Candidate arrested

MAORI Party candidate for HaurakiWaikato Donna PokerePhillips was one of four people arrested for trespassing in Hamilton yesterday, while trying to stop survey work for a new roading development.

Descendants of a WaikatoTainui hapu, Nga Muri Kaitaua, gathered on the privately owned land to stop soil sampling.

The site is part of a planned road, which local Maori say will run over their old pa site, Nukuhau, and burial ground.

Police said four people who refused to leave after being issued a warning were arrested.

Ms PokerePhillips said the charges had since been dropped. — RNZ