1 Sunday ` brought to you by the Mazda CX-3. Tonight on Sunday ` David versus Goliath. Guys with M16s and RPGs. It's a fight over oil that reads like a Hollywood movie. You can't just go in and take something by force. The Kiwi deal to clean up an environmental mess that went horribly wrong. We had the perfect solution for them. What did your heart do? (SIGHS) Did y'all forget I'm the fastest, prettiest boxer that ever lived? Did you all forget? ANNOUNCER: The heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali! The Thrilla in Manila. It'll be a thrilla and a killa and a chilla when I get that gorilla in Manila. An extraordinary encounter with Muhammad Ali in his prime. This time, I shall shock the world. Captions by Tariqa Satherley. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 Kia ora, I'm Miriama Kamo. An extraordinary Ali story later, but first, it's just like a Hollywood script, and two Kiwis are at the heart of it. Clyde and Sharon McGrory are proud to call themselves your average Kiwis. To them, that means hard-working, honest and upfront ` qualities they put into running their small oil marketing business in Gisborne. So how did they end up battling a multinational, gun-toting militants, allegations of major theft and a claim for millions of dollars in the courts of Singapore? Barbara Dreaver is in the beautiful island of Bougainville and what was once the world's largest copper mine. You can't just go in and take something by force. You just can't do that, whether it's Bougainville or whether it's Gisborne. They can't get away with it. So we'll` we'll fight this to the bitter end. Clyde and Sharon McGrory have an extraordinary story to tell, one that's brought us 5000km into remote jungle to find answers. Because it's everywhere, isn't it? I mean, it's just... INTRIGUING MUSIC Here in Bougainville, a small Kiwi business thought they'd made the deal of a lifetime, but it was to go horribly wrong. Oil worth millions of dollars, ready to be shipped from this port, taken from under their noses by a multinational company with armed men in tow. Gisborne couple Clyde and Sharon share a love of life. (CHUCKLES) It's their family that drives them. You know, we're always working towards leaving something for the kids and to make their lives a little bit easier. They live in small-town NZ, but together, they dream big. It's always been an issue to get rid of waste oil out of cars and trucks and buses and whatever. We offer a service where we take their contaminated fuel oil, we clean it up and then we sell it to China to run a power station. Were you making millions? No. No, we don't make millions. We are a small company. Sharon and I run it` run it from home. In 2009, opportunity came knocking. I was approached by a friend of mine who runs an environmental, um, clean-up company. In Bougainville, they had some, um, tanks of oil there, so he contacted me to see if I could get rid of the oil for him` sell the oil for him. It sounded awesome. It was really good. I was nervous about it being Bougainville, but it was` it was the` it was big oil. We could make good money. Oil that once helped fuel the world's largest copper mine, Panguna. BOOM! It opened in 1972, operated by Bougainville Copper, known as BCL ` an arm of mining giant Rio Tinto. Copper, gold and money flowed. ARCHIVE: One of the most ambitious and profitable mining operations ever. But this major money-spinner was to trigger civil war. Locals felt cheated out of any benefit or profit. In 1988, their own rebel army took on government troops deployed to protect the mine. GUNSHOTS More than 15,000 died in the 10-year conflict. The mine forcibly closed, leaving equipment and resources behind ` resources like oil. BCL, when they were mining there, they used to bring the oil in, um, store it in the tanks to run the power station, to run the mine. For trader Clyde McGrory, that oil represented a fortune. Like, it was only 16,000 tonnes. That sounds` It's a lot to McGrory Marketing in Gisborne, but to BCL Mining, it's` it was just a nuisance. Because the giant oil storage tanks had leaked on a major scale ` 5000 to 6000 tonnes of it. Oh. > Yeah, that's the oil in there. Oh, yuck. > So, every` all this place is` It's everywhere. > Everywhere. > It is everywhere. > Bougainville tour operator Zhon Bosco is fed up with the mess. His business is based on showcasing the beauty of Bougainville, but it's threatened by contamination. We need to remove these things ` that's the main thing. So it's really, uh, pollution to this place. Somehow, if it goes to the