Did it take anyone else by surprise to hear the Police Commissioner reveal the Government’s made it legal for iwi up north to stop your car?
Yeah, me too.
So I checked it out.
Turns out, they did change the law.
Two weeks ago, on November 20 — a Saturday — they inserted a new bit into the Covid-19 Health Response Act granting the power to “close roads and public places and stop vehicles” to members of iwi organisations.
It’s there in black and white.
This means you don’t have a choice anymore to ignore what you might consider a vigilante roadblock.
If you pull up to one of those iwi checkpoints up north, or anywhere really and Constable Hone Harawira pulls you over, leans in your window and demands to check your vaccination status, you don’t get to choose whether you comply or not.
You have to because it’s the law now.
The Government will spin this by telling you it’s still technically a police checkpoint because there must be a police officer there.
But I’m sorry, having an officer in your window asking you for your test results is very different to having Constable Harawira making demands while a single copper sits next to their trailer 20 metres away playing on their cellphone.
What I find particularly objectionable about this is that we’ve been talking about this for days and asking the Government for clarity on what’s going to happen and at no point did anyone in Government tell us they’d changed this law.
Not when the Prime Minister was asked on Tuesday.
And not when Chris Hipkins was asked on Wednesday.
And not in any other interview since last Saturday when this topic came up.
If you don’t volunteer it and it’s relevant you’re hiding it.
So much for the most transparent government, huh?
This is shady as all hell.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.
16 comments:
As many of us have been saying for ages "nip this in the bud" as it will only get worse. Next it will be our beaches and rivers blocked off. Then possibly access to certain other areas. Act seem to recognize this. Let's hope Luxon takes a firm stand on matters. It will show the true mettle of the man in my opinion.
Just because these activists live up North it doesn't mean they should rule over it.
No New Zealander should be denied access to parts of the country. What if all the foreshore and seabed cases were to be decided in favour of these Maori activists? We would lose a lot of access to our beloved country.
One people, one law.
Get used to it, and welcome to the labour cult's version of Zimbabwe under He Puapua. You'd be much better off back in SA Heather. I'd rather be back in Vietnam with more freedom.
The Act also gives 'enforcement officers' warrantless right of entry to any land, building, boat, property or thing. Ashley Bloomfield has discretion on who may take on the role. Would he stand up to Iwi if they wanted this enforcement role in their tribal boundaries.
Just another nail in the coffin of this racist, separatist government who hopefully will carry on with their pro-Maori agenda. That way we can be fairly sure they'll get kicked into touch in 2023.
Then Jacinda will jet off to New York...unless we rescind her Covid passport and place her in MIQ for an "unspecified" amount of time.
As for "open and transparent". What, like a photographer's dark room you mean.
This is absolutely outrageous !!
The government has openly handed power to a racist group.
Apartheid NZ now under way. !!
It is craven and appalling that ministers would not publicly admit to this.
Next thing will be to permit gangs to legally block roads and highways for their funeral processions - helped by the police.
Welcome to New Zimbabwe.
How did this get past act and national?is no one around on saturdays?
Greg, Majority governments can do what they like. They have the numbers.
This must be the most secretive and abhorrent move by any government in a so called "democracy", to hand control of our highways and subversion of free and legal travel of citizens to a minority ethnic group.
The so called reason for doing so is to protect vulnerable, probably unvaccinated people, in all likely hood only Maori.
It is long overdue this BS is stopped and the government called to account over this and similar racist policies.
Dont be fooled into thinking that this will be a one off, Maori will see how easy it was to have the law changed (overnight). Roadblocks will pop up everywhere and cause all sorts of problems long before police can get to site to make it "legal".
Silly me always thought this sort of thing would never happen here specially as we have a government that is transparent and governs for ALL New Zealanders. More fool me.
Jacinda is determined to destroy us as a nation. To turn people against each other on every front. It’s unbelievable.. imagine if the shoe was in the other foot and non maori stopped and demanded information from maori. Imagine the uproar…
Shame on her and her disgusting government. I don’t know how they sleep at night.
Christopher Luxon. We are counting on you.
Its been obvious for some time, He Puapua aside these were their tribal goals and the erecting of tribal boundary markers (ironic that these boundaries were created by the Treaty in 1840) has been going on for some time.
The first lockdown gave tribes a chance to flex this 'right' and in my area notices appears closing off certain areas and DOC was of course totally subservient.
I was delighted that these were soon defaced and then torn down but a road blockage in our area has stayed that way for the last 18 months with the NZ Police, DOC and the local council unable or unwilling to do anything about it in spite of abuse and illegal buildings etc.
This will get worse as it's tribal policy-something that has been signaled and now we have created the opportunity.
I hope that someone in ACT or National is keeping a note of all of these deceptions/lies along with all of the policy promises/failures so that they can be brought to the attention of the Electorate at the next election, assuming she doesn't cancel it because of Covid.
Well somebody voted these Marxists in, was it you or someone you know? What do they say when presented proof that NZ is more aligned to communist China than the democratic west.
A little Cuba in the south Pacific.
It will get worse!!
I wonder if the "Gentleman" iwi member interviewed on 1 News earlier this week, where the interviewer felt intimidated, will be out on the check points or would that be a level of hypocrisy too high?
At a check point before opening any window everyone should ask to see the vaccine passport of the checker.
Time to defund everything Maori. If they want to be separate, let them pay for their own welfare, Health Care, Marai maintenance ect. The rest of us will save a lot of money. The private sector taxpayers, who fund everything, are being treated like suckers.
Our rights are slipping away faster than an eel down the drain.
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