New Zealand police evict a group of Maori squatters

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Updated August 26, 2009 17:04:00

In New Zealand, police have evicted a group of Maori squatters who had been occupying a disused building for four months. The former furniture store in the north island town of Kaikohe had been bought by an Australian property investor named Glenn Hannah, back in April but he'd been unable to take possession of it. When Mr Hannah bought the building for 65-thousand dollars at a bank mortgagee sale, a group of Maori were already living in it. They claimed sovereignty rights over the land on which the building stood and took their fight to the High Court, but lost. Mr Hannah told New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie that it has been a costly and stressful experience.

Presenter: Kerri Ritchie
Speaker: Australian property investor, Glenn Hannah

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