Protest at Gallagher city office

A man dressed in a makeshift white robe with KKK splashed on the front has marched on the Gallagher Group’s Hamilton office in protest at the chief executive’s Treaty of Waitangi stance.

Taitimu Maipi entered the company’s Kahikatea Drive office yesterday morning.

He asked to speak to company head Sir William Gallagher, who called the Treaty of Waitangi a farce in a speech to Waikato business people on Friday.

Gallagher Group staff locked the doors as Maipi sat down in the lobby. He could be seen speaking to a staffer, before leaving without incident.

‘‘She said it wasn’t the view of the Gallagher staff, and that [Sir William] isn’t here. But I don’t believe them,’’ Maipi said.

‘‘I just wanted to make a strong point. People are going to make comments and it’s going to be forgotten. I’m not going to forget this.’’

The Ku Klux Klan is an American white supremacist organisation.

The move comes after Sir William called the treaty a farce in a speech to Waikato business people on Friday.

He later told the Waikato Times, the treaty document on display at Te Papa was a fraud, Māori ceded sovereignty, and the Foreshore and Seabed Act was the Government handing over the rights of all New Zealanders.

‘‘It’s separatism. This is apartheid,’’ Sir William said. ‘‘There is no definition of Māori

. . . You are Māori if you feel you are Māori.’’

Maipi said he was representing Ngā Tamatoa, a Māori activist group which began protesting violations of the Treaty in the 1970s, and had been part of the Bastion Point, Raglan Golf Course and Springbok Tour protests.

‘‘I thought my days were over, but this just boiled me up.’’

He said Gallagher’s view was based on faulty research, and appalling to hear in 2017.

‘‘I don’t think we need research to tell us that Māori were plundered by his ancestors during the Land Wars. How can he justify that? Does he know that those soldiers burnt children in a church in Rangiaowhia? Does he know that?"

A dozen Māori and five colonial soldiers were killed in the 1864 engagement when government troops took the sparsely defended Waipa village near the Kingitanga stronghold of Pāterangi.

But Maipi was glad. The comments revealed the ‘‘pack of racists’’ support Gallagher’s view.

Gallagher Group issued a statement on Monday saying Sir William’s view did not represent the views of the company.

Waikato-Tainui chairwoman Parekawhia McLean said New Zealanders should not allow such opinions to go unchallenged.

‘‘Mr Gallagher’s views are sad and disappointing in the 21st century, especially coming from the head of a respected and influential Waikato company’’.

Also Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was asked for her comments. Her succinct reply: ‘‘He’s wrong.’’

Gallaghers is a major sponsor of the Chiefs Super Rugby team.