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Story: Ngāti Whātua

Television film of Bastion Point eviction

When the Crown announced that the last area of uncommitted land at Bastion Point was to be developed for high-income housing, some Ngāti Whātua occupied the site. They had hoped that this ancestral land might be returned to tribal ownership. After 506 days, the protestors were evicted on 25 May 1978. This television footage records the event. Army trucks are seen descending upon Bastion Point while flares are lit by its occupiers.

Using this item

TVNZ Television New Zealand

Reference: P182678

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How to cite this page

Rāwiri Taonui, Ngāti Whātua – Ngāti Whātua and the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/1209/television-film-of-bastion-point-eviction (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Rāwiri Taonui, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 March 2017.

Comments

Te Rangimarie
04 May 2016
how many were there, the police and armed force.
SK
14 March 2016
seeing that they sent over military vehicles to the eviction, it seems a bit excessive... no wonder the Waitangi Tribunal saw this event as an injustice!
samual
24 April 2015
this is very good footage of the bastion point eviction. a pitty they didnt have hd cameras back then thoe