Michael Joseph Savage Memorial
Clifftop Art Deco mausoleum and reflecting-pool gardens marking a prime minister's grave on a contested headland.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial in Auckland follows the country's first Labour prime minister, who hid a fatal diagnosis through an election campaign to keep pushing pensions and state housing, and died in office in 1940 as huge crowds lined his funeral route. It traces how his clifftop tomb came to stand on Bastion Point, land held by Ngati Whatua, and the decades of dispute that followed, including a 506-day occupation in 1977. Listen at the reflecting pool for the best view of the mausoleum.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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