Bastion Point badge

This badge was worn in solidarity with the protests against the government's decision to build houses on Ngāti Whātua land at Takaparawhau / Bastion Point, Auckland. In January 1977, protesters began a 506-day occupation of Takaparawhau led by the Ōrākei Māori Action Committee.

The badge's motif features a mangopare (hammerhead shark), symbolising strength, agility and engagement. It was designed by the leading figure of the occupation, Dr Joseph Parata Hawke MNZM (1940-2022, Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei). Its smallness, wearability and portability enabled the plight of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei to travel widely.

On 25 May 1978, the government sent in a huge force of police and army personnel to evict them. 222 protesters were arrested and their temporary meeting house, buildings, and gardens were demolished. The Bastion Point occupation became one of the most famous protest actions and infamous state interventions in New Zealand history.

In 1988, ten years after the eviction, the Waitangi Tribunal supported Ngāti Whātua claims to the land, and it was returned.

This particular badge belonged to activist Rona Bailey (1914-2005) who led a long life of activism including anti-apartheid protest from the late 1940s. For most of the 1970s, Bailey worked full-time and voluntarily for the anti-apartheid movement. She became part of the organising group of Project Waitangi (1985-90) which aimed to educate Pākehā about the Treaty of Waitangi.