The Wellington anti-mandate, anti-vaccination protest outside Parliament where Kaipara District Councillor Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock is among dozens of Northlanders.
The Wellington anti-mandate, anti-vaccination protest outside Parliament where Kaipara District Councillor Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock is among dozens of Northlanders.
A Kaipara District Councillor's almost week-long participation in Wellington's Covid protest is jeopardising the safety of Kaipara residents, Mayor Dr Jason Smith says.
Anti-mandate campaigner and KDC councillor Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock left Kaipara for the Wellington anti-vaccine, anti-mandate protest on Thursday and is still there. She declined to say when she would be returning home.
She also dismissed Smith's safety concerns as 'nonsensical'.
Since arriving at the protest, del la Varis-Woodcock has addressed thousands of protesters through a megaphone, calling for the Government's Covid-19 legislation to be immediately repealed.
"My name is Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock and I have a message, repeal all Covid-19 legislation now," she told thousands of protesters outside Parliament in Wellington.
del la Varis-Woodcock said protesters would be continuing their mission, regardless of water being sprayed or music being played, until the Government repealed 'draconian' laws it had enacted around the virus.
Video of del la Varis-Woodcock's address is circulating online, including accompanying reference to her being a protest organiser - a claim she said was not the case, in response to Advocate questions.
The video has been viewed almost 3000 times, amid a protest that started on February 8.
She declined to say whether she was representing any of the groups participating in the protest.
However, del la Varis-Woodcock did say she was there as a protester exercising her individual rights and not as a Kaipara District Councillor.
It was possible to separate the two, she said.
del la Varis-Woodcock, who has been a local government elected representative since 2016, previously told the Advocate that elected representatives needed to be role models.
"Elected members need to be role models, need to stand for values of respect, of civil liberties and human rights," she said.
Kaipara District Councillor Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock at the Wellington anti-vaccine, anti-mandate protest. Photo / Supplied.
But Smith said being a councillor was an around the clock role.
Smith said del la Varis-Woodcock was entitled to her opinions but being an elected representative brought a unique position of leadership in her local community that needed to be taken into account.
"As an elected representative there are all sorts of responsibilities to the people and organisation of the council. It is a 24/7, seven day a week role. You don't get to suddenly be someone else. That's part of the responsibility of this role," Smith said.
He said her protest participation was 'worrisome' in terms of Kaipara residents' health and safety.
"It's a long way to travel from Kaipara to a likely superspreader event during the height of a pandemic with a heightened risk of bringing the virus back here," Smith said.
That was particularly the case with Omicron rates increasing through the community, he said.
Smith said he was particularly worried about those in del la Varis-Woodcock's West Coast/Central council ward which had Kaipara's lowest vaccination rates.
The latest figures showed Māori in this area had a double vaccination rate of just over 71 per cent (76.5 per cent single vaccination rate). Overall, there was a just over 78 per cent double vaccination rate and just under 82 per cent single vaccinated, he said.
del la Varis-Woodcock said being at the protest did not compromise being able to carry out her role as a councillor.
She said she was to participate virtually from Wellington in yesterday's KDC's District Plan review meeting. The meeting is being held face-to-face in Dargaville Town Hall.
del la Varis-Woodcock also participated virtually while councillors gathered face-to-face for KDC's first full meeting of 2022, in the same venue on February 2. A vaccination passport was required to enter the building.
