We live, or I thought we did, in a democracy. As far as I am aware we still have two laws to protect the rights and freedoms of the individual: the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights. Labour seized the opportunity to use the Covid pandemic for their own ends. Ardern and Robertson have an agenda that runs contrary to both the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights which stand in the way of their implementation of a dictatorship.
National and ACT, while not wishing to install a dictatorship, appear alarmingly similar to Labour when it comes to people exercising their democratic rights in a Covid world. They are both looking Labour lite, particularly in terms of people’s freedom of choice to get vaccinated or not.
I have no problem with a government or any political party encouraging vaccination, especially of the most vulnerable in society. What I don’t like is the way they are going about it. The message is too one-sided. It smacks of a directive more than a suggestion. I would prefer something along the lines of: ‘we recommend a vaccination but it is your choice’.
Labour as we know, have no trouble issuing directives. That is their modus operandi, e.g. Three Waters. National and ACT however, should not act in such a manner. It goes against everything they – especially ACT – supposedly stand for. David Seymour should not be surprised at the drop in support in the pre-Christmas polls. If commentary on The BFD is anything to go by, his attitude to vaccinations is the prime reason for his recent lower poll numbers. Seymour needs to have a rethink.
National are not helping themselves in this regard either. Last Saturday a National MP attended a pro-rights rally and wrote about it on Facebook.
Harete Hipango, was then rung by Christopher Luxon and subsequently removed her post. In it, she had written about freedom of choice and disagreed with the label ‘anti-vaxers’. According to Luxon, the views of the group do not align with those of the National Party. A comment of that sort should strike fear into all supporters of the party. This is a total misreading of the room by both National and Act.
My suggestion to both Luxon and Seymour is to read the NZ Herald article regarding Hipango and look at the posters. They will then see that the protests happening around the country are not just about the vaccination issue but also about control and loss of freedoms. Many people fear our democracy is fast disappearing. If Luxon and Seymour hope to form a coalition government after the next election, this is the room they need to be in. More and more Kiwis are seeing an eroding of their rights and many who voted Labour last time won’t do so next time.
These are people of all creed and colour and from all socio-economic groups. They are wanting one united country and one law for all – they are THE MAJORITY. They are not interested in the divisive policies of this government, driven by the likes of Willie Jackson and his Maori caucus cabal. Those ratbags are only interested in power for the Maori elite. Nothing they are trying to promote will be of any help to those Maori on struggle street. Ardern is their puppet on a string and she is waving her arms accordingly.
The vast bulk of the population wants the same freedoms for all, not a society where some (Maori elite) are more equal than others.
I have some questions for Luxon and Seymour. Since when was a virus of such importance that MPs can’t have their own views on it? Where are the party policies for the annual winter ‘flu? Are there any? If there are, why haven’t we seen them? If there are not then why not? If we have MPs bound by policies for a virus that has so far killed 50 people why not policies for a virus that annually kills ten times more? You need to start comparing apples with apples. I suggest you have both been swept along with the Covid vaccination hysteria and it’s time to have some rational perspective on it. A comparison with the annual ‘flu numbers is all that is needed.
National and ACT aren’t going to win an election singing from the Labour song sheet. To give them credit both leaders would have the country under far fewer restrictions and the borders open. That needs to be highlighted at every opportunity, but much more needs to be done to capture those voters beginning to desert Labour and looking for a home. National and ACT need to identify with their needs which are the most basic of all: their rights and freedoms that are being stripped away. They want to live in a democracy.
Forget the vaccination hyperbole: you are just walking into the trap set by, not just Ardern, but the political left globally. They don’t want Covid to end while there’s a chance it will enable their socialist agenda. Ardern has already said she has no idea when vaccinations might end. The people attending the rallies (I refuse to call them protests) aren’t going to take kindly to being told they should be vaccinated. It’s that kind of message that got them to attend the gatherings in the first place.
My message to National and ACT is this: if you want to win the next election, the first step is to identify in which direction the wind is blowing. The wind in this case is those voters deserting the sinking Labour ship and looking for a safe haven for their vote. Your strategy should therefore be to change tack. Without acknowledging they are articulating more than just being unhappy about being lectured on vaccinations, you are coming across as not seeing the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is the loss of our democratic rights and freedoms. As the Opposition, you need to get with the growing groundswell of public opinion. As for Harete Hipango attending a freedom and human rights rally, I say good on her. She was listening to the concerns of her electorate. What is so wrong with that? I thought it was part of the job of an MP. Reprimanding her for doing so will do nothing to endear those who were there to the National Party.
A final thought. ACT and National, by their very actions, are playing right into another person’s hands. His initials are WP and for him, this is fertile ground. He can pick a wind shift quicker than the Met Service.
WAKE UP AT THE BACK THERE!!