sea, it will spoil the reefs and everything. There's no way that they can tidy it up themselves. There's no way they can fix the problem. We had the, uh` we had the perfect solution for them. It was Clyde and Sharon's business partner, engineer Ron Blenkiron, who came up with the solution. He ran an environmental assessment company. What did you think when you first saw that oil? I was absolutely shocked. It was` It was horrific. All I could see was imminent danger. Every time it rains, the oil comes up to the top of the bunker and overflows, and because the substructure up there is coral, the oil flows out and into the coral and then eventually leaches out into the sea. So Ron made a deal with the company who he believed owned the oil ` Bougainville Copper or BCL, which had operated the Panguna mine. Ron's company would help clean up the environmental waste, and in exchange he, Sharon and Clyde could sell what oil was left. We spent a lot of time heating the oil and clearing land so we could monitor the whole pipeline back to port, make sure there were no leaks, clear all the trees from around the tanks. It` It was a major operation. A costly operation? A very costly operation. We had 15 local guys working every day for four months. It was worth it. Clyde and Sharon had found an Indian buyer who offered US$5.5 million. It was just gonna make life so much easier, so much better for us. Was this going to be the game changer for you? > Yeah, definitely. But while Ron was offshore organising more equipment, an unidentified ship motored in and took a third of it. Someone had taken 6000 tonnes of oil, which was the` the liquefied part that was sitting on top ` basically the easy part of the oil to get out. It was a sign of things to come. Ron and his team continued to prepare the remaining 10,000 tonnes for shipment while Clyde and Sharon found a new buyer. But five days before their tanker was due to arrive, another came into the harbour. Then they came alongside the wharf and unloaded, uh, about 30 guys with M16s and RPGs, and surrounded our camp and, um, basically threatened my men. Ron and his men managed to get away unharmed. How fearful were you? Very fearful. These guys were serious, very serious. These` These were trained combatants, these people. They knew how to use weapons. Sunday has obtained witness statements from customs officials and police confirming they saw heavily-armed men guarding the ship. There was guys driving up and down the road with M16s, trying to find us. Ron was forced to flee the country. Back home in Gisborne,... Hello, Clyde speaking. ...Clyde and Sharon got the devastating news. What did your heart do? Uh... (SNIFFLES) We just couldn't believe it. We just, um... And` And Ron's telling us they've got guns, they` they're armed and all` and we're` what can we do? You know, we're in` we're in Gisborne and they're over there, and it was just` we were really frightened for them. But, um... They didn't get hurt, thank god, but they did get chased away. Clyde you must have felt a million miles away. Yeah, well, it was... (SIGHS) The oil was loaded up, but the tanker didn't get far. Papua New Guinea authorities detained it for not clearing customs, the captain accused of major stealing. The oil-filled tanker was escorted to neighbouring Rabaul. I thought we'd just get it back ` it would come back to us and` and we'd be right. That's` Because it was ours. We` We had the rights to it. It was not to be. The boat disappeared. The boat disappeared one night in the blue and it went. Gone. But the Kiwi group weren't going to take this lying down, determined to track those responsible. This is the, um, ship, that we later found out, contracted by Integra Oil. Integra, a petrochemical trading company based in Singapore who also claimed rights to the oil. Like, they're` they're apparently a respectable, well-known, worldw` international company. It's just absolute bullying tactics. They're using their` their size and their money to try and take something that's not theirs. Coming up ` The Kiwis take on a David and Goliath battle in Singapore courts. You don't get that many cases come your way that have got, uh, the, sort of, element of` of Hollywood drama that's involved in this one. And the people of Bougainville who are still waiting for help. These are the things that really really make us feel that there's so much injustice. TRACTOR RUMBLES INTRIGUING MUSIC Clyde McGrory isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. He's working up to 50 hours a week at this Gisborne orchard. Across