Wellington event: Never forget – the state terror raids 6 years on

This Saturday, October 19, join us to mark six years since the Operation 8 years.

2pm – Māori and tauiwi korero | 19 Tory St 

About the speakers:

Kim McBreen (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu, Pākehā) is currently a tutor in the Ahunga Tikanga programme and a kaimahi for Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga at Te Wānanga o Raukawa.

Kiritapu Allan is a lawyer specialising in legal issues affecting hapu, iwi and Māori at a specialist law firm, Kahui Legal. Kiritapu has worked in indigenous rights, human rights and advocacy through local, national and international engagements since she was 16.

Ati Teepa is Tūhoe.

Waitangi Teepa is a dreamer, planner, doer, achiever. Passionately Māori, passionately Ruatokian, passionately Indigenous.

On Oct 16 2007 Maraea Rakuraku was hauled into her manager’s office after challenging journalists’ inaccuracies in the reporting of the events at Ruatoki. When a Māori journalist suggested Maraea Rakuraku behave like a Rangatira in dealing with fellow journalists, she replied she was behaving exactly as her Rangatira would.

Teanau Tuiono has organised locally, nationally and globally on Indigenous Peoples’ issues working alongside environmental and social justice activists here and abroad. He is particularly interested in how this supports Mana Motuhake and Tino Rangatiratanga.

Cen S.D. is a mixed race (mostly Cherokee and White) queer wanderer in search of justice.

Fetuolemoana Teuila Tamapeau‎‏ is a WCC Pacific Advisory Group representative, part-time Ministry of Palagi Affairs officer and full-time member of a proud famiy of Oceania/Pasifika/Polynesia.

Nadia is Palestinian, 1.5 generation migrant and passionate about solidarity.

Kirsten Wong is a third-generation Chinese New Zealander who’s had a long-standing interest in communities.

7pm – Live music | The Fringe Bar 26–32 Allen St 

Featuring: Te Aka | Masala | Te Kupu | Matiu Te Huki

The history

On Monday, October 15th 2007, more than 300 police carried out dawn raids on dozens of houses all over Aotearoa / New Zealand as part of 'Operation 8'. Police claimed the raids were in response to 'concrete terrorist threats' from Māori activists. What initially started with 20 defendants resulted in the trial of four - Taame, Emily, Rangi and Urs - which concluded on 20 March 2012.
Six years later, most of the charges have been dropped, Rangi and Taame are out on parole, Emily and Urs have almost finished serving their home detention, but the impact of these raids on those arrested and raided, their whānau and communities continues.

The kaupapa

Never Forget is about:

• Commemorating the raids and acknowledging the pain they caused.
• Understanding that these raids were part of a long history of colonisation and dispossession in Aotearoa.
• Building solidarity with Indigenous people struggling against colonization globally.
• Creating dialogue and alliances between tangata whenua and tauiwi ethnic minorities.
• Discussing how tauiwi ethnic minorities can actively support Māori in the struggle for tino rangatiratanga.

Accessibility information

19 Tory St: The main entrance has one step. There is flat access through the entrance to Mountain Safety House. The toilets are upstairs and are accessible by lift.

The Fringe Bar: The front entrance has steps. There is a back entrance with a lift. There are wheelchair accessible toilets.