Savage's final resting place on shaky ground

By WAYNE THOMPSON

The iconic clifftop gravesite of Michael Joseph Savage is eroding and soil may be entering where his underground casket lies.

In places around the national monument on Bastion Pt, to the first Labour Prime Minister, the lawn is sinking.

The Auckland City Council is worried that soil may be slipping into tunnels under the monument where Savage's casket lies.

It intends to check the underground tomb with a special camera to determine whether any work is needed to stabilise the ground.

The Labour leader, one of New Zealand's most revered political figures, was Prime Minister from 1935 until his wartime death in office in March 1940.

Born in Australia in 1872, Savage was reared in poverty and spent his early years tramping the country in search of work.

He arrived in New Zealand at the age of 35 and quickly rose in Labour's ranks. Known as the architect of the welfare state, Savage died of cancer at the height of his popularity.

His best-remembered words came from his sick bed as New Zealand entered World War II:

"We range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand."

On the day of his funeral, a special train carried his casket from Wellington to Auckland, halting at 20 stations along the way.

More than 20,000 Aucklanders lined the procession route and a further 50,000 waited at the gravesite at Bastion Pt, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour, which was filled with craft with pennants at half-mast.

A network of tunnels known as Fort Bastion and built during the 1880s "Russian invasion scare" lies under the Savage memorial.

Auckland City Council heritage manager George Farrant said the casket was buried deep in one of the tunnels, which were sealed with soil fill.

It was hoped to check before winter to see the casket was not disturbed by land movement.

The tunnels had no doors to allow workers entry, meaning a remote camera would be needed for the job.

The old tunnels had iron railway lines for props and these might have decayed over the years and caused the ground to slump, he said.

Any remedial work would be designed to intrude as little as possible into the grave area.

Mr Farrant said the council looked after the memorial on behalf of the War Graves Commission, which would pay the cost of works.

The casket was buried more securely below in the old gunpit instead of in the monument's "vault" - a structure which had double doors and two portholes for viewing, he said.

The vault was made to look like a mausoleum with a casket clad in decorative concrete work.