The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has asked for an urgent meeting with Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and is calling for “cohesive action” over escalating attacks by Israel supporters against Palestinians and human rights activists.

The network said in a statement a rock had been hurled through the window of New Plymouth activists Kate and Grant Cole last week.

Co-chair Maher Nazzal said attacks from Zionist supporters had become “more frequent and dangerous” over the past year.

“In the case of the Coles, the rock through their window was just the latest in a series of targeted attacks on them and their property,” he said in the statement.

“They have twice endured spray-painted Israeli flags on their fence. Their car tyres were slashed on four different occasions. They had vile lies about them delivered in letterboxes around their neighbourhood.

“This time, it was a rock flung through their window with the message ‘Snap Action — REQ’ attached.”

Nazzal said local police had failed to take these attacks seriously. They had suggested to the Coles that they should “spend a lot of money on security systems”.

He said attacks on activists were increasing even before US President Donald Trump’s “failed ceasefire agreement” for Gaza was signed last October 10.

Pro-Israel lobby ‘has failed’
“The pro-Israel lobby is upset their side has failed to keep the genocide in Gaza completely out of public view,” Nazzal said.

“They have lost the debate. Poll responses show New Zealanders register two to one that New Zealand should sanction Israel for genocide and recognise a Palestinian state.

“Israelis and Israel’s supporters are taking their shock and frustration out on Palestine solidarity activists.

“In the past couple of weeks alone, two women activists were stalked after a protest in Auckland.

“There was spray painting and vandalism of PSNA co-chair John Minto’s home, an assault on a supporter by an ex-IDF soldier in Auckland and attacks on our supporters in Napier.”

Nazzal said that while the police had been vigorous in investigating and prosecuting anyone they believed to have been acting for Palestinian rights — such as the broken window at Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ home and an assault on an Israeli soldier holidaying here — they were slow to follow up on attacks on Palestine supporters.

He said the police were keen to “pull out all stops” for the Israeli Embassy to defend Israeli soldiers “fresh from a genocide in Gaza — but can’t find the time to take attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian supporters seriously.”

The police have yet to comment on PSNA’s claims.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Three people, including former Wellington mayoral hopeful Graham Bloxham, have been arrested at a Venezuela solidarity protest in New Zealand’s capital.

Around 100 people were rallying against the US military action earlier this week outside New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) on Lambton Quay.

During the event Bloxham, who was attempting to film the protest, was seen scuffling with two protesters.

They were taken by officers into a police van and were driven away.

Police break up the protest scuffle in Wellington. Video: RNZ

Bloxham runs the Facebook page WellingtonLive and has faced controversy in the past after being arrested for failing to stop for police, and being told by the Employment Relations Authority to pay a former employee $30,000.

His charges for failing to stop for police were dismissed.

Last year, he also posted on social media that he was the victim of an unprovoked assault in Oriental Bay.

A police spokesperson said three people were arrested for disorder and charges are being considered.

Right to protest
The spokesperson said police recognised the lawful right to protest and maintained a presence to ensure the safety of all involved.

RNZ has contacted Bloxham for comment.

The group was protesting outside MFAT against the US military intervention in Venezuela, and calling for the New Zealand government to take a stronger stance.

Since the attack on Vanezuela and capture of president Nicolás Maduro, there has been one statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, in which he expressed concern at developments and called on all parties to act in accordance with international law.

The prime minister Christopher Luxon is yet to comment.

Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington said the United States’ involvement in Venezuela was contrary to international law, and the New Zealand government’s response had been “pathetic”.

“I think they’re obviously very concerned about their relationship with Washington. They do not want to antagonise Donald Trump,” she said.

Eduardo Salazar Moreira from Peru said the the US intervention was about oil, not democracy.

Oil, not democracy
“There’s always been imperialism by the US, especially in Latin America, but they’re going back to this older, more blatant, more explicit version of imperialism that’s way more active.”

He said New Zealand had a voice on the global stage, and should be using it.

“New Zealand does have a voice, and they should use it, because if we’ll let this happen in Latin America, and then it’ll happen everywhere, not just by Trump.

“It’ll happen by other superpowers in this new multipolar world that we have now, and that’s when we’ll be a really small country that can’t do much when we let that happen.”

A small number of counter-protesters were also present.

Nathalie Wierdak, who is from Venezuela, said she disagreed with the protesters, particularly those who had signs calling for Maduro’s release.

She said the protesters should have talked to people from Venezuela first before deciding to rally.

Protest not pro-Maduro
“Maduro is a criminal. He has committed several crimes against many Venezuelans. He has more than 8000 registered cases of human rights violations in our country.

“So I don’t think that it’s right that people who are not Venezuelan are protesting for us and speaking for us, and they’re claiming to Free Maduro who is a criminal and Cilia Flores who is also a criminal.”

Morse said the protest was not pro-Maduro.

“We are not in favour of a violent dictatorship, and that’s what Maduro’s regime was. There’s nobody here supporting Maduro.

“We want freedom and democracy for the people of Venezuela, we just don’t think that the United States’ involvement is likely to deliver that for the people of Venezuela. What it’s likely to deliver is a lot more hardship.”

Protesters and counter-protesters were seen speaking civilly to each other following the rally’s dissolution.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A New Zealand policeman pushed over an elderly man who was doing nothing but waving a Palestinian flag at a solidarity rally in Ōtautahi yesterday.

Yes the man employed to protect the public committed a violent assault. Not a wee shove, a great big push that caused the man to fall the ground – onto hard tarmac.

It comes on top of a woman being fatally shot this week by police and her partner being shot and injured. In that case a knife was involved but it’s kind of like paper-scissors-rock, is it not?

Police wear protective clothing and where are the tasers?

In other, different, situations I know for a fact that some of our police are violent against peaceful people.

I have experienced their brutality directly while filming their brutality. Like the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) they see journalists who film their offensive actions as the enemy.They used pepper spray against me illegally to stop me filming their perversity.

But look, it’s a hard job so they need how-not-to-be-thugs training.

Pre-trained as thugs
Some young men are already pre-trained to be thugs and they seem to be out at the front. They feel great in this mostly white gang.

I have witnessed police haul people off the pavement, beat them up, and then arrest the victims of their assaults “for assault”.

False accusations to protect themselves? Twisting the narrative completely to hide their own violence?

False arrests when they themselves should face arrest.

I think we’ve had enough.

Some of the boys in blue really really need to grow up.

They need training that teaches them that manning or womaning up (some women cops play the thug game too) doesn’t mean training to be a wanker white supremacist.

Self awareness
Good training means teaching police to be self aware, aware of thoughts and feelings, not just learning cognitive behavioural tools but applying them.

They are in the community to protect the community. They should not see people who are supporting human rights or kids attending a party as their opposition, their enemy.

These thug police need to unlearn their thuggery and learn instead, how to relate to the people. They are not defending themselves against the public. They must not view people — real human beings — as their enemy.

The thug cops are adept at dehumanising others. They need to learn to see people as individuals and this includes people attending group functions like parties or protests or club activities. People have human rights.

This includes the right to be respected and treated with dignity.

The perpetrators of violent crime are — far too often — the police. I’ve seen it happen with no provocation time and again. Too many times to count.

They don the black gloves and black sunnies and wear bullet proof vests and feel what?How do they feel when they gear up? Threatened or threatening?

Public protection
Questions need to be asked.

The public needs protection from some — not all — of our police.

And the legal system, the justice system — (I’m trying not use an ironic tone here) needs to be applied to violent crimes, including the police crims who assault members of the public.

I worry for unseen victims too. I worry for their wives and children because if they assault with no provocation on the street what do they do at home?

Do people who behave like street devils turn into angels at home?

Investigations must be held about why our police are assaulting bystanders and peaceful protesters.

Tragedy investigation
I guess there wll be an investigation into the bullets against knife tragedy. But we need other investigations too.

I know the footage of what happened to our innocent elderly protester will be posted on social media.

New footage emerges of policeman pushing partygoer (2021 1News video)

In the meantime, here’s other footage above of Christchurch police doing what they are in danger of doing best.

This footage is four years ago but this alarming, aggressive behaviour continues as demonstrated yesterday by a cop shoving to the ground an unarmed, unprotected, elderly man waving a Palestinian flag whom they then — so wrongly — charged with assault!

Saige England is an Aotearoa New Zealand journalist, author, and poet, member of the Palestinian Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA), and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report. This commentary was first published on her social media.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s security detail has cut a media briefing short over protesters in Auckland.

He was holding a press conference yesterday after a walkabout with police to discuss concerns with businesses in the CBD.

Luxon was talking with media when one of his security officers could be seen coming into the business, actively looking around, before placing a hand on the Prime Minister’s shoulder and informing him they had to leave now.

