I've seen these things go on for hours before enthusiasm wanes and it's time to once again adorn the sack-top, strap up the sandals and head back for another gander at the protest manual.
There are other ludicrous protest methods as well, such as the hunger strike, setting yourself alight, suicide bombings and the like but there are also some useful ones.
Despite the myth perpetrated by Jamie Mackay that my political persuasions lie to the left of Karl Marx, I've never been involved in a protest in my life and have never been part of a Trade Union. But as a student of history I am aware of some of the more rousing moments of protest.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 remains my favourite -- the gold and bronze medal-winning African-American athletes showed their opposition to racial oppression in the US with the simple raising of black-gloved fists on the dais as the Star-Spangled Banner rang out across the stadium.
You'll also recall the vivid imagery of the flower down the gun barrel outside the Pentagon in 1967, the lone Chinese student in front of a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and even the scenes inside Rugby Park in Hamilton in 1981 that saw the Waikato vs Springboks match called off.
My personal favourite is the Ukrainian-based FEMEN group, which uses the technique of the "topless protest" to make a point. They can protest all they want as long as someone's there to take photos ...
Some protests fail, some lead to direct action and others ignite a spark that can lead to greater things.
It's fair to say the agriculture industry in this country isn't exactly one for a march and a chant up the main street of the nearest town or city, preferring instead the more savvy approach of political influence rather than slogans and banners. There are, however, notable exceptions such as National's Shane Ardern driving a tractor up the steps of Parliament to protest the fart tax in 2003, and the dramatic "Bloody Friday" episode in 1978 when hundreds of Southland farmers ran over a thousand ewes down Dee St in Invercargill before slaughtering them to show their exacerbation with the industrial chaos of the times in the face of extreme drought.
Though not as poignant, it was interesting to see hundreds, if not thousands, of people in Hawke's Bay recently heed the call to show a united front in support of the Ruataniwha Dam proposal. If some are to be believed, the weight of public opinion forced a re-think by one or two Hawke's Bay regional councillors. It is, however, but one hurdle that has been jumped in this saga and there are still a few to go. Opinion is divided on whether the economics stack up and it's abundantly clear the government simply doesn't want to know anything about it in the lead up to the election.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy reportedly made a number of speeches regarding irrigation without referring to Ruataniwha.
You can be assured if there was some mileage to be made out of it, that would have happened. When Ngai Tahu joined Trustpower in pulling their funding from the project, many thought that was the end of it all. But with a rally, a group of interested parties held on to fight another day ... and they didn't ask for one insufferable bloody toot.
