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Live: Budget Day Hīkoi heads to Parliament as thousands gather around country (www.rnz.co.nz)

submitted 5 months ago by Dave to c/politics

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Budget Day 'carkoi' protests delayed traffic on Auckland and Tauranga motorways ahead of a hikoi on Parliament.

Protesters earlier took the roads to oppose government policies toward Māori, 'activating' for today's National Māori Action Day - and caused traffic delays around the country.

It's the second time Māori have mobilised on a national scale with the first hīkoi taking place last December.

The national protest coincides with today's budget announcements.

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[–] Ilovethebomb -4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I'm thoroughly sick of every single protest having to disrupt traffic as part of their activities. It's lazy, unoriginal, and punishes people who may otherwise be on your side.

[–] Dave 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

In the past I've worked near parliament and walked past the parliament lawn every day. There were protests all the time, so many protests, and mostly they respectfully kept to one spot to allow others to use the lawn (it's a popular lunch in the sun spot for nearby workers).

Recently there does seem to be a rise in the number of people stopping traffic in their protests. Does that just represent that protesters aren't feeling heard so they feel they need to make the news to get their point out? Or is this just that there isn't really a "protest spot" in Auckland or Tauranga so they take to the streets?

Another question is whether there are actually more occurrences than there used to be, or if we just notice it more (say, from more reporting in the news). I'm not sure that's an answerable question though, I don't think there's a a central record of all protests and the number of those that stopped traffic.

[–] Rangelus 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

There was a protest that blocked traffic in my town, a couple of months back. I was caught in it while returning to work after making a delivery.

It lasted 5 minutes and then I was on my way. They were polite the whole time, and I was polite back. I literally lost 5 minutes, who cares.

I don't get the problem.

[–] Xcf456 2 points 5 months ago

It's a bad faith argument to push the idea of what 'valid' protest is into something that can just be completely ignored, hence defeating it's purpose

[–] Ilovethebomb -2 points 5 months ago

Look at the restore passenger rail protests, people didn't lose five minutes, they lost hours.

Would you still feel the same way if that was the case?

[–] absGeekNZ 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That is an interesting point.

What is the point of protest?

Isn't it to be noticed, so that the issue that you are protesting gets attention.
What is a valid way to protest, to garner the most attention to your issue?
Disrupting normal activities seems to be the best way, I remember when I was at uni, there was a sit-in in the admin building that prevented the admin staff from doing their work, is this valid? It certainly got a lot of attention.

[–] Ilovethebomb -1 points 5 months ago

The question you should be asking is, how does this help the issue, rather than the cop out of "gaining attention".

If your method of protest is to disrupt the lives of people just trying to get to work, they will certainly be aware of your cause, but they will likely think you're a bunch of nutters.

You don't need awareness, you need support.