."
Both Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board and Te Poari O Ngātiwai said that as haukāinga [the local people], they recognise the loss of jobs in their local communities and the regional economic impact of the closure of the refinery.
Patuharakeke and whanaunga hapū of the Whangārei rohe said they are committed to climate change action, especially given that low-lying coastal Māori communities and the poor will be disproportionately affected by the impacts of the climate emergency. They said this is another reason why there has to be a change with fossil fuels.
"We are proactive in the protection of our mātaitai areas in the harbour and the impact development in the area has had on our customary fisheries, other taonga species and their habitats - and are wary of the potential impacts of such an occupation at Poupouwhenua," said Juliane Chetham of Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board's taiao management unit.
RNZ reported on Tuesday that there were 90 demonstrators, but they were peaceful. There were also about 40 cars and campervans on the grass verge on the edge of State Highway 15.
One protester said he had travelled from Tauranga in his van to be at the site.
"It's part of our right to protest peacefully, and that's what we are here to do."
