Restore Passenger Rail protesters have covered Gazley Motors in central Wellington with red paint.
Video / Jack Crossland / James Cockle
They’ve drawn the ire of police, motorists and Wellington’s mayor - now prolific protest group Restore Passenger Rail can add the advertising watchdog to its list of critics.
The offending advertisement reads “So now we’re f***ed”, with the letter “n” replaced with the logo of the National Party. It encourages people to join the group, which advocates for increased investment in public transport.
The posters were plastered around the country. Copies of the ad and the offending text in other posters remain on the group’s social media pages.
Two people complained to the ASA about the posters. In reply, the protest group said the ad was designed for use around university campuses, speaking to student concerns about climate change “in their own language”.
The authority’s complaints board unanimously agreed the ad would likely cause offence to some. The use of the expletive was “gratuitous and designed to attract attention”, it ruled.
Protest group Restore Passenger Rail has been ordered to remove the posters, which contain a more fulsome expletive than this edited picture. Photo / Facebook
Both complaints were upheld and the group was ordered to remove the ads.
The group organised multiple protests in Wellington during the past year. Protesters glued themselves to roads, blocked motorways, scaled overbridges and doused a central city car dealership - mainly containing electric vehicles - in paint.
Many protesters are currently facing criminal charges, although almost all charges are denied by protesters. Most of the prosecutions are due to go to trial this year and include charges of intentional damage and endangering transport.
Coincidentally, a member of the group was wrongfully arrested last year after putting up one of the offending posters in central Wellington.
Peter Wham was already on bail following his alleged involvement in the car dealership protest, but was again arrested after police accused him of breaching the conditions of his bail by erecting posters. The specific condition of Wham’s bail required him to not partake in any illegal protest.
After a night in the cells, a police prosecutor said police made a mistake arresting the man, confirming pasting posters does not constitute an illegal protest. Police apologised, but Wham is seeking damages.
A representative of the group was contacted for comment, as well as the National Party.
Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.
