Ed Said: The crowd doth protest too much, methinks

28 Feb, 2022

As if blanket media coverage of the Omicron strain and its increasing momentum and effect on society isn’t enough, we now have to endure far too much coverage of the anti-mandate protest in Wellington.

When Convoy 2022 started its journey to the capital it rolled down the country like a trawler with a dragnet, the problem being that dragnets grab anything and everything they go past. In this same way, by the time the convoy had snaked its way to the centre of Wellington it had not only collected anti-mandate supporters – it’s original purpose – but also a rabble of flotsam with other motives who were determined to attach themselves to the coat-tails of some other cause: Trump supporters, anti-vaxxers, Nazis, media haters, conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites, colonisation complainers.

All this has managed to do is drown out much of the intended message of the convoy and create discord, confusion of the message, and an overarching hatred towards others, particularly the government, police and media.

Government has taken an arms-length approach to the whole mess. And I don’t blame them. This is what a stand-off is all about. But is it any surprise to anyone that government ministers won’t parley with protest organisers following death threats?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has a lot more on her mind than a group of unruly ‘freedom campers’ who represent what she considers to be basically a fairly harmless vocal minority. Considering the country’s overall high vaccination rates, is she wrong? As we head into a time where Omicron is surging around the provinces it’s unlikely government has even the slightest interest in removing mandates. Protestors may as well be demanding deep fried food at a diabetes conference.

“Tell-the-truth, tell-the-truth” chants the crowd. About what?

While government is doing the governing, the Prime Minister has allowed the police to ‘do the policing’, allowing them to make the decisions on how the whole event is handled. To their credit the police, where possible, have always maintained a more passive stance, aiming to de-escalate any uprising. They have exercised considerable restraint so far. How hard will this group push the police?

Surveys over recent years show trust in the media has slipped as major news outlets become more opinionated and political. The irony is this group of protestors are acting out to garner as much coverage as they can get from the very media that they profess to hate.

It’s disconcerting to think that many of those protesting, especially the children, are formulating their opinions about life in New Zealand down a rabbit hole, eating a regular diet of conspiracy theory with a side of fanaticism drizzled with a liberal helping of far-right ideology. And really, do Gilda Kirkpatrick, Jason Kerrison and Russell Coutts really add any credibility to the cause?

Vaxed or unvaxed it seems New Zealanders just can’t get enough of Covid. Literally. And they’re only getting more. Wednesday February 23 saw a record 3297 Covid-19 cases in the community. The following day, as more rapid antigen tests come in that figure nearly doubled, and then doubled again.

Other more serious news though threatens to take everyone’s eye off what’s happening in Wellington. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While our prime minister is labelled a tyrant and dictator by detractors, the more sinister Vladimir Putin has attacked Ukraine from the land, sea, and air. This sort of reality check should bring some humility to protestors who might just realise that their lot in Aotearoa, Godzone, isn’t so bad after all.

Richard, Editor
info@mangawhaifocus.co.nz