His speech expressed – among other things – his disappointment at what he saw as the new government undoing years of progress for Māori.
“We’d been talking about Matu wanting to go back to Moturua. When we listened to Kelvin Davis we said, ‘Now is the time to make a move, this act of rebellion, by just going there’,” Brown said.
Within two weeks the couple had ordered a kitset tiny home from a Northland business, and six weeks later the parts were quietly barged to the island.
The house was assembled by a team of builders with help from Clendon’s nephews in a single day, though the finishing touches were ongoing.
Brown said the house was also a first step in establishing a permanent wānanga on the island.
The couple had so far had four visits from DOC staff.
A letter delivered during the third visit on 1 May said no authority had been given for the building erected at Otupoho/Homestead Bay.
The letter continued: “I am formally requiring you to remove all buildings, structures and materials brought into the reserve, and to stop your occupation of the reserve, within two weeks of the date of this letter.”
It also spelled out the penalty for breaching the Reserves Act 1977, which was a maximum of two years imprisonment or a fine of $150,000.
Clendon said he had no intention of leaving.
“I have a job to do… we’ll stay here all the time. I’m doing what I think of as justice, ne? I am the pou for the family, I am the one who was instructed to look after my father’s interests.”
The kaumātua said he was pleased to be living on the island again for the first time in almost 60 years.
“It’s great, because I feel I’ve achieved what my dad was trying to do.”
Brown said their proposals for a way forward included the return of the island to hapū, a change of reserve status to allow the construction of a building, a lease, or even caretaker status in exchange for looking after DOC facilities on the island.
DOC Bay of Islands operations manager Bronwyn Bauer-Hunt said the department was aware of the situation on Moturua Island.
“Contact has been made with the people involved and we are considering the next steps. As the matter is under investigation we are not able to provide further information at this time,” she said.
Moturua is part of the Ipipiri group of islands between Russell Peninsula and Cape Brett.
Most of the island is public land, bar a number of properties owned by high-profile business people at its southern end.
Moturua Island is part of Project Island Song, an ambitious programme to restore native flora and fauna in the eastern Bay of Islands.
Matutaera Clendon was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Māori in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.