An RNZ journalist at the briefing said he understood protesters were en route to the location, but the prime minister left before they had arrived.

According to The New Zealand Herald, they were pro-Palestine protesters.

Police beat teams
He was also joined by Police Minister Mark Mitchell, and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello and Retail Crime Ministerial Advisory Group head Sunny Kaushal after police added another 21 officers to their CBD beat teams this month, bringing the team to 51.

It is part of a drive to expand the number of police visible on city streets, with the Auckland team expected to increase to 63, another 17 officers joining the Wellington team, and 18 more in Christchurch.

Luxon said the expanded teams was a “great start, and more than a great start … it’s a collaborative effort and what you’re seeing here is that there’s really good join-up.”

He said with cruise ships coming back to New Zealand, it was important to do better and it was important for people to feel safe.

Patrolling Auckland was a collaborative effort, which was seen yesterday with numerous council and Heart of the City security staff also on the beat.

“Police are obviously at the heart of the whole issue, but they are working really constructively with the security officers from the different retail complexes, with the city council . . . ”

Prime Minister Luxon’s press conference cut short.   Video: RNZ News

Beat policing makes difference
Some business people Luxon had spoken to told him they had seen a difference when it came to on the beat policing.

Mitchell said it was also about having all the govenrment and community agencies working together. He said the briefing he had seen from police showed crime was starting to trend down.

“It’s only early signs, it’s green shoots . . .  I don’t have the numbers that I can give to you today but it’s numbers that police have been working on.”

Coster said it was a long-term thing that needed to be seen having a continued effect.

He said the deployment in the CBD was significant.

“Not just our beat staff, but also our public safety units, our community policing staff, and we have a tactical crime unit focused on the central city as well.”

“That’s a very big deployment, on a regular basis.”

Luxon walked through town, stopping to chat with security officers.

“It’s been really good, an announcement and then quick implementation, and you guys joined up together and you’ve been acting more as a tighter eco-system, is even better,” he said to one Britomart security officer.

He also greeted pedestrians as he made his way up Queen Street, some shouting expletive expressions of shock at seeing him.

Murray from Queen’s Arcade on Queen Street said the situation had improved.

“It’s nice to see the police around the lower city CBD,” he said.

“We’re all working together, it’s going to be difficult. We kind of expect the council to do their part in this too with some of the projects, perhaps, homeless people that cause us a little bit of grief, and are a nuisance to themselves and the public,” he said.

He said rough sleepers were still an issue, and that pedestrians felt intimidated by them.

‘We expect churches to face up’
Earlier, speaking to reporters, the prime minister said churches behind the faith-based care institutions needed to be “fully responsible and accountable”, and destruction of records “doesn’t sound right”.

Yesterday’s standup followed the release of the Royal Commission’s report into abuse in care this week, a massive 16-volume report still being digested by the survivors and the public.

“We expect the churches to face up to their responsibility,” Luxon said.

The report noted the president of the Law Society had advised the head of Presbyterian Support Otago to destroy records of children in its care to protect the organisation’s reputation.

Frazer Barton told RNZ Morning Report yesterday he had advised Gillian Bremner to “destroy them at an appropriate time — that’s not ‘go ahead and destroy them now’”. The files were destroyed in 2017 and 2018.

Luxon said he had not been briefed on that but the government wanted to ensure records were available – including being available to survivors.

“I haven’t seen what he’s particularly briefed or asked,” Luxon said. “All I’m focused on is actually responding to the recommendations, working with the survivors, making sure that churches are held responsible for the abuse that they’ve caused as well.”

Asked to comment on his reaction to hearing that records had been destroyed, he said “it doesn’t sound good, it doesn’t sound right, it doesn’t sound what we’re asking churches to do.”

He said the churches should front up and be held accountable.

“We’re asking for them to be fully responsible and accountable.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Pacific Island community in Aotearoa New Zealand is grieving for the deaths of two men killed at an Auckland downtown construction site last week.

Solomona To’oto’o, 45, of Manurewa and Tupuga Sipiliano, 44, of Wattle Downs have been named as the victims of 24-year-old gunman Matu Reid, who also died.

Several others were wounded, including a police officer.

The Samoa Observer reports friends and relatives of the two victims took to social media to express their condolences, and relatives of Sipiliago sent messages to the victim’s wife and children as they mourned.

The Samoa Police, Prison and Correction Services have extended their sympathies to the New Zealand Police, saying their thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected, along with their solidarity with the NZ Police.

Former Auckland city councillor and Pacific islands advocate Fa’anānā Efeso Collins told RNZ’s Morning Report the community was rallying around the families.

Fa’anānā said people he goes to church with were social workers and youth workers and are questioning what could have been done.

‘Some questioning’
“Some questioning became what else could we have done?” he said.

“How can we continue to support these communities and even the young man who undertook the shootings as well . . . I guess the holes in the community or in the system that we need to assist and fix and help to facilitate.”

He said some people were “really angry” while some were questioning how else to support young people going through these issues.

Fa’anānā said people were asking how to address issues like poverty, isolation and young people who had fallen out of the school system.

He said he had talked to social and youth workers in churches.

“Because even as young dads we are wondering what it is to get people to talk, to invite people to feel like they re connected to a community, because it is that connection that really is going to offer people support,” Fa’anānā said.

“We experience tragedy and triumphs as a village and the village wants to work out what else can be done to support.”He said it was also going to mean a conversation with public agencies like Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education.

Tongans ‘thankful’ to police
A Tongan construction worker, Uate Vea, was one of those in the building at the time of the tragic deaths.

RNZ Pacific correspondent Kalafi Moala said Vea said they were at level 21 of the building where the shooting was taking place, about six levels away from the gunman, when they were instructed to leave.

“We ran down to level 15 before we were told to return to level 16 because the shooter was heading our way,” he said.

And while they moved to level 16, he heard more gunshots.

Vea said he was thankful that the NZ police were quick to send the helicopter which helped save them, Moala said.

He said there were eight Tongans altogether in his team and he understood there were more Tongans working at the site.

‘MATES help mates’
MATES in Construction has also extended its sympathies to the workers that were affected by the shooting.

In a statement last week it said it “is actively engaged to support impacted people throughout the industry.”

The suicide prevention group said it was “developing a plan to ensure there is a comprehensive process in place for the weeks ahead and intends to maintain a strong supportive presence on site” when workers returned to the site this week.

“It is important that workers know there is someone to turn to if they need help and know how to look after their mates on site who may be experiencing difficulties.

“MATES help mates and that is a priority for us during this sad time.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Political Roundup: Labour shifts focus from Grey Lynn to West Auckland

The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the working class politics of West Auckland and the Hutt Valley, where the two new leaders are based.

Hipkins and Sepuloni were elected yesterday and immediately started repositioning their Government away from what might be called the affluent “woking class” towards the “working class”. Gone is an emphasis on cultural politics, and in its place is a laser-like focus on the economy and delivery of better public services to ordinary citizens.

In his first speech, Hipkins said: “My focus will be on the here and now and the bread and butter issues that people care about.” He explained his big priority is dealing with the cost of living crisis, followed by jobs, crime, education, and health.

Herald political editor Claire Trevett described his speech as “the chalk to the cheese of Ardern’s style and language. We have gone from transformational to bread and butter.”

She approves of his new direction: “His job is trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on the various troubles plaguing them now – from potholes to hip ops to the price of bread – rather than some big highfaluting vision for the future, or expensive and cumbersome reforms that might look like luxury items in the current climate. It was precisely what he needed to do.”

Smart for Hipkins to focus on the economy

Matthew Hooton writes in The Australian today that Hipkins is smart to focus Labour on the economy – it’s the overwhelming voting issue for 2023. A Curia Research poll out on Friday showed that when asked what the number one issue in the country is, the biggest response is the cost of living (22 per cent), followed by the economy in general (19 per cent), with no other issue coming close.

And when the poll asked the public who they thought could best tackle inflation, 49 per cent chose National, with only 23 per cent favouring Labour. On the economy in general, National is favoured by 50 per cent, to Labour’s 27 per cent.

Labour desperately needs to turn around the perception that the party isn’t focused on economic issues during a recession. This is especially because Labour’s own traditional constituency of working people is hurting the most at the moment. As Hooton points out, “Measured as labour costs over consumer prices, real wages began falling from mid-2020. By September 2021, they were lower than when Ms Ardern became Prime Minister and have kept falling since. By September 2022, they were down nearly 6 per cent compared with mid-2020.”

Does this mean that Labour will focus on economics at the expense of “woke” politics?

The term “woke” has been increasingly used to describe this Labour Government, and commentators agree that Hipkins wants to change that perception.

Yesterday’s Sunday Star Times editorial explained that Hipkins’ leadership focus is on “working New Zealanders”, and “Hipkins is making clear that he’s going to be less ‘woke’ and more attuned to their needs.”

