It is disappointing that our Prime Minister could not show compassion for people already hurting. Instead, she framed the thousands of everyday Kiwis who are our families, colleagues, church members, teammates, drinking buddies and friends, as unclean, diseased people, who we needed to keep away from our homes for Christmas.
Helen Houghton (BTchLn)
Co-leader New Conservative
What should we expect from a leader – to sow discord?
The Government has dropped the ball, causing conflict in our families and communities. The Prime Minister is all about blame. Blaming citizens for not wanting to engage in dialogue when it was clear from the start those in the protest were desperate for the PM to hear their voices.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shows weak leadership. She has an outright disregard for human lives and continues to duck personal responsibility for exacerbating what was already a volatile situation.
Those displaced people did all they could to reach out to her, the leader of our nation, to listen to their genuine grievances.
Because our leaders could not step up, they should now step down.
It started out as a peaceful protest; after weeks of continued derogatory remarks by our PM and her ministers it is not surprising things escalated. The wellbeing of those in the protest community was already fragile, and those aggrieved should not have been dismissed as if they were not part of our communities.
They are us, Prime Minister.
Not one party in our Parliament was prepared to hear their concerns. What has our nation become when those in power decide who is representative of New Zealand?
Dialogue is always necessary and expected in a democratic civilised society. