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Alia Bland
T
There’s nothing quite like a quick watch of the infamous two different classes of people “yip, yip” video of our former leader, Jacinda Jackboot (thanks for the moniker, Lindsay Perigo), to get the old blood boiling!
She might be gone, but I don’t know if the visceral feeling that I, and no doubt many others, have when we see her image or hear her voice will ever really go away. Hence, the half-dozen state-sponsored security gorillas, I suppose…
Why was I watching? Because as I write this it is…
March 2nd
This marks two years since hundreds of New Zealand police officers brutally descended upon the thousands of peaceful and courageous Kiwis who had travelled to Parliament in desperation to lay a stake in the ground and see an end to the authoritarian mandates.
Reflecting Back
Whether you were there in person throughout the protest or watched the livestreams from afar, you’ll remember how extraordinary the occupation was. Tens of thousands of New Zealanders came together in unison on one fundamental issue – to end the government’s two-tier society that saw people’s lives upended in every possible way.
The barriers that usually separated society were absent – socio-economic status, cultural heritage, religious belief, political persuasion, etc. People instead connected at a human level with hugs, tears, generosity, kinship, a listening ear, and a healthy dollop of Kiwi ‘can-do’ attitude!
We endured the torture techniques of the high-pressure sprinklers, tragic music on a loud-speaker loop, the endless mind games of the police, and the scorn of the legacy media observing from their elevated terrace, cameras zoomed and focused to catch the most minor of indiscretions to contort for the 6 pm news.
Instead of letting their measures beat us, we transformed the experience into a glue that stuck us together tightly, more committed than ever.
Our attempts to formally engage with the government, including arranging a professional mediator and meeting with officials from the Human Rights Commission, fell on deaf ears. The Parliamentarians refused to engage.
While it was incredibly frustrating and disappointing at the time, looking back, I am glad they refused, as it triggered the turning point and the decline of the totalitarian regime.
The Beginning of the End
With 30% of Kiwis supporting the protest, NZ’s ‘Joan of Arc’ PM began to seriously lose her shine.
It turned out that despite the CCP-grade media propaganda and brainwashing, many New Zealanders simply weren’t keen on the police acting like paid thugs or having their friends and neighbours relegated to second-class citizens.
Political support began to tank, and within weeks, the government abandoned the vaccine pass system and many of the mandates.
The protest – violent ending and all – was a success.
Labour and the Left Weren’t the Only Losers
The second casualty of the Parliamentary protest was the mainstream media.
Things were already sketchy in the public trust department, but the legacy media seriously hit the skids after this momentous event.
Trust plummeted further, and their bias became embarrassingly visible, like a slow-mo down-trou they never managed to yank back up.
Newshub is still lying on the ground, clutching its pants and wondering what the heck happened as TVNZ and Stuff stand by watching on, worried (with just cause) that they’re next!
As for Us?
We’ve all got each other, our integrity, our wonderful new friends and communities, and the knowledge that we survived the most intense peer pressure of our lives.
And, because of your belief in us and your financial support, we’ve filled the gaping hole in the media landscape with something incredible – our very own radio station sharing the voices that legacy media won’t and covering the issues that legacy media don’t.
Things are unrecognisable from two years ago.
Yes, huge threats still loom on the horizon, but we have achieved great things in our David and Goliath struggle, and that is something worth celebrating!
KEEP HUGGING!
Alia x
