“We Are Not Allowed onto Our Marae”

The words came with such equanimity that the overwhelmingly serious implications for all New Zealanders were not immediately apparent. However, on reflection of the day’s events, it is clear to me that when individuals are no longer permitted to engage with their whanau, New Zealand is already on its knees. The healing our country needs may take decades.

Yesterday, in the pouring rain, at one of the many gatherings around the country, a Maori man, on seeing the NZDSOS placard, ran up to me and embraced me in a bear hug. He had wanted to serve a Notice of Liability on his local marae but he had been unable to go into his town library to print the Notice because he did not have a vaccine pass. A Covid-19 vaccination clinic was being held in the marae, aimed at children, he explained.  Then he said the salient words, “we are not allowed onto our marae.”  The reason he gave for not being allowed to engage with his iwi was that he was unvaccinated.

As luck would have it, my colleague had come prepared with printed Notices. We drove the short distance to the marae, where we encountered members, as well as a group of hardy protesters carrying placards and flags. A woman approached us, asking if we would serve the Notice. She explained that out of respect for her kaumatua, she could not bring herself to do this. These were the same people who were manning the entrance to the marae and not allowing her to enter. 

The Notice was served peacefully and with respect. Those taking part not only in administering a dangerous injection but also in coercing and doing Ardern’s dirty work by enforcing the vaccine passports can no longer claim deniability of harm. On a human level, it is hoped that one person at that entrance may have had their conscience twinged about what was being imposed on their tamariki and their people.

Over the last two years I have watched in horror as my adopted country has descended from an egalitarian, generous, ‘she’ll be right’, help your neighbour nation to one where dobbing in your neighbour and shunning your whanau has become normalised. Our ‘leaders’ have divided the very people they are meant to serve and the ‘peace-keepers’ are openly violent to peaceful protesters.

Perhaps, in my naivety in living in this seemingly cohesive country, I had assumed that we had learnt from the bitterness of the 1951 wharfies strike and the divisiveness of the Springbok tour protest. Indeed, the veneer was thin and had been washed away by ‘othering‘. It did not take long for the bravery of the Anzac spirit to descend into such fear of purported death that family are now untouchable.

Where are the historians, the philosophers, the ethicists? Where are our thinkers and academics? Have they, along with the judiciary and all of parliament, been bought by 30 pieces of silver to betray their country? Perhaps they are cowering in a corner, too afraid of damaging their fragile social standing to speak out? 

So we have a choice. Are we going to accept what is happening to this country? Are we, as Kiwis, going to accept two classes of people? Are we going to discard the Anzacs, the wharfies, and those who have stood up against discrimination?

Ardern and her cronies have been bought off by the Industrial-Pharmaceutical axis that is nudging us into their social credit system. National and ACT are not worthy, having at no point mounted an opposition. There is no hero coming to save us.

It is up to us, the people. The spirit of the Kiwi people, and those across the world, is still present. We have realised that we want to connect with each other, the earth, its waters and its farmers. We may have woken slowly but the enormity of what we are facing and, indeed, what has been done in the name of “The Team of 5 Million” is becoming apparent.  

We need to take our country back – before it is too late.