Mike Smith (activist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael John Smith (born 1956/57) is a New Zealand environmental and Māori rights activist.
Smith is Māori, and identifies with the Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu iwi.[1] He was born in the 1950s in New Zealand's Northland Region to a Māori father and Pākehā (European) mother.[2]
Smith's activism began in 1992, when he attended a Global Earth Summits on greenhouse gas emissions.[3] In October 1994 he created headlines in New Zealand when he attacked the lone tree on Auckland's Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill with a chainsaw, an act aimed at emphasising Māori anger at the New Zealand government's latest economic policies.[4] There was also a feeling among some Māori that the tree — an exotic species — was inappropriate and should be replaced by a native plant.[5] The damage resulted in Smith being arrested and receiving nine months of periodic detention.[6] Smith has since expressed some regret at the action, especially for those for whom the tree had personal significance.[7]
In 2024, Smith won the right to sue several major New Zealand companies over their alleged contributions to climate change.[1] The case, Smith v Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, is a landmark case in New Zealand tort law. It parallels similar international moves to find judicial methods to speed up action on the environment.[8]
