A Capital Letter: Wellingtonians are fed-up with disruptive protests

OPINION:

Wellingtonians are used to protests, we live in the capital city where the Beehive is, and we get it - I would even say many of us actually appreciate a good protest.

But recent protest action by those who want the Government to restore passenger rail has crossed a line.

Protesters have been targeting arterial routes in Wellington’s transport system during peak-hour traffic by literally sitting on motorways and blocking cars.

They disrupted locals trying to get on with their mornings two times last week and again on Monday.

Members of the group blocked the southbound lanes of State Highway 1 heading towards the Terrace Tunnel.

Then they glued themselves to the road near the Basin Reserve, bringing traffic to a halt and causing several buses to be re-routed.

Police spent 45 minutes attempting to remove the protesters, who were aged between 45 and 75. Several have been arrested and charged with endangering traffic and breach of court bail.

Then they blocked State Highway traffic at the intersection of Vivian and Cuba Sts and more arrests were made.

I’m actually on board with their cause, which is for the Government to commit to restoring an affordable nationwide rail passenger network.

One of my favourite things about travelling overseas is how easy it is to take the train to various destinations.

My family lives in Hawke’s Bay and I would love to hop on a train from Wellington to visit them.

Last week’s events follow action taken by the group last year that included forming a human chain across Transmission Gully. Photo / Debbie Munro

Return flights often cost north of $300 and the drive is a slog at four-and-a-half hours each way, not to mention the emissions from both of these options.

But Restore Passenger Rail has alienated any sympathy I may have had for their views. The way they have consistently inconvenienced Wellingtonians is unfair.

Rosemary Penwarden, who is a spokesperson for the group, told the Herald they will not apologise for the disruption - but that she did understand the frustrations of the public.

“Nobody likes being stuck in traffic and all of our biggest cities, we all know we’re all used to this. It’s horrible having to do that but we do not apologise. Instead, we ask people to just please look at the big picture here, we need to be taking action.”

Does this group understand though? Their actions could cause people to miss hospital appointments, make workers late for important meetings, and result in kids missing school.

In other words, what they’re doing is downright annoying and could backfire on them.

It doesn’t make sense for Wellingtonians to suffer the fallout from this protest action when the group’s beef is with the Government.

As it turns out, their action was launched during a three-week recess at Parliament.

These recent events come after members of the group abseiled at the entrance of the Mt Victoria tunnel in 2022 and formed a human chain across the newly opened Transmission Gully motorway.

Wellingtonians were sick of it then and we are even more fed up with it now.

Day 17 of the anti-mandate protest and occupation at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Even more so because we had to endure the anti-mandate protest at Parliament last year too.

Hours after protesters glued themselves to the road last week, the Independent Police Conduct Authority released its 225-page report on police action at the Parliament protest.

Among the findings and 14 recommendations around procedure and safety was a picture of significant disturbance to everyday life in central Wellington.

“As the protest continued throughout February, the community experienced increasing levels of aggression and harassment as more disruptive elements joined the protest, and as factions resulted in disputes among the protesters themselves,” the report said.

The area occupied by the protesters expanded around the vicinity of Parliament grounds on to nearby Victoria University’s law faculty grounds and roads which are normally busy major thoroughfares.

While I personally didn’t share the anti-mandate protesters’ views, I totally accepted their right to protest the vaccine mandates.

As one of my colleagues in the press gallery wrote at the time of the protest, it would be weird if there weren’t people protesting such issues in a democratic country like ours. The restrictions and mandates the Government imposed on us were, after all, extraordinary.

Again, the problem I had with this protest was how it was carried out (which I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate on).

I’ve covered many protests as a journalist and haven’t seen too much bother about the ones that start from Civic Square, march down the Golden Mile, and arrive at the lawn outside Parliament.

There’s chanting, cheering, speeches, and politicians addressing those gathered. Then everyone goes home after making their voices heard.

Protests are part of the fabric of this city and I don’t want to see that change.

But groups who purposefully and repetitively throw the lives of Wellingtonians into disarray need to seriously consider how unproductive that can be for their cause and the city.

• Senior Wellington journalist Georgina Campbell’s fortnightly column looks closely at issues in the capital.