town, his wife, Sharon is cleaning at one of three motels she works at. You work for what you` what you get, and you don't take sickies and you don't rip people off and you don't steal, and that's` that's the Kiwi way of life, I think. The couple work every given hour to pay lawyers to fight a multinational company they say unlawfully took oil worth millions of dollars. What it does is it makes you more determined. Yeah. The oil was left over from mining operations in Bougainville. The McGrorys had a deal with mining company BCL to remove it. I guess we've spent in excess of, probably, half a million dollars on it. The sale would help fund a clean-up of the area covered in leaked oil. So BCL gave you permission to take their oil? Yes they did, and they gave` their lawyer sent this confirming the decision. And have you got permission from the landowners as well? Yeah. They're all on board. There's all their signatures. Sunday tracked down locals involved in the deal, including Gabriel Taming. Did all the landowners agree to it? Why was this deal important? Even Bougainville's autonomous government was on board. President at the time, James Tanis, pictured here signing the agreement. But before they could ship the oil, multinational company Integra swooped in and seized it, claiming they had their own deal. We approached the Singapore-based company for answers, but it's refused to comment about the case while it's before the courts. But Sunday has obtained court documents outlining their defence. Integra says its deal was with Asatume Scrap Metal, a group of ex-militants who were stripping and selling mine equipment. They had claimed ownership of the oil. Integra says the oil was no longer owned by mine operator BCL as they'd abandoned their assets when they fled Bougainville. BCL is adamant that's not the case. There's absolutely no doubt that was our product. There was no` absolutely no doubt that we'd given permission to the NZ company to remove it. BCL chief executive Peter Taylor says the oil was an environmental headache. Clearly, there` there was the potential for a bigger problem, so when the` the NZ company come along and said 'we can fix this for you', we were very happy to do so. When it disappeared, the mining company even looked at taking on Integra themselves. The problem was the cost of recovery ` the cost of seizing the vessel, or the risks associated with that ` far outweighed anything we might have ever recovered in the long run. But the Kiwis have taken up the fight. < It means a lot to you. Yes. TEARFULLY: Sorry. You count the people in Bougainville as friends? Of course. They wanted to do right by the people, as leaking oil is just one of the many environmental disasters they've been left with. We couldn't survive this kind of environment that changed at a very rapid pace. Theonila's family was forced from Panguna when mine operator BCL moved in. There was no awareness, no warning given that there was such a thing that's going to come down and then cost your land, everything. There's been decades of anger over environmental damage. ARCHIVE: The copper men who are polluting a major river, which in turn has spoiled a prime fishing ground off Bougainville. There hasn't been any mining here at Panguna for almost 30 years, but the local people are still living with its legacy. They say there's pollution on a massive scale. Theonila and others who have moved back to their traditional land at the mine believe the river that runs through there is poisoned, the result of a toxic mix of heavy metals and chemicals used in mining. All these children that live here in the village, or even those that come here for school, they are not allowed to go and even play and even touch the river. More than 1.2 billion tonnes of mine waste was dumped in the area during the mining days. I believe that it's highly, highly polluted. Something the mining company disputes, although the river hasn't been tested in decades. Families say they won't eat anything that grows here. This` Basically, everything is just not safe. Around them, buildings and equipment have been stripped and sold by groups taking advantage of an island recovering from civil war. Foreigners were doing deals left, right and centre here ` not all of them legal or of benefit to the local people. But what we've found is that the Kiwis was one of the few groups here at the time who tried to do everything above board. It is amazing. I mean, it's, sort of` it's like a movie, really. Auckland lawyer Sam Carey describes the Kiwis' oil claim as a David and Goliath