November 20 2021
Destiny Church founder Brian Tamaki and wife Hannah Tamaki have taken the stage at the anti-lockdown protest in Auckland today.
Brian Tamaki, wife Hannah and two other Destiny Church members face trial, accused of violating Covid-19 restrictions at Auckland lockdown protests.
They could each face up to six months’ imprisonment and fines if convicted.
Prosecutors say thousands attended the protests, which Tamaki admitted to organising.
When Destiny Church founder Brian Tamaki stood on the stage at a series of Covid-19 lockdown protests in Auckland Domain three years ago, he would have easily seen the attendees were not complying with pandemic crowd restrictions, prosecutors said as his trial began today.
“The number of attendeeswas well in excess of the maximum,” Crown prosecutor Matthew Nathan said during his opening statement, as Tamaki supporters filled every seat of the Auckland District Court gallery.
“It was obvious that the crowds were not in compliance... A reasonable person would not have remained and actively participated in a non-compliant gathering.”
Tamaki faces up to six months’ in prison and thousands in fines if found guilty of four counts of intentionally failing to comply with the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act.
Wife Hannah Tamaki was initially charged with attending two illegal gatherings: the same one as her husband on November 20 and another on October 30 that year that Brian Tamaki did not attend. Prosecutors withdrew the November 20 charge at the start of today’s hearing.
Co-defendant Jennifer Louise Marshall, Destiny Church’s director of operations and Brian Tamaki’s executive assistant, faces four charges: attending and organising the protests on October 2 and 16. And Kaleb Cave — who served as an MC at some protests and is a Destiny worship leader — is charged with attending protests on October 2, 16 and 30.
Destiny Church founder Brian Tamaki, centre, stands in the dock at Auckland District Court as his trial begins for allegedly breaching Covid-19 public health laws. He is joined by co-defendants Jennifer Louise Marshall, left, and Kaleb Cave and wife Hannah Tamaki (obscured). All four are represented by defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC (foreground). Photo / Mike Scott
A fifth defendant, Paul Thompson, recently pleaded guilty and was granted a discharge without conviction.
The group, all represented by Ron Mansfield KC, have elected a judge-alone trial. Mansfield did not make an opening statement, as is standard practice for judge-alone trials.
Nathan, in his opening address, noted small gatherings involving no more than two households and 10 individuals were permitted at the time. People were required to wear facemasks, socially distance and use QR codes or sign-in logs.
Prosecutors said an estimated 1000 people attended the October 2 protest. Some 2000 attended the October 16 event. Up to 5000 attended the October 30 protest, with about 2000 showing up on November 20.
Hannah and Brian Tamaki arrive at Auckland District Court for their trial regarding alleged Covid-19 breaches. Photo / Mike Scott
Brian Tamaki used social media and a podcast to encourage people to attend, while Marshall was one of the main organisers, Nathan said. At several of the events, Marshall was seen wearing a radio and headset. Tamaki, meanwhile, was observed shaking hands with “at least three unidentified individuals” at one gathering and speaking on a stage where the front four to five rows were seen to have no social distancing.
At the October 30 protest that Brian Tamaki did not attend, Hannah Tamaki took the stage.
“After today there are going to be more summonses, more court appearances,” the prosecution quoted her as telling the crowd. “We do not care. We are not afraid.”
During that protest, Cave encouraged and then led a march in which the crowd formed into one big group, Nathan said.
Eight months later, in a July 2022 public speech, Brian Tamaki made his role clear.
“Yes, I admit I was behind them all,” he was quoted as saying. “I organised them.”
One witness was called this afternoon before court finished for the day.
Sergeant Scott Iszard said he had been seconded to Operation Reassurance — the police response to the pandemic — when he met Marshall on September 25, 2021, a week before the protest.
“I was driving through Auckland Domain and I noticed a group of approximately 25 people standing outside the Auckland Museum,” he told the court. “She [Marshall] said that they were meeting to organise a protest the next week.”
Iszard said he noticed the group was not social distancing so he asked them to do so.
“There were no issues,” he said. “They all immediately moved two metres apart.”
Brian Tamaki was also accused on three occasions of violating his bail conditions by continuing to attend the rallies after his initial arrest. However, the alleged bail breaches did not result in new criminal charges and are not part of the trial.
One alleged bail breach — his attendance at an anti-vaccine rally in Christchurch attended by more than 100 people — resulted in him spending over a week in jail in January 2022 before he was released on 24-hour curfew. His bail restrictions, however, were loosened significantly as nationwide Covid-19 restrictions were also lifted.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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