The taskforce – to be comprised of council staff, councillors, Māori representation and any other relevant experts – would be convened to deal with tricky situations like last year’s unexpected removal of the Captain Hamilton statue from Civic Square, outside the council offices. The life-size bronze figure was hastily removed by the council following threats from Waikato kaumātua Taitimu Maipi to tear down the monument during a weekend Black Lives Matter march. Maipi had previously attacked the statue – gifted to the city in 2014 by the Gallagher family to mark Hamilton’s sesquicentennial – with a claw hammer and red paint, arguing Hamilton was a “murderous a..”.