Covid 19 vaccine mandate Parliament protest: Editorial - Ugly truth exposed at grassroots level

A protester faces police officers in front of burning tents on day 23 of the Covid-19 protest at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

EDITORIAL:

The scorched grounds in front of Parliament will be resown with grass seed and manicured gardens will be reinstated. Not so easily restored is the shared purpose many New Zealanders believed was our natural setting during the early phases of fighting a pandemic.

We demurred with barely concealed pride as a few overseas commentators mentioned our initial successes in staving off the coronavirus. But these blushes turned to abashed winces as months of harsh restrictions wore on.

Eventually, resentment became inflamed and festered in open view. The mandates on vaccinations for those in positions at most risk of exposure to the virus and spreading it, as well as to those most essential to tending to our sick and elderly, was the spark.

Inspired by the Canadian convoy protests in Ottawa a month before, convoys were arranged to set out on Waitangi Day from Cape Reinga and Bluff to gather support en route to Parliament. Along the way, the initial motorists welcomed others of all persuasions to boost the numbers - more extreme conversations emerged as the convoy rolled towards the capital.

Online trolls taunted the convoy by issuing fake directions and hacking a shared playlist of music with insulting songs. By the time the converged vehicles parked in downtown Wellington, the protesters had spent two days on the road becoming increasingly annoyed.

Because of the extreme views being touted by some in the convoy, they were met with an orchestrated refusal of an audience with any political representative. This was not to be the last mistake.

A panel of MPs should have been formed to spend a few hours hearing the convoy's message. Ground rules of basic civility and being fact-based in submissions could have been imposed.

But the convoy pitched tents. Instead of dialogue, the protesters were declared trespassers on their own Government lawn, and prosecution was handed over to police.

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard committed the next misstep by ordering sprinklers turned on and banal songs to be played over loudspeakers, effectively picking a fight with an agitated mob.

Following nights of inclement weather, police moved on February 10 expecting to take possession of the grounds, but a harder element in the protest stood firm. Two officers were injured and the sight of a naked woman being taken forcibly into custody appalled many.

Inevitably, a violent confrontation was the only way out for the entrenched protest. Handed such a volatile situation, police did an admirable job in finally quelling it.

It is now clear Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has "lost the room" to many who have heard the same or similar reassurances too many times to listen. Attention has faded after Government campaigns promised but failed to deliver on slogans such as a vaccination centre is the "metaphorical door to freedom" and "the vaccine keeps us together".

Compounding the unrest has been a rush by some to believe the preposterous. Many of those who dug in at Parliament were convinced they were being subjected to electromagnetic rays and that vaccines contain microchips to control entire populations.

But ridiculous ideas aren't illegal, nor an excuse to sweep aside all other concerns.

Ardern has indicated there will be a review to determine whether more could have been done to prevent the dragged-out occupation and rampaging end.

The first question that should be asked is how did one of the largest anti-vaccine protests in the world occur in the most successful country for fighting the pandemic?

A fresh layer of grass won't cure toxic ground.