battle. They are up against a` a party that's significantly larger than they are ` a` a global player. He's stuck with them through five years of legal action against Integra. I empathise with them, and, you know, it's` it's one thing to be professional about it, but you've just gotta be human about these things as well, and I think they've got` they've got a story that deserves to be told. Going up against Integra hasn't been easy. They do seem quite determined to put every roadblock in our clients' way to stop them winning. Clyde, Sharon and Ron have been left financially crippled. The whole situation has destroyed all our lives, really. And we've gotta come up with another, probably, 250,000 to get it through court. It's their dealings with Integra executive director Roger van Baal that spur them on. I haven't got a very good opinion of him. I'm not` not one to mock people or cast opinions on other people but I think, um... His arrogance and his ab` absolute... disregard and disrespect for us ` that made us... < ...more determined. ...more determined. They're quite salt of the earth Kiwis, really, and they` they feel` like a lot of NZers do, they sort of take people at face value and they trust people, and they feel like they've been badly treated and they just want their day in court. That day has been set down for July next year. We're not in the international world of trade and finance; we're just a little company in Gisborne, NZ, that works from home. Why won't you give up? People's lives have changed over it and they can't get away with it. So we'll` we'll fight this to the bitter end. In Bougainville, the oil spill remains, a reminder of a time when big business came to the island and left a lasting mark on the landscape and its people. What would you like to see for them? I'd like to see the place cleaned up. I would like to see, um, those who have done wrong up there pay for the clean-up. And I think, um` I think the people of Bougainville are owed apologies from a lot of people as well. Well, mining company BCL is keen to return to Bougainville and reopen the controversial Panguna mine. The company hasn't been back since abandoning its operation almost 30 years ago. Chief executive Peter Taylor says if there was evidence of environmental damage caused by their operations, then it would be cleaned up on their return. Well, up next ` an extraordinary encounter with 'The Greatest' in his prime. This game is so easy. Boxing's so easy. I had the great privilege of spending a week with Ali as he prepared for that monumental fight. This time, I shall shock the world. I will shock the world. They buy tickets; they crowd. And they don't know me ` that's all they see until they hear an interview like now. They walk away and say, 'Mm, he's not as dumb as he looks.' Welcome back, and welcome back to 1975 and the Thrilla in Manila. Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier ` a bout ranked as one of the best ever. What we're about to share is a moment in time when a young reporter, Mike Willesse, spent a week in the presence of 'The Greatest'. This is the story of that mesmerising encounter. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC REEL CLICKS PROJECTOR WHIRRS (CROWD) FILM: Ali! Ali! Ali! Ali! SIREN WAILS Trying to get an interview with Ali was almost impossible. There were 1000 accredited journalists. ANNOUNCER: The heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali! I got there and they just said, you know, 'You're joking. No one's getting an interview.' I'm the true champion of the world, and they all shall bow. They all shall bow. DRAMATIC MUSIC So I said to the boys, 'Just pick up the gear. We're going into the hotel.' We saw Angelo Dundee, the famous trainer, and I said, 'Mr Dundee, I'm a fan of yours.' He said, 'Oh really? Who did I train?' Fortunately, I was a boxing fan and I knew some of them. He said, 'You're a news team.' I cheated a little bit and said, 'Yeah. Can we go and see him?' He said, 'Two or three minutes.' Went into his room, and he's lying there looking magnificent. I introduced myself, and he just ignored me. There's a huge mirror behind him. I said to one of the cameramen, 'Look, you can use that mirror as a third camera. 