Jackson’s plans for Matiu Island

An island in Wellington Harbour is set to be turned into a hi-tech tourist attraction by Sir Peter Jackson.

Somes/Matiu Island, which is now a predator-free scientific reserve, was New Zealand’s first inner harbour lighthouse and has been a human quarantine station, an internment camp, military defence position, and an animal quarantine station.

Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) chairman Neville Baker said he met with Jackson to discuss how his Wellington-based production companies could create a world-class tourism offering on the island. The trust helps manage the island.

The movie mogul had committed to investigate a joint project with the Weta Group using digital storytelling and the latest in virtual and augmented reality technology.

The project would examine what life was like for the island’s first Maori inhabitants and encompass the stories and history of the Taranaki Whanui tikanga through digital storytelling and augmented reality.

The trust would seek support from the Government’s Maori ICT Fund for the project and look to Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori (Maori Language Commission) for feasibility funding. t

The island was transferred to Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika under its Treaty of Waitangi Settlement in 2009.