New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Draft Media Release
Tuesday February 3, 2004
Navy At Waitangi Commemorations
The Royal New Zealand Navy will join with the people of Tai Tokerau and government officials to attend Waitangi Day
commemorations in the Bay of Islands, over the period February 5 and 6, 2004.
This continues the Navy’s long historical link with the Treaty of Waitangi dating back to before the signing of the
Treaty in 1840. The Navy’s link with the Treaty of Waitangi started with HMS HERALD, which was used by Captain Hobson as
a base to consult from during the Treaty negotiations.
This year the Navy’s Diving Tender, HMNZS MANAWANUI under the command of Lieutenant Commander Garin Golding, RNZN, will
anchor off Waitangi at 5:00pm, Thursday February 5. Members of MANAWANUI’s Ships Company will be taking part in the
shore activities on Friday February 6, and depart Waitangi that evening.
The Navy’s Band and Maori Cultural Group will participate in the entertainment programme at the Treaty Grounds in the
afternoon of Friday, February 6.
Navy’s official representative at the commemorations will be the Deputy Chief of Navy, Commodore David Anson, ADC,
RNZN.
ENDS
Backgrounder follows.
New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Media Background
Tuesday February 3, 2004
NAVY AT WAITANGI COMMEMORATIONS
The Royal New Zealand Navy has been at Waitangi conducting commemorative ceremonies on 6 February each year for over
fifty years.
The first national observance occurred on 6 February 1890, to mark the first fifty years of the Treaty. There was a
gathering at Waitangi and on the marae at Te Tii, with a Grand Ball in Russell that night at which the band from HMS
OPAL supplied the music.
A flagstaff for the Treaty Ground was first considered in 1933. Captain Bob Price RNR supervised the rigging and
erection of the flagstaff. Set in concrete, the flagstaff had a height of 93 feet. A brass plaque at the base denoted
the site and was in position for the ceremony at Waitangi on 6 February 1934.
The activities and ceremonies following the gifting of the land by Lord Bledisloe in 1934, occupied two days. Lord and
Lady Bledisloe, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G.W. Forbes, 60 members of both Houses of Parliament, and two
Australian representatives were present. A delegation of Ariki from Rarotonga, the Maori King, Koroki Te Rata Mahuta,
and 5000 Maori from local and southern tribes also took part.
HM Ships DUNEDIN and DIOMEDE arrived on the morning of the 5th February and provided shore parties which “….played an
important part in keeping the crowds at today’s ceremonies in the portions allotted. . . “ The Parliamentary delegation
was received on to the marae on the morning of the 5th. Their Excellencies followed at 1430, landing by boat at Tii
Point to the accompaniment of a 21 gun salute from HMS DUNEDIN.
On the 6th Their Excellencies arrived at the Treaty House at 1415 “Preceded by the bands of HMS DUNEDIN and HMS DIOMEDE
playing a stirring tune and leading a company of sailors marching with fixed bayonets . . . “ After meeting members of
the Waitangi Trust Board, “Lord Bledisloe immediately proceeded to the flagstaff, where the naval guard, now drawn up in
parade order, presented arms, and the band played the time-honoured National Anthem. A brisk inspection of the guard
followed, after which His Excellency walked to the base of the staff and, deftly handling the halliards, released the
Union Jack at the masthead.”
His Excellency then moved to lay the foundation stone of the Whare-runanga that was to be erected as a national memorial
to commemorate the centenary of the Treaty.
In 1937 a party from HMS ACHILLES effected “certain repairs to the flagpole”, but no other maintenance was done over
following years.
The centenary celebration in 1940 was a subdued affair as a result of the war, but the Governor-General Lord Galway was
present and the ship’s company of HMS LEANDER participated in a simple ceremony.
Two important events were included in the ceremonies. The first was the formal opening of the Whare-runanga after the
tapu had been lifted on the building, let by Whina (later Dame Whina) Cooper. The other event was the unveiling of the
memorial to Hobson by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Peter Fraser.
There was also a unique presence at the centennial gathering with a detachment from the Maori Battalion there, shortly
before their departure overseas. It is the only time an Army unit has paraded at Waitangi.
The report to the Trust Board in 1944 noted that “. . . the flagpole is in a dangerous condition and should be
dismantled immediately and re-erected with a new mainmast.” Kauri was obtained from the Puketi Forest for new masts, the
original yardarm being retained.
In 1946 the Naval Officer-in-Charge Auckland, Captain C.R.U. Pugh, CBE RN, was on a visit to Northland, noted that the
Trust was facing difficulty in erecting the new flagstaff. Representations were made to the Minister of Defence, the
Hon. F. Jones, who approved that “. . . in view of the Navy’s association with this historical event, it would be
appropriate if the work of erecting and rigging the flagstaff was undertaken by the Royal New Zealand Navy, who would be
made responsible for its annual survey and maintenance.”
The offer was accepted and the Trust unanimously resolved that “. . . after erection the Navy be authorized to do
whatever it thinks fit in the work of supervision and maintenance of the flagpole and be invited to carry out any naval
ceremonies at the flagpole which it deems desirable.” A team of personnel from the Naval Base duly erected the flagstaff
and rigged it naval style with a gaff of 12 feet. The crown from the ensign staff of the veteran cruiser HMNZS PHILOMEL
was placed at the truck, 112 feet high. The additional 12 feet of height over that planned arose because the rigging
party placed the foot of the main mast in a metal tabernacle about three feet high, rather than set it into the ground.
They thus sought to avoid the rapid decay of its predecessor. The mast has been maintained annually by the RNZN from
that time.
The Navy inaugurated a ceremony on 6 February 1947, intended to commemorate the service of New Zealand’s first naval
Governor, and it was not in fact designed as a ceremonial observance of the signing of the Treaty. There was no Maori
ceremonial and no Government presence, but in a simple ceremony, the sailors raised the Union Flag to the mast-head
before some 1,200 adults and children. The NZ Herald records that spectators were addressed by the Chief of Naval Staff,
a practice that was to continue until 1959.
The Waitangi Trust Board resolved “That the Royal New Zealand Navy be thanked for the fine work carried out in the
erection of the Flagstaff, the beauty and symmetry of which marks it as a worthy memorial to mark the site of the Treaty
of Waitangi; and that this Board views with much satisfaction and pleasure the holding of the Naval Celebration at the
Flagstaff on Anniversary Day.”
In 1990, further legitimisation of the Navy’s role at the commemorative ceremonies occurred when a Charter was presented
to the RNZN. It conferred on the Navy “. . . the right and privilege, without further permission being obtained, of
marching at all times with drums beating, bands playing, colours flying, bayonets fixed and swords drawn through the
lands of the Tai Tokerau, especially the Treaty Grounds.” It cemented a relationship between the Navy and the Tai
Tokerau which pre-dated nationhood. It also reinforced the undertaking given by the Waitangi National Trust for the Navy
to carry out any naval ceremonies at the flagstaff, which it deemed desirable.
Source:
Rear Admiral Fred Wilson, 1998.
The Development of the New Zealand Navy,
2002 Edition.