Greenstone for army memorial may have been stolen

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 593, 4 July 1995, Page 3

Greenstone for army memorial may have been stolen

Waiouru Army Memorial Museum staff are concerned at reports that the greenstone used in the new memorial Greenstone W all may have been illegally procured. The supplier of the stone was questioned recently after a raid by police and Department of Conservation officers at a camp site on the Cascade Plateau south of Haast. At the camouflaged campsite was a large 40-tonne greenstone boulder with a diamond-tipped saw and other tools nearby. Museum director Major Richard Taylor said that the Museum Trust had sought to ensure that proper procedures were carried out, including lengthy consultation with the Maori people. The Museum had been led to understand that the supplier had the appropriate mining and resource consent, he said. The company under question was one of three approached on the West Coast to supply greenstone for the wall. The Museum Trust sought and were supplied documented proof that the company had a licence to mine. However the site, were the boulder which is believed to be the source of the museum greenstone, was about five kilometres outside the licence area. Roimata Pounamu ('Tears on Greenstone') was dedicated on 24 March to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Army, as a memorial to all New Zealand's war dead since the Boer War.

Major Taylor stated that the new feature had attracted considerable public interest. "In light of this, and the efforts of the Museum Trust Board to ensure that the project met legal requirements and cultural considerations, it would be unfortunate if its significance was diminished by the actions of an individual", he said. The architect who designed the wall, Thomas Dixon, is reported to have said the supplier has to be accused of being fraudulent if the greenstone is found to have come from the boulder.