Stuff political editor Luke Malpass also says Hipkins “doesn’t share some of the more ‘woke’ culture affectations that some of his colleagues do.” Malpass suggests Hipkins is less about “some sort of social engineering agenda” and “more in the old-Labour mould of delivering ‘improvement’ in peoples’ lives, rather than adhering to a ‘progressive’ march of history view of the world”.

In the same newspaper, Andrea Vance refers to Labour ditching “distracting, unpopular initiatives and issues that we neatly package up as ‘identity politics’.”

Others see this shift is about taking Labour back towards traditional class-based progressive politics. For example, this week leftwing commentator Josie Pagani suggested that the new Labour leadership should, “Re-focus and sort out the underperforming public sector, jettison the identity politics, and deliver a greater share of the economy to wage earners.”

Political journalist Richard Harman says much of what Hipkins is doing “is going back to its past as the party of workers” and believes it’s a smart move. Harman points out that, although Hipkins might be “unashamedly from Labour’s middle-class base”, he is channelling his Remutaka constituency which “consists almost entirely of wage earners”, and “is a far cry from the increasingly affluent inner-city Mt Albert electorate of Jacinda Ardern.”

Harman also argues that various statements from Hipkins yesterday seemed like “veiled criticism of the Ardern Government’s focus on the kind of issues that excite young inner city voters”. In contrast to satisfying the affluent voters of Grey Lynn, Mt Albert and Wellington Central, Hipkins deliberately focused on working families: “I think that some of them might feel they feel that they are not hearing enough from us about the issues that are that really matter to them at the moment. And that’s absolutely where our focus will be.”

Certainly, both Hipkins and Sepuloni are stressing all things socio-economic. Yesterday Hipkins said he wanted to focus on the housing crisis, saying “You shouldn’t have to be on a six-figure salary to buy a new house.” Of course, he also was at pains to say he didn’t want property prices to actually drop.

And Hipkins said his government would strengthen public services, especially in education and health: “Access to those basics needs to be extended to all those who are striving for better.”

Hipkins emphasised his own “relatively humble” beginnings, and suggested that his new deputy fitted with those as well: “As a proud westie, I can’t think of a better sidekick for a boy from the Hutt.”

Sepuloni also stressed her humble background alongside her ethnicity, saying “It is very hard to fathom that a working-class girl from Waitara who turned ‘Westie’ that that person could become the Deputy-Prime Minister of New Zealand.” And profiles of her also advertise that her Samoan-Tongan father was a freezing worker and unionist, while her Pākehā Mum was from a farming background and worked in a Swanndri factory.

It was noteworthy that in his first speech, Hipkins failed to use the moniker of “Aotearoa”, referring instead only to “New Zealand” about a dozen times. It seemed deliberate, especially because Sepuloni followed suit. It was strikingly different to the convention of Government ministers over the last year or so.

It’s likely that Labour’s market research is telling them that the Government is being negatively associated with social engineering and “woke politics” relating to gender and ethnicity agendas. Working class voters in particular are probably less enamoured with such middle class liberalism. And the term “Aotearoa” has possibly become something of a signifier for what the public sees as Labour’s “woke excesses”.

There’s plenty of survey evidence to back this up. Whenever the public is asked about the use of “Aotearoa” or changing the country’s name, the vast majority are opposed. There’s probably a suspicion that liberal elites are pushing through such language changes without any public debate.

What happens to Co-governance and Three Waters?

Hipkins has emphasised his desire to reset the Labour Government this year by paring back its agenda and dropping unpopular policies. Could this include what surveys are showing as the most unpopular issues: Co-governance and Three Waters? The latest polling shows that 60 per cent of the public opposes Three Waters, with only 23 per cent in support.

It’s the co-governance element that appears to be of particular public concern. But reporting on Hipkins’ statements, Matthew Hooton says today: “To restore the Labour-Green vote in small towns and rural New Zealand, already down to a third, Mr Hipkins is signalling changes to plans for Maori tribes to hold 50 per cent of the seats on new regional drinking-, waste- and storm-water representative bodies.”

Hipkins spoke thoughtfully about co-governance in his press conference yesterday, saying that “no one understands what that means”, and further clarification is required, especially about the different contexts in which it is utilised by governments. But the clear subtext was that he was very willing and interested in getting such issues right off the agenda.

Some journalists have made much of the fact that Hipkins wasn’t able to recite the three articles of The Treaty of Waitangi yesterday. Reported as being an embarrassment, it’s probably not the damaging episode that some might think – instead, it might just reinforce that Hipkins isn’t as Treaty-oriented as other politicians.

Where does this leave Three Waters, which is getting closer to being implemented this year? According to Stuff’s Tracy Watkins: “Whether the implementation of Three Waters is parked or Hipkins strips it back to its original purpose of fixing degraded rivers and beaches and dodgy town water supplies, it will involve tough conversations with Labour’s powerful Māori caucus about co-governance that Ardern was unwilling to have.”

She argues Three Waters “has ripped open a fault line on race relations that polarises an already divided electorate.”

Claire Trevett says that it’s still not clear how bold Hipkins is prepared to be in his scrapping of unpopular policies. She asks: “Will he be brave? Will he indeed make big captain’s calls or just tinker?”

Analysts appear divided on what Hipkins is likely to do with Three Waters. Herald political journalist Thomas Coughlan writes today that the policy looks safe. In contrast, Stuff’s Andrea Vance says she expects Three Waters to be dumped. Others have argued that the overall reforms might stay in place, but shorn of the contentious co-governance requirements.

Notably, today former Labour leader David Cunliffe has come out to say: “Expect him to clear the decks of electoral liabilities, fast. Three Waters will be off the table. Likely also, speed limit reductions and the TVNZ/RNZ merger.”

Symbolically such U-turns could be a big deal. Chris Trotter writes on this today: “On the vexed questions of co-governance, decolonisation and indigenisation, the new prime minister need not even repudiate the Māori caucus’s revolutionary ambitions, merely state the obvious truth that they have so-far failed to convince their fellow citizens that such radical constitutional changes are either necessary or desirable. In the same breath, he can then reassure the Pakeha electorate that Labour will never connive in the arbitrary imposition of a new, ethnically-bifurcated, constitution from above.”

Is Labour back in the game?

Decisiveness and a fresh political orientation could well work electorally. According to Newshub political editor Jenna Lynch, the new direction and style of Hipkins is a shot in the arm for Labour: “He has a way of connecting with working families in a way Ardern couldn’t – so stardust or not, Prime Minister Hipkins may just be exactly the reset the Labour Government and Labour party needed.”

None of this means Hipkins is anti-woke, in the mould of someone like David Seymour, but simply that he will steer his government away from the culture wars. The electoral environment of 2023 is all about the economy, and so he needs to find ways to protect and lift people’s standards of living. Hipkins will want Labour to focus on “votes not the wokes”.

Does this shift away from Treaty issues or co-governance mean throwing Māori under the bus? Not really. Māori voters are, by and large, concerned with the same issues as non-Māori – and in fact, suffer the most from economic inequities. The last available poll of Māori voters – by Horizon last year for The Hui – asked what issues would drive their voting decisions, and the top was Cost of Living (72 per cent) followed by Housing, Health, Covid, Poverty, Economy, Employment, Education. Notably, Treaty issues was the lowest on the list.

Not everyone on the left will be happy with Hipkins’ new “bread and butter” focus. There will be concerns that Hipkins is cynically shifting in a more conservative or reactionary direction. There might also be questions about the authenticity of the repositioning. It’s a fair question as to whether this is just opportunism on Hipkins’ part.

Nonetheless, this shift towards a total focus on the economy and more working class concerns is what will determine Labour’s re-election chances more than anything else. And in this regard, Hooton has his own conclusion today about Labour’s chances of winning re-election: “If any recession is modest or avoided, unemployment stays low, inflation falls back towards the mandated 1-3 per cent band and the All Blacks thrash France at the World Cup opener in Paris on September 8, then Labour should scrape home for a third term. If any of those go wrong, Mr Hipkins is toast.”

