Editorial: Don't take the party out of Party Central

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

The idea of a waka-shaped pavilion on Queens Wharf surprises on many levels. Aesthetically, it sounds tawdry. Culturally, it sounds wrong. Financially, it is a token $2 million.

Tribally, it favours Ngati Whatua o Orakei, who are contributing $100,000 and will own it. But probably it is wise to suspend visual judgments until we see it.

A Maori presence has a rightful place on the city's front deck, as it were, for the Rugby World Cup.

Maori culture has plenty of traditional architecture that would seem more at home on a wharf than a 60m-long structure resembling a waka, made of plastic, rather like the big rugby ball that was used to promote New Zealand in Paris at the last World Cup.

But a design inspired by a waka prow or sternpost could be a distinctive feature of the waterfront.

In any case, the visual, cultural, financial and tribal concerns raised so far are less of a worry than the pavilion's stated purpose. Its main function during the Rugby World Cup, like that of the "cloud" now taking shape on the wharf, is to exhibit things.

The waka, said Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples yesterday, would be used to "showcase the very best of Maori arts, culture, business and enterprise during the tournament". It would be "the cultural heart of the entertainment programme on Auckland's waterfront".

So there is to be an entertainment programme, but it sounds like the character of Queens Wharf for the World Cup has drifted a long way from "Party Central".

Earlier this week, we learned the cloud would house an "innovation showcase" for displaying "the technological innovation coming out of New Zealand". An organiser described it as "like an inbound investment and trade mission for many companies". It does not sound like fun.

With cruise ships at Queens Wharf and its Shed 10 refurbished, the basic elements for a good time will be there. New Zealanders, as they have shown at events overseas, rather like a rustic old barn with minimum comforts for their social base. If the heavily timbered wharf shed is weather-proofed and equipped with big screens, bars for the provision of beer, wine, snack food and good coffee, it's probably all rugby fans will need in September and October.

It's hard to imagine many of them marvelling at the products of industrial innovation under the cloud on the other side of the wharf, despite the 3-D imaging of the displays and other technological treats.

The organisers sound confident that an event such as the World Cup allows companies to entice influential traders to this country who may not be rugby fans. Queens Wharf will be an expo for them.

For local exports, the cloud is also to provide room to meet trade delegations from China and attend forums on topics such as broadband opportunities. All at Party Central.

The waka could add another dimension to the venue. Dr Sharples says, "We are assembling the world's best Maori arts and cultural programme to reflect the diversity of Maori excellence and appeal to the greatest audience."

A Ngati Whatua trustee hopes it will attract worldwide attention. It will be capable of being dismantled after the World Cup and freighted around the world for promotion of Maori art and industry.

It might work, it might not, but Queens Wharf is a big place and the World Cup is only five months away. It's too late to be quibbling about design features.

The time remaining must be used to ready the wharf for the various ways it will be used and trust that its prime purpose cannot be compromised. The party must remain central to all that occurs at Party Central.