Tauranga Town Hall occupation, September 1987 (Event)

SummaryIn September 1987, members of Ngāi Tamarāwaho occupied the former Tauranga Town Hall on Lot 45, the present civic precinct site, opposing demolition and asserting unresolved claims over Te Papa land linked to the Church Missionary Society purchase and later sale to the Crown. Police removed the occupiers on 16 September, demolition began the same day, and trespass convictions were later quashed on appeal. The dispute led to further protest, formal complaints, and later moves toward improved Council–mana whenua engagement.Date of Event14 September 1987 – 8 October 1987 (from the occupation to the abandonment of the High Court proceedings noted in the Police Complaints Authority report)SourcesMelissa Derby, Te Whanaketanga o Ngāi Tamarāwaho: The Evolution of Hapū Identity, MA thesis, Auckland University of Technology, 2016.Alan Bickers, Record of the Occupation of the Tauranga Town Hall & Public Library in 1987, November 2015. » Tauranga Town Hall occupation, September 1987 (Event)Police Complaints Authority, Report of the Police Complaints Authority on the complaint of Te Runanga O Ngai Tamawaho.John Cousins, “150-year-old land grievance resurfaces in Tauranga,” Bay of Plenty Times / NZ Herald, 13 September 2017.John Cousins, “Historic land grievance still raw,” Bay of Plenty Times, 13 September 2017, p. 5;AnglicanTaonga: “Naboth’s vineyard,” 10 May 2018Nigel Watts Photographic Collection (Town Hall Demolition 1987) - not for re-use

Photographs

Our People (authority)

Tuti Tukaokao, with the pouwhenua he carved, outside the Town Hall at the end of the 1897 occupation and during the demolition.
Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 05-509

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Kaitiakitanga StatementWe ask that, in addition to normal copyright and privacy considerations, users of our heritage resources uphold the mana and dignity of the people, communities and places depicted within.CopyrightTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City LibrariesLicenseCC BY 4.0AcknowledgementTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries. Tauranga Town Hall occupation, September 1987 (Event)

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Tauranga Town Hall occupation, September 1987 (Event)