Other items of interest and importance today

CHRIS HIPKINS AND CARMEL SEPULONI 
Chris Trotter (Interest): Does Chris Hipkins have the spinal steel to force a change in Labour’s course?
David Cunliffe (Herald): Chris Hipkins as Prime Minister: Expect him to ditch Three Waters, TVNZ/RNZ merger (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan: (Herald): Chris Hipkins embarks on policy bonfire – what’s safe and what’s not (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Who’s who in incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ inner circle?
Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Labour’s new leader: A game changer, or the party’s death knell?
Thomas Cranmer: Chris Hipkins on co-governance: ‘No-one understands what it means’
Claire Trevett (Herald): Labour leader Chris Hipkins’ first pitch to voters dishes out bread and butter to replace transformation
Luke Malpass (Stuff): The Chris Hipkins ascension: Out with the earnestness, in with some saltiness
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins hints at tax changes, says some New Zealanders aren’t paying their way
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘We’re doing too much’: Chris Hipkins prepares to cut Government policies
RNZ: Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins singles out ‘global inflation pandemic’ as priority
Matthew Hooton (The Australian): Fate of new PM hinges on NZ economy (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Patreon): Don’t rule out National leadership change before election (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Hipkins is a political terrier, and National should beware the underdog
Richard Harman (Politik): Hipkins “reset” was all in the plans anyway (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Chris Hipkins wants to make politics boring again
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Chris Hipkins thinks he can lead Labour to victory in the election – and friends say he can do it
Adam Pearse (Herald): New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to rein in Govt projects and focus on ‘bread and butter’ issues
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): The biggest challenges facing PM Hipkins
Damien Venuto (Herald): How will the battle between Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins play out?
Herald Editorial: Can change at the top boost Labour’s political fortunes? (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Chris Hipkins reorients Labour towards fighting ‘pandemic of inflation’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): New Labour leader Chris Hipkins on co-governance: ‘No-one understands what that means’
Bernard Hickey (Interest): Chris Hipkins wants to ditch unnecessary spending and doesn’t want to do anything to lower house prices
RNZ: Labour leadership: Hipkins and Sepuloni to rein in projects that ‘aren’t essential right now’
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): Congratulations to Mr Congeniality
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Chris Hipkins and the focus project
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says economy main focus but can’t say what inflation rate is
1News: Chris Hipkins announces priorities as new prime minister
Kevin Norquay (Stuff): As Hipkins arrives and Ardern goes, business bleakness is bedded in
Paul McBeth (BusinessDesk): Hipkins wants business in the tent (paywalled)
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Speedy transfer of power a show of caucus unity
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Labour’s swift, clean move to pick new PM
Rachel Thomas (Stuff): Welly hard! Local mayors celebrate Chippie – our prime minister from the Hutt
Newshub: Chris Hipkins’ iconic cap and sunnies from Newshub interview for auction on Trade Me
Gray Gibson (Newshub): Twitter reacts to Chris Hipkins’ tracksuit and sunnies look in Newshub interview
RNZ: Chris Hipkins appeals for his family’s privacy to be respected
Troels Sommerville (Stuff): National’s Luxon says Hipkins as new PM will be ‘more of the same’
RNZ: Luxon on new Labour leadership: ‘Nothing has changed’

CARMEL SEPULONI
Stuff: Who is new Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni?
Felix Desmarais (1News): The ‘girl from Waitara’ – Carmel Sepuloni makes history
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Carmel the Dreadful – our new Deputy Prime Minister
Claudette Hauiti (Herald): Māori definitely snubbed by the Labour Party leadership reshuffle
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘Historic moment’: Carmel Sepuloni is NZ’s first Pasifika deputy prime minister
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): ‘Still no Māori Prime Minister’: Te Pāti Māori express disappointment
Zane Small (Newshub): Carmel Sepuloni’s constituents reveal key issue for Labour after selection as Deputy Prime Minister
Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): A beginner’s guide to Carmel Sepuloni, our new deputy prime minister

JACINDA ARDERN
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Chris Hipkins knew Jacinda Ardern was considering resigning late last year
Ireland Hendry-Tennent (Newshub): Claims Jacinda Ardern driven from top job by online hate ‘ridiculous’, ‘melodramatic’ – AM host Ryan Bridge
Gerarden Cann (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern will need ‘more ongoing protection than any PM in NZ’s history’ – expert
Suze Wilson (Herald): Jacinda Ardern’s resignation: gender and the toll of strong, compassionate leadership
Alison Mau (Stuff): Shame on our misogyny: It’s no wonder Jacinda Ardern was driven from office
Neal Curtis (Newsroom): When are we going to address misogynistic abuse?
Cherie Howie (Herald): ‘She’ll be more fondly remembered than she is now’ – How will history judge Jacinda Ardern’s legacy? (paywalled)
Steve Maharey (Stuff): Without Covid, Labour would have made more progress
RNZ: Jacinda Ardern had working people’s welfare at heart, union says
Newshub: Jacinda Ardern showed people ‘how to be kind and strong’, Anthony Albanese says
Donna Miles (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern’s biggest strength was her Kiwiness
Arwa Mahdawi (Guardian): Jacinda Ardern proved a true leader knows when to step back. If only US politicians did the same
Bonnie Harrison (Newsroom): What will become of Mt Albert without an MP?
Erin Gourley (Stuff): Stephen Colbert wants to be flower girl at Jacinda Ardern’s wedding

ECONOMY, BUSINESS, EMPLOYMENT
Rob Stock (Stuff): Here’s how we can have a sustainable NZ Super without lifting the retirement age from 65
Murat Ungor (Newsroom): Economy will be a rough ride no matter what
Tom Pullar Strecker (Stuff): Whatever happens with inflation, the Reserve Bank will have got it ‘right’
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Inflation expected to have become more domestically driven (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Here’s hoping the RBNZ has got it wrong on the inflation figures
David Skilling (Interest): From transitory to wartime inflation
Cameron Smith (Herald): Pay rise? Salary increases amid soaring inflation, tight labour market, unlikely (paywalled)
Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Employment confidence fell in December quarter, index shows
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Don’t expect cheap freight anytime soon
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Sales by Māori authorities down $86m, Stats NZ data shows
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Are trusts only for the rich? (paywalled)
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Restaurant ordered to pay $218,000 after ‘holding migrant worker to ransom’
Liz McDonald (Stuff): The credit card swipe that’s adding 10c to your $5 flat white

HOUSING
Michael Daly (Stuff): We’re not the only country where housing is far too expensive, but we are among the worst
Miriam Bell (Stuff): Big shock to household incomes could endanger orderly housing market correction
David Hargreaves (Interest): QV warns of ‘bumpy road ahead’ for ‘volatile’ NZ housing market
Ethan Te Ora (Stuff): Williams Corporation converts unsold townhouses into Airbnbs
Jill Herron (Newsroom): Developer eyes turning gravel into gold
Jacob McSweeny (Whanganui Chronicle): Proposed Kāinga Ora homes are “nowhere near” enough to fix Whanganui’s housing problems says one community leader (paywalled)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WELLINGTON
Jonathan Leask (Local Democracy Reporting): $4.2m ‘better off funding’ not buying Ashburton’s Three Waters support
Fran Wilde (Stuff): In defence of Wellington as a capital city and an all-round good place
James Nokise (Stuff): It is not a privilege to be the capital city, it’s a burden

HEALTH
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): This dad lost his daughter to meningitis at university. Now he’s on a health crusade
Russell Brown (Listener/Herald): Nipped in the bud: Why Kiwis are still turning to illegal medicinal cannabis products (paywalled)

OTHER
Jessica Tyson (Whakaata Māori ): Pākaraka signs installed in town formerly named after militiaman who killed rangatahi
Kelvin McDonald (Whakaata Māori): Manawatū iwi to meet with ‘Settlers Day’ organisers
Jarrod Gilbert (Herald): How ‘bodgies’ brought crime to NZ streets

As I was having breakfast in my Christchurch suburban dining room on Monday morning, I heard a loud but indeterminate noise.

I actually thought it was a quake, but as there was no shaking, I assumed it came from the noisy construction site two doors away. So, I ignored it and carried on reading the newspaper over breakfast.

I then had a sense that somebody was nearby. Upon looking up I was surprised (to put it very mildly) to see two cops, with rifles at the ready, peering through the windows on the back door.

I thought: “This is exciting. Why spend good money to see Muru [a new movie based on the 2007 Tūhoe police raids] when you can get it delivered to your doorstep, free of charge” (but these cops didn’t have the ninja uniforms as seen in the movie).

I opened the door. Two cops with rifles rapidly became four cops with rifles facing me (the next door neighbour later told me he saw three cop cars in the street). It’s worth noting that although they all had a gun, none of them was wearing a mask.

“Can I help you?,” I asked. The one in charge said they were looking for Mr So and So. I replied that I’d never heard of him and they had the wrong address.

But wait, there’s more. The cop then said: “Mr So and So is a gang member. He was bailed to this address, he is under curfew at this address, and now he’s wanted.”

Don’t know any gang members
I reiterated that I’d never heard of this fellow, let alone provided him with a bail address (I don’t know any gang members. Well, not since I worked at the Railways decades ago).

I said that Mr Gangster had pulled a shrewdy on the judge, and voluntarily showed the cop written proof of my ID and ownership of the property (the power bill was the closest document to hand). I told them that I had owned and occupied this house for 40 years and had never heard of the fellow throughout that time.

