Protest against Government's Covid-19 social restrictions. Video / Adam Pearse
Traffic came to a halt in Whangārei this morning as protesters took to the streets to oppose the Government's Covid-19 social restrictions.
About 60 people gathered at the Whangārei police station after people from two groups - FACTS NZ and Kotahitanga Movement Aotearoa - held separate marches walking from ForumNorth to the police station where both groups held a kōrero referencing how the Government's alert level system, among other things, violated their rights.
Protesters walk down Dent St in Whangārei. Photo / Tania Whyte
Members of both groups then combined to walk along Walton St and along Dent St, stopping cars at traffic lights and roundabouts as they walked along the road.
Initially, two police officers monitored the first march at Forum North. As the groups spilled onto the road, over a dozen officers were patrolling alongside the protest.
"We don't consent to this coronavirus lockdown that was called the other day, [alert] level three in Auckland, level two everywhere else," Kotahitanga Movement Aotearoa member and protest leader Reti Boynton said.
"We can actually read it like a book, it's going to go to level 4 again and we don't consent to it, especially without being spoken to first."
Kotahitanga Movement Aotearoa member and protest leader Reti Boynton. Photo / Tania Whyte
There were a number of exchanges between the protest leaders and police, as police attempted to clear the traffic build-up and keep people safe.
Boynton said he hoped the protest would make their concerns clear.
"We are sick of our people not being heard, that's why... we spoke outside of the police station, we the people are speaking and we wish to be heard."
New Zealand Public Party leader Billy Te Kahika (centre) joins in on the march. Photo / Tania Whyte
Members of the New Zealand Public Party, including leader and Northlander Billy Te Kahika, were in attendance but said they had not organised the protest. Te Kahika said he supported the protest.
Whangārei senior sergeant Steve Dickson was one of many police officers monitoring the group as they progressed through the town.
Members of FACTS NZ lead an initial march from Forum North to the police station this morning. Photo / Tania Whyte
"They are entitled to protest," Dickson said.
"We just don't want the intersection blocked, just making sure that everyone else can go about their business."
Dickson said police would monitor the situation and ensure it stayed peaceful.
A similar protest is scheduled for Saturday in Auckland. A Facebook post entitled 'NZ Lockdown Protest' said the organisers had "lost faith in our Government", and will go ahead if the lockdown is extended.
Meanwhile, messages written throughout the Christchurch's CBD suggest the same anti-lockdown sentiment is alive and well in the South Island.
Words in chalk by the Bridge of Remembrance state "Unlawful lockdown", "Covid kills your rights" and "Covid lies NZ dies".
The city council told The Star it was arranging for the messages in sensitive sites such as the Bridge of Remembrance to be removed "as soon as possible".
Outside Christchurch City Council. Photo / Geoff Sloan
The phrases of defiance to Government restrictions in the face of a global pandemic written across the city draw similarities to the rhetoric used by anti-lockdown protesters in the United States.
Demonstrators across the states could be seen bearing signs with phrases like "plandemic" and "defy fascist lockdown" during nationwide demonstrations.
Signs pictured in protests across England held messages such as "freedom over fear" and "I do not consent" which was also written outside the Christchurch City Council building yesterday.
Earlier this month, up to 17,000 people in Berlin also protested the Government increasing restrictions as cases begin to rise in the country.