'You don't have to stay on me. Just turn occasionally and get that third angle.' And then he took notice. He looked up, looked at the mirror, and he looked at me and he said, 'You got imagination.' You have to have an imagination. You have an imagination to have this show. You have to set the cameras up. You have to lie on the couches. You have to imagine; you have to imagine. The man who has no imagination stands on the Earth. He has no wings; he cannot fly. Columbus had imagination. The Wright Brothers had imagination. Joe Frazier don't have i` the gr` I ru` They told me I was gonna fight in Manila, so I wrote a poem. It'll be a thrilla and a killa and a chilla when I get that gorilla in Manila. See, these are poems. Imagination. They attracts` sells tickets. People come, you understand? CROWD CHEERS 1975, and a chunk of the world stopped for a prize fight ` Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier. ANNOUNCER: Joe Frazier! Muhammad Ali, the star with his charisma and his show business, put that fight on the front pages. Joe Frazier didn't get the headlines, but inside the ring, he was a clear match for Muhammad Ali. How dare you to think Joe Frazier has a chance. How dare you! Do you think it's a bit silly, sometimes, that people will pay $10 million to see two men fight? Well, not really, because... they spend $10 billion to go to the moon! < What in the hell are we doing on the moon? Bringing back two damn rocks. (CHUCKLES) That don't help nobody. But the fight ` many people are gonna see it, they're gonna be inspired, they're gonna be uplifted. They paid, and` and the $10 million is not from one or two people; this is what it adds up to be. You don't have to go. They go to see the world's greatest fighters. Now, you may think it's silly because they pay to see two black fighters; if you from a racist country or if you're a racist-minded person, what in the hell are these two blackers or two niggers fightin' for all of that money? Let's talk about a few personal things. You seem to have a very unusual amount of energy. Do you think so? Why? Why do you say that? Well, not just your fighting; even when you talk, you` your promotions, whenever you're in public, you just seem to go and go and it seems to be some incredible energy inside ` more than most people. Well,... you haven't seen the half of it. Did y'all forget I'm the fastest, prettiest boxer that ever lived? Did you all forget? When he trained, he did three rounds with world-class heavyweights ` top 10. The last three rounds, he did with a middleweight ` a smaller guy. This man is awful fast. This man is for speed. He's three times faster than Joe Frazier. Every time the middleweight went for his head, he'd just move it, move it, and he'd miss. (GRUNTS) CROWD CHEERS And every now and then, Muhammad would go bang! THUMP! THUMP! He was a world-ranked middleweight, and he couldn't land a punch. This game is so easy. Boxing's so easy. It ain't nothin' to it. It ain't nothin' to it. And then, finally, when the round was up, Muhammad grabbed him and spanked him on the bum and said, 'You a naughty boy.' You a naughty boy. LAUGHTER (GRUNTS) You are a naughty boy. (GRUNTS) You shouldn't be so naughty. Huh? (GROANS) (GRUNTS) LAUGHTER CHEERING, APPLAUSE This time, I shall shock the world. I will shock the world! So, what do you think of that Joe Frazier? > Joe Frazier's an` just an ordinary individual. He don't represent nothin'. He's not intelligent. If you play his talk next to my talk, you'll find out that he can't compare with myself mentally. See, boxers like Joe Frazier don't have an imagination. He's just a flat-nosed, ugly pug. (GRUNTS) 'I mean` I mean` I'm in good shape. I mean, I'm on` I mean` You know what I mean?' When you talk to him, everything he'd be saying is 'you know what I mean'. Can't talk about nothin'. Can't talk about nothin'. Poor Joe became so far second in the publicity stakes. All we journalists wanted to talk to was Ali, and Joe started really resenting that. (CLEARS THROAT) What do you think of the sort of promotions that he gets going? > We gonna talk about him, or me? W-What we gonna talk about? Both. < Because I` I'm getting sick of answerin' questions for him, you know what I mean? I can't speak for him. I mean, if you wanna talk about something for me, then I'll answer the question the best way I can, Mike, but if you wanna talk about him all day, I can't answer questions for him because I don't know what the heck he's doin'. He was combing his hair, and he suddenly snapped his comb in half in anger. (EXHALES SHARPLY) Cool off. (YELLS, LAUGHS) (CHUCKLES) OK. It was so fast we couldn't pick it up on the camera. I have a name for Joe Frazier's footwork. It is called the rabbit hop. 