It was all very chatty and polite. The cops could obviously see that their wanted man had pulled a swifty, plus I am a property-owning old Pākehā. They didn’t point their guns at me, nor did they ask to come inside (and I didn’t invite them). They took my word that my sleeping wife was the only other person in the house.

I asked if they were responsible for the loud noise I’d heard, and they said that was them pounding on the front door (plus the bedroom window, apparently). I told them that there also been pounding on the front door and bedroom window after dark on the previous Friday night, which I’d chosen to ignore (assuming it to be somebody at the wrong address).

The cop said it was probably police doing a bail curfew check.

The lead cop wrote a statement in his notebook and asked me to sign it, saying that I’d owned and occupied the place for 40 years, did not know the fellow they were seeking, and had not given him permission to use it as a bail address. Then they left.

Throughout the decades I’ve had plenty of cops on various doorsteps. But never with weapons, let alone weapons drawn. The only times I’ve been confronted by men in uniforms with rifles have been in places like the Philippines and Belfast.

Here’s the punchline. One of the cops said: “As I was coming up the drive, I was thinking, ‘this doesn’t look like a gang house’.” When it comes time to sell here, I must remember to instruct the real estate agent to highlight that as its unique selling point.

A flying start to the week.

Murray Horton is a political activist, advocate and researcher. He is organiser of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (Cafca) and he has been an advocate of a range of progressive causes for the past five decades. Horton occasionally contributes articles for Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand has designated US groups the Proud Boys and The Base as terrorist entities.

Set down in the government’s official journal of record — the Gazette — last Monday, 20 June, it was published publicly a week later but with no wider dissemination.

The move — authorised by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster and signed off by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern — makes anyone with property or financial dealings related to The Base and the Proud Boys liable for prosecution and up to seven years imprisonment under the Terrorism Suppression Act.

The American Proud Boys is a US neo-fascist group with members and leadership who have been federally indicted over the 6 January 2021 riots at the US Capitol.

The Base is a paramilitary white nationalist hate group active in the US and Canada, with reports of training cells in Europe, South Africa and Australia.

Commissioner Coster said in practice the designation would mean funding, supporting, or organising with those groups in New Zealand became a criminal offence.

“Those groups are respectively neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, white supremacist groups who have been responsible for some key unlawful events overseas, and so police supported the designation,” he said.

Met terrorist definition
They met the definition of terrorist groups, he said, and the designation had gone through a rigorous analytical process with input from several agencies, which generally took several weeks.

“It’s ultimately a matter for each jurisdiction to decide, but I would note that these groups have been designated in Australia and obviously they’re one of our closest partners in assessing the terrorism threat.”

He said such designations were not done lightly, but he was not aware of any suggestion it was a current problem domestically.

“It’s a preventative, deterrent mechanism for those groups not to operate here.”

Researcher into the far-right Byron Clark said most other groups on the list were Islamic terrorist groups, and the designation showed New Zealand was taking far-right terrorism seriously.

“It’s aligned I guess with what intelligence agencies are saying, that this is the biggest risk now is far-right terrorism — it’s a higher likelihood of a far-right terrorist attack than an Islamic terrorist attack in the current climate.”

It would likely mean those linked to the groups would be under more scrutiny from law enforcement and journalists, he said. With the Christchurch mosque attacker having come from Australia, there was still some complacency over the far-right in New Zealand.

‘Shared the ideology’
“There are some small groups here who share a lot of the ideology of the Christchurch shooter and I think perhaps we’re still not paying enough attention to those.”

Te Pūnaha Matatini’s The Disinformation Project researcher Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa said anti-vaccination proponents were deeply sceptical of government, had moved on to other causes, and were more often coming in contact with far-right ideologies.

“So within that constellation that is informed by mis- and disinformation predominantly, what we find are belief systems, structures, attitudes and perceptions linked to white supremacist discourse and ideologies coming in and taking root here,” he said.

“It’s no longer something you can say are imported harms because there are people within the country who are producing and mirroring that kind of discourse as well.”

He said the Disinformation Project had seen an increase in transnational funding for ideological groups in Aotearoa, which the designation could capture.

“One would hope … that the designation timing creates friction around the growth of these entities,” he said.

Fight Against Conspiracy Theories (FACT) Aotearoa spokesperson Stephen Judd said it would also send a message to people considering setting up local branches or equivalents of those groups.

‘Legitimate concerns’
“There are legitimate concerns about groups along the lines of the Proud Boys or The Base forming and operating here … you can see the same ideologies and some of the same conspiracy theories circulating online and in real life between people here.”

He said the ease of online communication meant such groups could form, organise and recruit much more easily than ever before, and develop their ideas and messages more easily.

Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies director Dr William Hoverd said New Zealand was following its partners: Both Australia and Canada had banned the two groups, and the US was starting to focus more on right-wing extremism.

“They are decentralised right-wing extremist groups with internet platforms who are seeking to influence others, and whilst there’s absolutely no evidence that I have seen of them operating here, that’s not to say that the right wing isn’t operating here in New Zealand.”

The designation automatically expires on 20 June 2025, unless extended or revoked.

Justification for the move
Dr Hoverd said the fact the groups were advocating armed violence, and had the capability to do it, was where the state became particularly interested in such groups.

“We’ve got groups in New Zealand and individuals in New Zealand who do have these types of profiles, but they aren’t violent – so how do we prevent that type of violence happening here.

“The big threat .. in terms of terrorism is lone actors, and decentralised groups like The Base, through the internet, could potentially radicalise someone here.”

Documents setting out the evidence and reasoning behind the designation — called a Statement of Case — had not been publicly available until after media reporting of the move.

Using referenced sources, they said the Proud Boys used a tactic called crypto-fascism — disguising their extremism to appeal to mainstream people and avoid attention from authorities — and constructed the idea of an antifa (anti-fascist) organisation as a strawman to rally self-described patriots.

Since its beginnings in 2016, the group had deliberately used violence — though to date, not typically deadly — against ideological opponents, and celebrated members who succeeded in doing so, the documents said.

“The APB have an established history of using street rallies and social media to both intimidate perceived opponents and recruit young men via the demonstration of violence.”

Detailed account
They also gave a detailed account of the Proud Boys’ involvement in the Capitol riots.

The Base was identified as a survivalist paramilitary group planning for and intending to bring about the collapse of the US government and a “race war” in the country, leading to a day of the mass execution of people of colour and political opponents.

It had achieved limited success in expanding to other countries including Australia, by targeting impressionable teenagers and socially isolated individuals lacking a sense of community, uniting a disparate body of largely online activists into a network of like-minded individuals.

“A key goal of TB is to train a cadre of extremists capable of accelerationist violence,” the documents said.

The group’s St Petersburg-based leader Rinaldo Nazzaro guided cells of three or four individuals to regularly meet and train, including at so-called “hate camps” — with at least some members having military training or skill in small arms, they said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

All political parties have supported a motion in Parliament to recognise the “safe restoration of Parliament’s grounds” and the selfless service of emergency services.

Yesterday, riot police moved in and dispersed the protest against covid-19 restrictions, which had occupied the Parliament grounds for 23 days.

In response, protesters set fire to tents, scrub and other structures including a children’s playground. Police in turn used pepper spray and sponge bullets as protesters lobbed cobblestones, metal poles and other debris.

The police operation resulted in 89 arrests yesterday — 40 of the 600 officers involved were injured, with eight admitted to hospital.

Parliament’s regular question time was cancelled today with party leaders instead delivering speeches on yesterday’s chaos, before adjourning early. This is standard procedure after major events, such as the Christchurch terror attacks in 2019.

‘Acts of violence cannot stand’ – Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern began proceedings with the motion that the House recognise the safe restoration of Parliament’s grounds and the selfless service of our Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Wellington Free Ambulance, Parliament Security, and many others, in returning Parliament to the people.

The support of Māori wardens was also recognised in an amendment, at the suggestion of Te Pāti Māori.

“You were there throughout these events at a great risk to yourselves. Many of you were abused, some were injured, but you put your personal safety aside in order to look after others and for that we are very grateful,” Ardern said.

She expressed sorrow at what Wellingtonians endured, and the trampling of the mana of Taranaki Whānui. She said it was clear to her this protest was different from others as soon as it arrived.

Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns’s speech.

“There was an immediate focus on occupying the space. The rhetoric that came from the speakers they installed swung between benign to sometimes threatening. Many media who walked the grounds were either abused or in some cases chased away. It was a form of protest I did not recognise and I found it hard to reconcile it with the reality of what all New Zealanders had faced in this pandemic, and yet quietly got on with it.”

She said the demands of the protesters were hard to square with what others had suffered during the pandemic, including Labour MP Barbara Edmonds’ six-week-old niece who was recovering after a trip to hospital, having struggled to breathe after being infected with covid-19.

