Sign In / Register
Horns blaring and hazard lights flashing made the Groundswell protest’s motorcade through Orewa on Sunday, November 21, hard to miss.
Coordinator of the rally for Rodney Mick Smith estimates around 300 cars, and a handful of tractors, travelled from Rodney and Helensville, converging on Orewa around 1pm.
It was part two of the rural protest. Part one was held on Orewa Reserve, and throughout the country, on July 16.
Groundswell NZ is calling for a halt to all environmental regulations including those related to freshwater, indigenous biodiversity, climate change and the high country, legislation. Protesters also demanded that the ute tax be removed.
This time around, the Government’s Three Waters policy was another key issue for the protest.
It was a busy, sunny Sunday at the beach, but supporters were limited to a few small groups who waved and cheered as the protesters past did a few loops around Centreway Road and Hibiscus Coast Highway.
With Covid-19 restrictions in mind, a public gathering was not held this time and Smith says they also discouraged tractors – it’s a busy time on farm, and they didn’t want to clog the road too much.
“We also wanted to keep ‘the tinfoil hat wearers’ out,” Mr Smith says, adding that there was a relatively small element of anti-vaccination protesters who joined in this time.
There were a lot of New Zealand flags waved, making the rally feel more like those held in the US.
Mr Smith says the protest is not in support of any political party. It aims to draw attention to what protesters consider to be the failings of the Labour Government.
“We want to get NZ back to everyone pulling in the right direction,” he says.
“It went exactly as we had hoped it would. Police told me it was organised and disciplined, and we looked after the spectators and everyone who took part.”
He says the next protest is being discussed and it will probably be in February. The idea is to involve the whole country, from the top of the north to the bottom of the south – “it will be a biggie,” he says.