'Joe Frazier is a rabbit.' The rabbit hop. You ever see Joe Frazier train? LAUGHTER And he jumped around ` hop, hop, hop, boom, boom, boom. Hop, hop, hop, boom, boom, boom. LAUGHTER Cos Frazier didn't have much movement in his feet ` he'd just move into position and throw these powerful punches. LAUGHTER You'll never talk to another athlete, I can boast ` white, black, blue, whatever sport ` < that's intelligent as me, as witty as me. You a television announcer. You have a good show. You a wise man. You ask a lot of questions. Athletes are not as wise as you. Only this one right here is as wise as you. (CHUCKLES) And there is much more to come ` first the bizarre, followed by the brutal. CROWD CHEERS WILDLY BANG! Joe, what's going on in there? If he hit Joe, there went $10 million. ANNOUNCER: There's 15 rounds, and here is round one. What a lot of people forget about that massive fight ` the Thrilla in Manila ` was that is was so gladiatorial. CROWD ROARS I mean, they nearly killed each other. CROWD CHANTS: Ali! Ali! Ali! Ali! Ali! It's not OK to control your partner with threats. It's not OK to control who they spend time with,... ...how they use their phone or Facebook or how they dress. It's not OK to make them live in fear. It's not OK to say it's none of our business. Because it is our business. And it's not OK. Ever. But it is OK to ask for help. So, uh, no other boxers or no athletes will you ever talk to who will give you the mental thing that I'm giving you. I can boast and say that cos it's so true. Our two- to three-minute interview became two to three hours, and everyone around him in his team was angry with us for disrupting the schedule. But he didn't care, and he said, 'Look, I'm going to do some things for you. 'Have you been to Joe Frazier's training?' We said, 'Yes, we went this afternoon.' He said, 'Go again tomorrow. I'm going to do something for you.' (GRUNTS, PANTS) We heard this noise up in the` way up in the top of this old town hall. (GASPS, PANTS) And there's Muhammad, shouting at Joe,... That sucker can't even dance! He's slow! He's short! He's slow and he's short! And on the first, I'ma wipe all of you suckers out. I'ma wipe all of you out! I hope you are ready to go, Slick. (SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY) My man. He's climbed up with a chair in his hand ` I mean, how dangerous is that? And then he threw it down into the ring. BANG! Joe, what's going on in there? What's going on in there? If he'd hit Joe, there went $10 million. At one fight apiece, the world was watching. ANNOUNCER: From Louisville, Kentucky, USA... BELL DINGS COMMENTATOR: There's 15 rounds, and here is round one. What a lot of people forget about that massive fight ` the Thrilla in Manila ` was that it was so gladiatorial. CROWD ROARS I mean, they nearly killed each other. Frazier was slow to start. Round three. Ali was looking sharp. CROWD ROARS Ali leading his own cheering. CROWD CHANTS CHEERING The tables turned, and Frazier was coming back. Then Ali hit back. Ali has gone up for a knockout. Frazier looks awful tired. He's puffed around both eyes now. Both of these incredible athletes were still on their feet, but only just. CROWD CHANTS: Ali! Ali! After 14 rounds, Joe Frazier had reached his limit. CROWD ROARS Both trainers were ready to throw in the towel before the last round. When you throw in the towel in boxing, that means 'I give in'. Frazier's trainer picked up the towel first and got it in. Frazier ` I think it's gonna be over. It's all over. This has to have been one of the most bruising heavyweight championships of all time. Muhammad Ali was regarded by so many as not only the greatest boxer, but the greatest athlete. Now, some people disagree with that, and it's hard to separate his athleticism ` his boxing ability ` and his showmanship. Wherever he went, there was a show, so that helped him become number one, whether he was or whether he was not. What he's left us, really, is being what he always said ` the greatest. I believe that all people have a mission on Earth; all people born for a purpose. I believe I'm wise enough to know my purpose is to be one black man here in the world who's not a prostitute; who's not a Uncle Tom; who's not a behind-licker, a boot-kisser; who stands up; who makes millions of dollars; who looks people like yourself in the face, and everybody in the world. Stay great. Stay world-famous. Represent God and still make millions of dollars, and don't be a ` excuse the expression ` ass-kisser. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC PROJECTOR STOPS Ali ` somehow able to transform the brutal art of boxing into something uplifting. Well, that's our show for tonight. Do join us on Facebook and Twitter ` Sunday TVNZ.