“And so my message today is simple, Mr Speaker, it is to condemn what happened here. Acts of violence cannot stand. It is to reinforce that this will always be a place where difference can be expressed and where that will be welcomed, but that should always be done with dignity and respect for the place upon which we stand.”

She said the pandemic felt hard right now, but it would pass; and vaccine passes, mandates and restrictions would also change.

“There is reason to feel hopeful, but for now, the smell of smoke has faded, the playground will be restored, and the people, our people, will return to their place.”

Protesters’ behaviour ‘was thuggery’ – Luxon
Opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon also thanked emergency services and others who responded, particularly the “immense bravery and selflessness of our frontline police officers”.

He said National condemned the protesters’ behaviour, saying it was “not peaceful protest or activism, it was thuggery“.

“Those scenes were the culmination of weeks of intimidation and aggression toward Wellingtonians. We will always respect people’s right to protest, it is quite rightly a basic tenet of our democracy … but something was off in this protest from the get-go. There was real animus in the atmosphere.”

Opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon’s speech.

He said he visited officers last night to thank them, and heard how they had all manner of things thrown at them, resulting in broken bones for some. About 80 had only recently graduated, he said, and for one he spoke to it was only her second day on the job.

“Their tenacity in withstanding the protesters provocations and remaining calm, patient and restrained is a testament to their incredible skill and professionalism and we all owe them our sincere and heartfelt thanks.”

He called for a review of the relationships between police and Parliamentary authorities, including the Speaker, as well looking for practical measures to ensure the security of Parliament while not cloistering politicians away from electors.

And while it was not appropriate for lawmakers to have a conversation with lawbreakers on the forecourt of Parliament, they could not risk writing off the concerns of other New Zealanders, he said.

“It is reasonable to expect that Aucklanders who spent 15 weeks in lockdown last year, or business owners who have lost the ability to pay their staff or put food on their family’s table will want to hold the government accountable for its decisions and promises.”

Greens: ‘There is another virus’
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw each spoke. Davidson drew particular attention to health workers who had supported the pandemic response, including social workers and community leaders who would play a role in supporting social cohesion into the future.

She said it took courage for police to maintain as much of a de-escalation approach as possible while also being urged to do something to restore a peaceful environment for Wellington.

“That approach over the history of police here in Aotearoa, has unfortunately not been applied consistently and unfortunately there has been discrimination in the way that it hasn’t and has been applied. So I acknowledge yesterday as being a really positive step in the way we police in Aotearoa.”

Seeing people come to harm yesterday had rocked her, she said, and the violence was completely unacceptable, but it had begun long before.

She urged police to investigate those who were responsible for spinning out disinformation and hold them accountable, and urged protesters to think on yesterday’s events and hold themselves accountable.

“The biggest prevention of harm would have been for the protesters to go home, that much is very clear.”

Shaw commented on disinformation and conspiracy theories by reflecting on how he was attacked in the street in 2019, “by a man who yelled at me that I had to stop what I was doing at the UN before fracturing my eye socket with his fist”.

The reasoning for that could be one of two conspiracy theories, he suggested, both with “the same root cause”.

“Twenty-nine hours later 51 people were killed and another 40 injured at the hands of a white supremacist terrorist in Christchurch. It’s apparent that the terrorist spent a great deal of his time … in the dark recesses of the internet.”

He also spoke of the attack on the US Capitol last year, which he said was aimed at destabilising society and creating conditions for authoritarians like Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin. He said doubts about vaccines and mandates were “seeded by the same actors” and led to hundreds of thousands more deaths when instituted as public policy overseas.

He said New Zealand, with its “breezy, she’ll be right attitude” had almost no immunity to this other virus, misinformation, and questions like “should Parliament have a wall around it, is it ever okay to play Barry Manilow” were just addressing the symptoms.

“Yesterday the grifters and the charlatans, the political opportunists and the white supremacists who were behind the protest melted away like cowards and abandoned the field to the desperate people who they had led astray.

“I can only hope that they will be held accountable for their part in all this and that we can find a way as a country to immunise ourselves against their malign impact.”

‘Can’t talk about civil liberties when you’re threatening others’ – David Seymour
ACT leader David Seymour agreed with the motion, and used the time to criticise the protest, support the police, and to criticise the response and attitude of the government.

“There is a right to protest, but that right of protest does not extend to taking over the rights of other people around you. You can’t talk about civil liberties when you’re threatening others. You can’t talk about restrictions when you’re preventing small businesses in the area … from getting on and doing their business.”

ACT leader David Seymour’s speech.

Most protests understood that a society that observes democracy and the rule of law is worth preserving, he said, and the protest seen yesterday was different from those that had come before.

However, Ardern’s speech in response yesterday was disappointing, he said.

“So far as she’s concerned, everything is fine, the covid response is fine, it’s all because of foreign conspiracy theories driven by foreign websites. Well you know what? That sounds like a conspiracy theory in itself.

“Just to be clear, the world does have a big problem with misinformation … that doesn’t mean that everybody who has a concern is misinformed, and the problem with being unable to ‘internalise complex problems in our head’ to quote an old ad, is that we are failing to do that as politicians too.”

He also criticised the Speaker for calling the protesters ‘ferals’ and turning loud music on them.

“Where were you as the leader and custodian of this fine institution seeking a mature de-escalation. That’s what we should have seen.”

He said there were unacceptable behaviours in the protest, but also behaviours from people who felt they had been ostracised by society. A more “human response” to the pandemic from the government may not have created the seeds of “this unexpectable and despicable meltdown”, he said.

‘Colonisation … continues to divide us’ – Rawiri Waititi
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi expressed deep sadness and loss, saying the violence seen on the grounds yesterday was a manifestation of the colonial vision of those who had continuously oppressed the people through reckless laws.

“One of the key objectives of the formation of this Parliament was to kill the “beastly communism” of Māori — a quote made by a past Minister of this House: Christopher William Richmond,” he said.

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi’s kōrero.

The whakapapa of this generational trauma could only be traced back to colonisation, he said.

“Colonisation has turned our worlds upside down and has rendered parts of the culture unrecognisable. It continues to divide us today because it feasts on our trauma, thus forcing us to disregard the very essence of who we are and who we once were.”

He said when mandates did lift, we “will still be left here fighting against the racist system that is still designed to kill our ‘beastly communism’. We will still be faced with Māori health inequities, Māori education disparities, Māori being the highest incarcerated peoples in the world. Māori will still make up 50 percent of the social housing waiting list and 67 percent of the tamariki in State care.

“We will still be over half of the people in emergency and transitional housing. And the Māori unemployment rate will still double that of non-Māori. That is the true plight that we as tangata whenua have been fighting for near on 200 years, and we will continue to fight once the mandates have been lifted”.

Threats, abuse and hate towards politicians was unacceptable, he said, and it was time to heal.

“It is time for us to dig deep into our ngākau to show the world who we truly are. We are an honourable people. We are tangata whenua. We are the people of this land and it is our responsibility to ensure everyone is safe.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Police have begun a “significant investigation” into yesterday’s events at the Parliament protest and say they will hold people accountable for any criminal behaviour.

Police Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers has held a media conference to provide the latest information on the aftermath of the anti-covid public health measures protest.

Chambers said police made 89 arrests yesterday and there had been 11 further arrests today.

He said police had now entered a “significant investigation phase”.

“We are working hard to bring together a lot of footage, support from the public and other sources of information to help us hold people accountable for their criminal behaviour yesterday.”

Chambers said the investigation would continue “as long as it needs to”. He could not say how many people police were looking for.

“If any evidence demonstrates that someone’s behaviour was criminal then we will take the appropriate action,” he said.

“One of the things that we look at is funding streams. Work on that is underway.”

A ‘proportionate’ response
More than 40 police staff were injured yesterday. Injuries range from abrasions to bone fractures and head injuries. Eight staff who were admitted to hospital had since been discharged.

Chambers said police were thankful for support from Wellington Free Ambulance yesterday.

“Having them available alongside us … was something we are very grateful for.”

Watch the police media conference:

Video: RNZ News

Chambers said he did not have a total number of injuries for protesters, but medical support was available for them.

“I can’t comment on any admissions to hospital.”

He said the force that police used was “necessary and proportionate to the situation that was in front of them”.

He said police would look at anything that suggested police force was not appropriate.

The use of fire extinguishers and bricks being thrown at police by protesters changed the police response, Chambers said.

“We did use pepper spray yesterday and that was entirely appropriate.”

‘Close eye’ on remaining protesters
Police have had officers stationed around the perimeters of the CBD area today, but have not reported any issues.

Protesters have been gathering in other areas around Wellington, including on the Miramar Peninsula.

Police were keeping a “very close eye” on them, Chambers said.

