Craig Cooper: The Mother Of All Protests has a few hangers-on

Groundswell organised 'Howl of a protest' in September, and have progressed to the "Mother of all protests' on Sunday. Photo / NZME

OPINION

And so we have Protest Sunday.

Expect to be slightly confused if you spot a protester or three this weekend.

Groundswell are organising what they bill as the Mother of All Protests for Sunday.

Groundswell oppose a broad range of Government regulations, but not specifically the Covid-19 lockdown or vaccine mandate.

They organised 'Howl of a protest' in September.

Groundswell seem to be quite organised, and as far as protesters go, polite.

Their website suggests some 'approved' slogans that could be applied to signs.

'No farmers no food' and 'Toot for growers' gives an idea of the sectors that are unhappy.
There is also dissent over the Three Waters proposal and 'ute taxes'.

Groundswell don't link themselves with Covid related protest, but some of their suggested placards are ambiguous enough to cause a bit of confusion.

This weekend is Protest Sunday.

'Cooperation not regulation', 'Stand up NZ' and 'Can you hear us now Govt?' would work as anti-mandate or vax placards, albeit slightly mild.

There will be protesters from the latter camp at the Groundswell events on Sunday - a good protester loves a good platform and isn't fussy whose it is.

So expect Covid related protesting on Sunday alongside the Groundswell protest.
And maybe some animal rights protesters as well.

On Sunday, a ship carrying up to 14,000 cows will leave Napier for China.

It is the single largest export of animals from Hawke's Bay, and highlights the long-running animal welfare issue of shipping cattle in challenging conditions.

Napier has a proud history of public displays of defiance over the practice, but not this Sunday - most of our local animal rights protesters are heading to an animal rights march in Wellington.

Still, there could be a third message waved about on a placard or sign this weekend - Ban live animal exports.

There's not much Groundswell can do about other protesters turning up - it's an age old issue.

Activist, former MP, community advocate - he has a few pōtae (hats), but Hone Harawira was on Radio NZ this week, observing, among other things, how protesters who had their facts wrong were distilling their messages, and integrity.

Groundswell are perhaps overstating their ambitions in calling Sunday's protest The Mother of All Protests.

But it's no understatement to call Harawira's mother Titewhai The Mother of All Protesters.

Not on her Ngāpuhi home patch, anyway.

Titewhai Harawira might not be as active on the activist front these days, but in her prime as a protester she was fearsome, shrewd and understood how to get a message across.

Titewhai was at the centre of many protests, many of which began or culminated in a march.

Sometimes, these are swelled by the rent-a-crowd crew.

It looks great for the media, but ultimately, when the noise subsides, do they fully understand the issue and are they contributing to the cause?

The same question could be asked nowadays - when Sunday's noise subsides, who will be left that understands the issues and is committed to the cause?