Issue and Opponent: Bastion Point (Takaparawhau in Maori) is a coastal piece of land in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour. In 1977, the government decided that they no longer needed the land at Bastion Point, which had been used previously by the military. The local Iwi, Ngati Whatua, to who the land had originally belonged, believed that the land would be returned to them when it was no longer needed for the military. However, this was not the case, as the government announced plans to develop the land at Bastion Point into luxury housing, with none of the land being returned to the Iwi.
Dilemma Action: For 507 days, hundreds of Māori people peacefully occupied Bastion Point, establishing temporary buildings, vegetable gardens, and a meeting house constructed to accommodate the participants during the protest. The peaceful occupation of the land got a lot of media attention. Even John Denver joined it. Outcomes: On May 25, 1978, “800 New Zealand police officers and soldiers forcibly removed the occupiers;” they also arrested 222 protesters. This response garnered widespread media attention, both inside and outside of New Zealand. As a result, the New Zealand government formally apologized in the 1980s and “returned the land to all the tribes that were directly affected by the loss of land.