“We are monitoring all behaviour and their activity to prevent and further situations.”

Assistant Commissioner Chambers said any protesters remaining in the Wellington region should go home. He said genuine protesters were long gone by yesterday.

Police would also monitor any activity in other parts of the country, Assistant Commissioner Chambers said. He added that police would be patrolling anywhere in the country where there are protests for as long as it takes.

Controller of the investigation
As national controller of the investigation into the protest, Chambers would be kept informed of any related activity elsewhere in the country.

“What we have seen today is a number of those protests, protesters, depart and go home as well.”

Before police involved in yesterday’s operation return to their part of the country they were required to have a RAT test, Assistant Commissioner Chambers said.

Assistant Commissioner Chambers said today’s efforts in Wellington had focused on reassurance patrols and visibility.

“I’d like to say a very big thank you to the people of Wellington. The support they have shown today to police staff that were involved yesterday and today has been phenomenal.”

He said police had received “thousands” of messages of thanks for their efforts.

Auckland Domain protest camp removed
Meanwhile, in Auckland the anti-mandate camp at Auckland Domain was being disassembled today.

Police and staff from Auckland Council were onsite.

The operation was peaceful and protesters were asking police if they could move somewhere else.

An eyewitness says initially four police and a mediator approached the occupation site, and later more than 10 officers and about 40 council workers were there.

Roads in the Domain were still closed.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is saddened and angered by protesters’ actions today, and that the New Zealand Parliament’s grounds have been “desecrated”.

Ardern addressed media after an afternoon that saw fires lit, explosions and objects thrown at police as an anti-covid public health protest sparked violent scenes.

There have been multiple arrests, vehicles have been towed away and some police and protesters have suffered injuries.

Some set fire to protesters’ tents arousing concern that gas canisters would explode, and some large blasts were heard.

Police were able to take back most of the ground the protesters had been occupying for the past three weeks.

Ardern said she was angry and deeply saddened to see Parliament desecrated in the way seen today, including the children’s playground being set alight.

She said it demonstrated why the government refused to engage with the group.

‘An illegal occupation’
“It was an illegal occupation, they engaged in hostile, violent and aggressive behaviour throughout the occupation, and today that has culminated in the desecration of this Parliament’s grounds,” she said.

“I am absolutely committed we will restore those grounds and we will not be defined by one act by a small group of people.”

Asked about those who had been throwing projectiles at police, including LPG bottles thrown on flames and cobblestones hurled at officers, she said there were “words I cannot use in this environment for what I saw today”.

She said while the events today did not surprise her — considering the anger protesters had already expressed in the past few days — Ardern said it did sadden her.

PM Jacinda Ardern’s media briefing outside Parliament

Video: RNZ News

She said anyone still throwing projectiles should “put down their weapons long enough for police to arrest them”.

Ardern said there was a place for peaceful protest in this country, but “this is not the way that we engage and protest”.

She said peaceful protest was the way to send a message, this by comparison is “a way to end up before the courts”.

Asked if protesters would be able to return overnight or tomorrow, Ardern said police would be present at Parliament.

She said the police commissioner wished to make the point that there would be a substantial police presence in Wellington, and locals should be assured that while this had been a distressing period, police would continue to make their presence felt and keep them safe.

Ardern said she knew that in planning for today’s operation, police had expected there would be “hostility, resistance and violence”.

“They planned for that because that is what they and Wellingtonians have experienced for several weeks now.”

She said while they planned for it, it was another thing entirely to witness it.

Thanks to frontline police, emergency services
“To our frontline police and emergency and fire services, you have our deep admiration and our thanks. You have been calm but resolute in trying to bring this occupation to a conclusion,” she said.

“It has come at great risk to your personal safety. Thank you for putting others before yourselves.”

She said she had spoken to the police commissioner and there have been various injuries sustained by officers, but she would leave it to him to go into more detail.

Ardern said the fires created in the front of Parliament, including at the war memorial were causing more distress than what the police would have done today.

She said she believed the force that was used was used to keep others safe.

She said police have been mindful of the presence of children throughout the occupation, and there were other agencies present should there be a situation where children were left unsupervised or uncared for, such as if parents were arrested.

Infected 20,000 in one day
Ardern said it was almost impossible to comprehend that people would stand opposed to efforts to slow down the spread of a disease, when it has infected 20,000 and put more than 400 in hospital in just one day.

She said while many had seen disinformation and dismissed it as conspiracy theory, a small portion had believed it and acted on it in a violent way.

“This cannot stand.”

Ardern said this afternoon’s events were an attack on frontline police, an attack on Parliament, and an attack on New Zealanders’ values, and it was wrong.

“Our country will not be defined by the dismantling of an occupation. In fact when we look back on this period in our history, I hope we remember one thing,” she said.

“Thousands more lives were saved in the past two years by your actions as New Zealanders than were on that front lawn of Parliament today.

“The sacrifices we were all willing to make to look after one another, that is what will define us, no protest, no fire, no placards will ever change that. Today the police will restore order and tomorrow your government will work hard to get us safely back to the normality everyone deserves.”

About 270 protesters
Ardern said there was nothing to suggest that security settings as a country needed to change in response to the protest. She said it was estimated there were about 270 protesters who were causing the acts of violence and destruction seen today.

“That demonstrates it only takes a relatively small group of people who are committed to destruction to cause it, should they so choose. But it also demonstrates it was not a large group who were engaging in those acts either.

“We are not going to dismiss some of the underlying causes of what we have seen, but nor will we excuse it.”

She said work would be done to address how misinformation and disinformation led to what was seen today, but the government “will be at pains to ensure that it never becomes an excuse for the violent acts that it resulted in”.

“It’s a dangerous place when citizens are led into spaces where they believe so deeply in conspiracy theory that they react with such violence.”

Ardern acknowledged there have been for a long time a group of New Zealanders who have been living on the margins and have subscribed to other conspiracy theories, and “this happens to be the current rallying cry”.

Ardern said finding a solution to disinformation and misinformation was not about taking away people’s ability to have differing opinions or debate, to take different positions.

“People should of course always have that freedom of thought and view and perspective and in New Zealand we’ve celebrated that, but when the debate you’re having is no longer based on fact, where does that take you? That is the challenge we have.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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Police have made 60 arrests today as part of a pre-planned operation to remove anti-covid public health protesters from New Zealand’s Parliament grounds.

Police have been descending on Parliament from early this morning on day 23 of the occupation and have also begun towing larger vehicles, including campervans and trucks.

They say they have gained significant ground this morning across the occupation.

Police have asked the public and commuters to avoid the area near Parliament and say they will continue to help those who want to leave the grounds to do so safely.

Hill Street is closed, and many surrounding streets to the protest have been blocked.

Protesters have reacted by throwing cones at police.

Police staff in and around the protest area have sighted protesters in possession of various weapons. These include homemade plywood shields and pitchforks.

One man told RNZ he wanted to move his car because it was all he owned.

There were reports of forklifts on the move, and police were also taking down more tents.

Around 60 people have now been arrested in relation to this morning’s operation at Parliament grounds.

Police continue to tow vehicles that are parked illegally. We have commenced towing larger vehicles, which includes trucks, vans and campervans.

— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) March 1, 2022

One of the RNZ reporters on the scene said they were being abused by protesters and told to leave.

The Kīngitanga is calling for a peaceful resolution to the occupation at Parliament and other sites across the country.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the Kīngitanga had not given its support to any occupation and claims to the contrary were untrue.

They said Kiingi Tuheitia had been a strong advocate for the covid public health response, while acknowledging the impact on people and their families.

The Kīngitanga said its priority was to get through omicron and start preparing for a life after covid.

The Kīngitanga said it was calling for a peaceful resolution to the occupation at Parliament and other protest sites across the country.

#WATCH Hundreds of police, many in riot gear, are moving in on protesters occupying Parliament and the surrounding streets.

Here is what our reporters saw throughout the morning.https://t.co/GcuivdbAuR

— Morning Report (@NZMorningReport) March 1, 2022

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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Hospitals across New Zealand are receiving anti-covid-19 mandate protesters returning from Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

There were mounting tensions at the Parliament protest today, where police have formed a line to keep protesters back.

More people have turned up in Wellington to join the event.

Officers are trying to block access for cars into the bus interchange area and are using a forklift to reposition concrete bollards.

Some protesters are driving past the area, shouting at police to leave.

Meanwhile, hospitals are now reporting visits from protesters returning from the anti-covid-19 mandate protest at Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

The Ministry of Health said hospitals throughout the country had reported visits from people who have been at the anti-mandate protest at Parliament before returning home.

Widespread disruptions
Thousands of protesters have occupied the grounds of Parliament and nearby Wellington central streets since their convoy arrived on February 7 creating widespread disruptions, with many ignoring social distancing rules and not wearing masks.

