Most councillors criticise protest
The man who hammered and sprayed paint on the statue of Captain Hamilton has been criticised by several city councillors.
In a post on his Facebook page, Hamilton City Councillor Garry Mallett said Taitimu Maipi’s behaviour should have been more severely punished.
Maipi received a police pre-charge warning after his Thursday attack on the bronze figure.
‘‘We’re setting a precedent of turning a blind eye to any thug who gets upset and decides to prove his/her point by smashing, or burning, or blowing something,’’ Mallett said in his post.
Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton was a naval commander who died at the Battle of Gate Pa¯ , Tauranga. Maipi called him a murderer, in defence of his actions, adding that a statue of him in Civic Square is an insult.
Mayor Andrew King said Maipi’s protest action was handled well by police and staff, but Cr Rob Pascoe disagreed.
‘‘A person walking around the city with a hammer in his pocket is of great concern. To give him a pre-charge warning, given that he had an offensive weapon on him, just seems like a wet bus ticket,’’ said Pascoe.
After canvassing all of the city’s councillors, Captain Hamilton’s place looks secure, but they agree that more needs to be done to give a full account of our history.
But Crs Geoff Taylor and Dave Macpherson disagreed, saying Maipi was right to question the statue’s place in the city. Both said it should go.
‘‘The guy never visited. He never had a damned thing to do with Hamilton,’’ Macpherson said.
‘‘This is a good opportunity for us to review it and look at whether we either get rid of it or add to it with a more complete version of our history and do something more,’’ Taylor said.
But Deputy Mayor Martin Gallagher warned council should not be influenced by Maipi’s protest.
‘‘I think we should be very careful that we don’t have a knee-jerk reaction to an act of vandalism, politically motivated in this case,’’ Gallagher said.
King said erecting more art installations, particularly one equivalent to the Captain Hamilton statue, could cause greater grievance.
‘‘It appears the statue is raising a negative reaction from some of our Ma¯ ori people and I think we need to listen very carefully to that and just ponder where we go from here forward.
‘‘We need to get our heads around exactly what this statue means and the message its sending the public.’’
COUNCILLORS RESPOND TO MAIPI’S PROTEST: Mayor Andrew King:
‘‘As time goes forward, and as people become more aware of the issues around the Land Wars, I think that public perception is changing and council needs to be alert and aware enough to consider that change in public perception.’’ Deputy Mayor Martin Gallagher:
‘‘Moving forward as a city, we have a very rich and diverse history which is much older than 150 years, than the naming of Hamilton. Clearly, we should be looking at ways of celebrating and commemorating that.’’
Mark Bunting ‘‘I’m very, very disappointed because I think we have grown up as a community and we can discuss and ko¯ rero a whole lot better than that. I was offended by it.’’ James Casson: ‘‘In the future, if we are
going to put statues up, there has to be more understanding. I don’t think the answer is wandering around smashing things and as leaders of the city, if we condone that sort of thing, it sends a confused message.’’ Ryan Hamilton: Declined to comment, as he did not know enough of the historical context.
Garry Mallett: ‘‘The Ma¯ ori Queen [Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu], I think, was outstanding. I think she embodied a lot of the values and characteristics that you want from a great leader.’’
Rob Pascoe: ‘‘Spraying a bit of paint is a pretty good way of protesting, but having a hammer just really burns me up a little bit.’’
Paula Southgate: ‘‘Wilful damage of public property is, in no instance, acceptable. Personally, I have some sympathy with the view that the history of tangata whenua in Hamilton isn’t well enough told at this point in time.’’
Siggi Henry: ‘‘Bronze statues are there to, maybe, let out your steam, but we are not doing something right if people have a grievance and they have to come to us and tell us with some extreme measures.’’
Dave Macpherson: ‘‘If you are going to have the Captain Hamilton statue, it’s a onesided thing. It’s about time we recognised the real past – the earlier past.’’
Angela O’Leary: ‘‘I found it particularly hard to do the Waikato 125 (Waikato Women’s Suffrage), trying to find the stories
‘‘I think we should be very careful that we don’t have a kneejerk reaction to an act of vandalism, politically motivated in this case,’’ Martin Gallagher
of historical Ma¯ ori woman and when I found them, they were amazing and should be celebrated.
So complementary [statues] is not the right word ... That’s part of our story that needs to be told whether people like to hear it or not, because I want to hear it and I want to tell it.’’
Geoff Taylor: ‘‘We should take this opportunity to say: Hey, is this actually something that’s appropriate for our city? Can we do better than this?’’
Leo Tooman: ‘‘It’s a bit unnecessary, isn’t it? Hey, you can protest, but you don’t have to damage other people’s property.’’