Woman who breached Auckland lockdown for Destiny Church-aligned protest appeals

The lockdown protest was one of multiple connected to Destiny Church. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A woman who breached the 2021 Auckland lockdown to attend a Destiny Church-led protest is appealing against her conviction, saying the judge did not properly consider her Bill of Rights Act freedoms.

Her lawyer, Sharyn Green, said this was the first lockdown breach case to make it to an appeal, and other lawyers - including those for Brian and Hannah Tamaki - were watching the case with interest.

Tina Steedman was convicted of breaching an order under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act after she and two other women illegally crossed the Auckland border while the city was under level 3 lockdown in October 2021.

The lockdown came amid another wave of Covid cases before restrictions had been lifted.

Steedman and her friends, all in their 50s, went to Auckland to attend an anti-lockdown protest in the Auckland domain on October 16 - a gathering aligned to Destiny Church’s leader Brian Tamaki.

In the Wellington High Court today, Green said her client shouldn’t have been convicted as she was expressing her Bill of Rights freedoms of expression and movement.

“The court at the first instance entirely disregarded the rights,” she said.

“[It] has to be really clear that this is a worthwhile legislative instrument that steps on the rights of people wanting to politically protest.”

Green said freedom of expression could not be fulfilled under lockdown parameters, and that political protests needed to be “antagonistic” to have any value.

“There’s not much point in having freedom of thought or expression but one has to do it from their own bedroom or via the internet.

“Political protests must make one feel uncomfortable, there’s no value in it otherwise.”

Green said the women were careful to distance themselves from other protesters at the event and the risk from their breach was “minimal”.

“There’s no way that it can be seen that this is a serious breach.”

She also said the judge should have substituted the conviction for a fine-only offence, but said he did not give this serious consideration.

But lawyer for the Crown, Jack Liu, said substituting the conviction was not possible. “That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the statutory scheme,” he said. “It’s simply not a judicial discretion, it was not an option available to the judge.”

Brian Tamaki from Destiny Church relaxes in the sun at the anti-lockdown protest on October 16, 2021. Photo / Brett Phibbs

He said Steedman was not prohibited at any point from criticising the Government and noted Green’s submissions that the group kept to themselves at the protest.

“At no stage did they receive or really depart information that was not already readily available in Ohakune,” Liu said.

On the argument political protests needed to be antagonistic, Liu cautioned Justice Helen McQueen against “legitimising antisocial or antagonistic behaviour”.

“At the end of the day, the rule of law and the administration of justice still applies.”

People were not exempt from criminal liability just because they were exercising their freedom of expression rights.

“That is not how the law works, your honour, and to go down this path could be very dangerous.”

Liu also argued the Government had a responsibility to protect the public’s right to health.

“Yes there is a right to peaceful assembly ... but there are competing rights, the right to health.

“We’re not just talking about the individual here, we’re talking about the collective good.”

Justice McQueen reserved her decision.