I am becoming increasingly horrified at the state of our society. While we do not yet have the draconian rules for travel and vaccines that they have in Germany and Austria, somehow we seem to have become a totally divided nation. These divisions are not along racial lines, although the government is in the process of making racial divisions cut very deep. No, they are between vaxxed and unvaxxed. And now, to our ever-increasing shame, they are between Aucklanders and the rest of the country.
How on earth has this country, with a total of 44 deaths due to COVID, become such a horrible place to live?
Aucklanders who had to endure a 107-day lockdown to protect the rest of the country from the Delta variant now face being locked out of some of New Zealand’s most popular summer hotspots over the festive season.
Borders surrounding Auckland will be lifted next Wednesday, December 15, with some being replaced with police checkpoints.
Those from the City of Sails who can provide proof of being fully vaccinated are legally allowed to travel around the country after that date but many groups outside of the region have urged Aucklanders to reconsider.
I have one thing to say to this. Aucklanders do not deserve this attitude. They are not lepers. They have had a much tougher year than the rest of us. How about showing a little bit of that kindness that the prime minister harps on about?
The Opotiki District Council (DC) is backing calls from iwi leaders to try to block Aucklanders from travelling to the district.
“We are remote, most people are more than three hours from the nearest hospital, and we have a lot of vulnerable and elderly in our communities,” Opotiki councillor Louis Rapihana said.
Rapihana, who is also a member of the iwi response unit for Te Whanau-a-Apanui, said that with Covid continuing to cause disruption and new variants around the world, the simple message from his iwi was to “stay away”.
“We do have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country and this is thanks to the great effort made by our very small medical team, but keeping people and Covid out is our first and best defence against this virus,” he said.
NZ Herald
I have a message for Aucklanders wanting to travel at Christmas. Go to the South Island, particularly the West Coast. You can go to pubs where there is not a single mask in sight. You won’t have to scan in, use sanitiser or flash your vax pass. Nobody cares. Life down there is as normal as it is possible to be in the new world we live in… and it is an incredibly refreshing change.
The local businesses would love your support. They have been hammered by the loss of international tourists, and it is a beautiful part of the country. And nobody will care in the slightest where you are from.
I’m sure there are a lot of businesses in Opotiki that rely on tourists in the summer but those business owners need to sort out their own elected representatives because, by telling one class of visitors to stay away, they are no better than Fascists. New Zealanders don’t like discrimination, and Aucklanders are the most highly vaccinated citizens in the country. There is really no justification for this particular brand of apartheid but, in the end, it is their choice.
I am sick to death of the divisions that are appearing everywhere in our society, like cracks in the earth caused by earthquakes. New Zealanders never used to be like this.
The only way to respond is to give them what they want and make sure you never go to Opotiki ever again.
Their businesses will suffer, the town will suffer. The only thing they will run the risk of is extreme poverty, but I think there is a fair bit of that in Opotiki already, which the tourist dollars actually help to resolve. Never mind. This is their choice.
It doesn’t have to be this way, New Zealand but those who insist on behaving like Stasi will pay the price in the end. Let’s all make sure that they do.