Dame Naida Glavish protests 'monstrosity' Erebus memorial
A high profile Māori leader is thinking about occupying an Auckland park to stop construction of a controversial Erebus memorial. Two hundred and fifty seven people died when an Air New Zealand plane crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica in November 1979. After much heated debate the memorial build is due to start this week at Parnell's Dove-Meyer Robinson Park. But Dame Naida Glavish of Ngāti Whātua believes the spot chosen near the old Mataharehare Pā site and a sprawling Pōhutukawa tree is not appropriate for what she describes as a "steel and concrete monstrosity". She says local iwi hasn't been properly consulted.