The occupation is now a location of interest after people infectious with covid-19 were confirmed to be among the crowd, and anyone who is there on the listed times and dates is asked to carefully monitor for symptoms, and follow instructions about what to do next if they have any.

In a statement today, the ministry said the protest was a potential super spreader event as the spread of omicron hit a new record of 13,606 community cases today.

Five of the 263 people in hospital with the coronavirus were in intensive care.

Early in the protest leading epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker of Otago University warned this could happen, saying people mixing with groups from outside their household, singing, eating together and sharing transport and accommodation was a recipe for the spread of omicron from those at the protest out to other communities.

Yesterday police called on protesters to take children home, saying the event was not safe for families.

More than 130 people have been arrested at the event, and media have reported Corrections has confirmed they have been monitoring a “small number” of criminals subject to GPS monitoring conditions who were at the event.

‘Reassurance patrols’
Sewage leaks and assaults have also been connected to the event.

Police are carrying out “reassurance patrols” for residents that live near the protest at parliament today, and said officers would continue to be visible at the protest site.

“The focus for police is to contain the current perimeters of the protest and continue to maintain a safe community for our Wellington residents,” they said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

All southbound traffic lanes on State Highway One over the Auckland Harbour Bridge have now reopened after they were closed while New Zealand anti-mandate protesters marched across the bridge.

The southbound lanes of the bridge were closed for about an hour and a half while the protesters marched from the North Shore to central Auckland.

The protesters then gathered in Victoria Park and the bridge lanes and motorway have reopened.

Thousands of anti-mandate protesters marched onto the bridge from the North Shore late this morning, chanting “mandates gone, first of March”.

The protest came as the Ministry of Health reports a record 13,606 new community cases of covid-19 in New Zealand today, with 263 people in hospital — five of them in intensive care units (ICU).

In a statement, the ministry said 9262 of the new cases were in the Auckland region.

Waka Kotahi said the protesters had unlawfully entered the state highway network on foot.

This morning hundreds of people gathered at Onepoto Domain at the northern end of the bridge and then set out towards the bridge.

Māori Wardens told RNZ they were escorting the protesters for safety reasons.

Organised by Destiny Church coalition
The march had been organised by Destiny Church’s Freedoms and Rights Coalition.

In a statement, police said the safety of staff, road users and protesters was the priority.

They would actively engage with the protesters to prevent them crossing the bridge due to the significant safety risks posed.

Despite the safety concerns, protest organisers said they had worked with the police on traffic management.

The protesters support the the Parliament occupation in Wellington. Police have described that protest as “no longer safe for families”.

Tents set up in Auckland Domain
The police later said a small group of protesters remained at Auckland Domain after marching over the Harbour Bridge earlier today.

Videos on social media showed protesters in the Domain putting up a number of tents.

The police and Auckland Council have been in talks with protest leaders, who had promised to leave by 9pm.

In a video, one protester claimed to have mana whenua status, and that they were occupying a pā site at the Domain.

They expected the police to come to try to evict them.

There were children on the site.

Auckland Council said it had serious concerns the gathering could become a super-spreading event.

It said that while it respected the right to peaceful assembly, it was concerned about the health risk.

Protesters have been gathered at Parliament in Wellington for more than two weeks, and sparked similar protests around the country.

‘Go home’ petition gains 140,000 signatures
Meanwhile, the person who launched the “Tell the Wellington Protestors to Go Home — They are NOT the majority” petition which has gathered more than 140,000 signatures has spoken out about the Parliament grounds occupation.

Named as James Black (not his real name), he said in an “update” that the petition had “triggered media interest and analysis and exposure [about] the elements of the protest that are dangerous.

“As the protest has unfolded, it’s become more and more obvious to everyone that there are seriously unhinged but well-funded elements at play here using innocents and the gullible, children and whanau as puppets for their agenda of destabilisation.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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The early morning action on Monday to cordon off the occupation of Parliament grounds and prevent it growing might go some way to restoring public confidence in the police, which has appeared to be eroding since the protests began a fortnight ago.

So far, police have pursued a de-escalation strategy, but there have been calls for firmer action.

The whole event has raised important questions about the relationship between the police and government, and about police independence and accountability.

With local businesses unable to trade, and the neighbouring university closing its campus for eight weeks, the political consequences are potentially serious.

From the government’s perspective, there is a direct relationship between its own public support and public confidence in the police. The political and legal impasse between the rightful independence of the police and public accountability is not a simple issue to resolve.

Constabulary independence
The relationship between the government and the police has come a long way since government minister John Bryce — armed and on horseback — led the police invasion of Parihaka in 1881. Bryce decided who would be arrested and personally ordered the destruction of property.

Supporting the political objectives of the government of the day was a function of the police. But New Zealand was not a developed liberal democracy 140 years ago.

The Wellington protest is testing police independence and public tolerance – are there lessons from Canada’s crackdown?

By 2018, that relationship had evolved enough for the solicitor-general to advise the prime minister that “constabulary independence [had become] a core constitutional principle in New Zealand”.

As Police Commissioner Andrew Coster faces calls to resign over his handling of the protests, he says using force could come at a significant cost. https://t.co/CcHepTMRZN

— Stuff.co.nz Politics (@NZStuffPolitics) February 19, 2022

The solicitor-general explained the constitutional subtleties of the Policing Act thus:

The Police are an instrument of the Crown […] but in the two principal roles of detecting and preventing crime and keeping the Queen’s peace they act independently of the Crown and serve only the law.

This is reinforced in the oath police officers swear to perform their duties “without favour or affection, malice or ill-will”.

Who is accountable?
Constabulary independence means governments can’t control the police for political advantage. At the same time, police accountability to the public is as important as for any department of state.

Independence should not mean the police can do whatever they like.

However, the lines of accountability are complex. Constabulary independence means the ordinary process of accountability to Parliament through the relevant minister, and through Parliament to the people, does not fully apply to the police.

The police commissioner is accountable to the minister for “carrying out the functions and duties of the Police”, but explicitly not for “the enforcement of the law” and “the investigation and prosecution of offences”.

As well as “keeping the peace”, “maintaining public safety”, “law enforcement”, “crime prevention” and “national security”, the Policing Act requires “community support and reassurance”.

This might help explain why, for security and tactical reasons, the police won’t fully explain their tolerance of the occupation, beyond the police commissioner saying the public would not accept the inevitable violence and injury a harder line would entail.

Despite clear public concern, the police are not required to give further explanation of why they haven’t prosecuted people for intimidation and harassment, for threatening MPs, public servants and journalists, or for failing to remove illegally parked vehicles.

Canadian comparisons
The situation in Canada may be instructive. There, the police have seemingly abandoned a de-escalation strategy that had lasted three weeks, with the protest in Ottawa cleared in the last few days.

As in New Zealand, public tolerance was low. Rejecting a claim that the repeated sounding of 105-decibel truck horns was “part of the democratic process”, a Canadian judge said: “Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought.”

In both countries, the protests are being viewed less as expressions of political thought than as simple acts of public nuisance. The difference lies in the Canadian federal government invoking special powers under its Emergencies Act.

The first time it has been invoked since it was passed in 1988, the law allows the government to use “special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times” to respond to “threats to the security of Canada”.

Banks can freeze accounts being used to support the protest. Private citizens and businesses may be compelled to provide essential services to assist the state — tow trucks, for example.

Canadian journalist @mariekewalsh says the “softer approach” being used by NZ police against Parliament protesters didn’t work in Ottawa with the trucker protest. #NZQandA #nzpol https://t.co/9ZHyxqOJqI…

— Q+A (@NZQandA) February 19, 2022

Political calculation
Such significant constraints on freedom can be justified only if they are proportionate to the emergency. But on Friday, the Canadian Parliament was prevented from scrutinising the decision to declare an emergency because protesters had prevented access to the debating chambers.

Ironically, the debate began on Saturday when police cleared the obstruction (without needing emergency powers) — suggesting “freedom” is a wider concept than the one protesters claimed they were defending.

The ability of people to go to work, to study, shop, drive on a public road — and (as in Ottawa) the ability of Parliament to function — are democratic freedoms the protesters are curtailing.

Whether Wellington goes the way of Ottawa remains to be seen, but the New Zealand police commissioner says a state of emergency is among the “reasonable options” being considered to stop more protesters entering Parliament grounds.

For now, the political question is what happens if the evolution from protest to public nuisance to crisis of confidence in the police continues.

Given the constraints of constabulary independence, and the democratic need for accountability, what political responses are available to the government to ensure any crisis of confidence in the police does not become a crisis of confidence in the government itself?

For both police and government, there is much at stake in the de-escalation strategy.

Dr Dominic O’Sullivan, adjunct professor of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology and professor of political science at Charles Sturt University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

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