Protestors heard in Orewa

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 protest held on Orewa Reserve, and throughout the country, on July 16. 

Groundswell NZ is calling for a halt to all environmental regulations including freshwater, indigenous biodiversity/SNAs, climate change and high country legislation, and demands that the ute tax be removed. This time around, the government’s 3 Waters policy was also a key issue for the protest.

The vehicles did a few loops around Centreway Road and Hibiscus Coast Highway.

It was a busy, sunny Sunday at the beach but supporters were limited to a few small groups who waved and cheered as the protestors drove past.

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 also didn’t want to clog the road too much. 

“We also wanted to keep ‘the tinfoil hat wearers’ out,” he says, adding that there was a relatively small element of anti-vaccination protest that joined in this time.

There were a lot of NZ flags waved, making the rally feel more like those held in the US.

Smith says the protest is not in support of any political party. It aims to draw attention to what protestors 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 we would. Police told me it was organised and disciplined and we looked after the spectators, and everyone who took part.”

He says the next one is being discussed at the moment – 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.