The story so far

Erebus will be the third national memorial to a disaster, after memorials acknowledging the Canterbury earthquake and Tangiwai train disaster. The previous and current governments were approached by a group who believe it is a significant oversight that the disaster has not been recognised with a national memorial and requested it be built for the

40th anniversary.

● November 2017: On the 38th anniversary, newly-elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the Government wanted to create one, hopefully in time for the 40th anniversary. However, a year later, she said that target wasn’t possible and the priority was to “get the memorial right rather than getting it in place quickly”.

● November 2018: Waitemat¯a Local Board, dominated by centre-left politicians, gives landowner approval in principle for use of Dove-Myer Robinson Park.

● April 2019: Design selected, Te Paerangi Ataata — Sky Song, by Wellington firm Studio Pacific Architecture jointly with designer and artist Jason O’Hara and musician Warren Maxwell.

● September-October 2019: The project runs into controversy with complaints about a lack of public consultation. Consequently, Auckland Council holds an information weekend at the park, a sodturning event is cancelled and landowner consent decision is pushed back to December.

● Next Tuesday: Waitemat¯a Local Board to decide whether to give landowner consent for Dove-Myer Robinson Park.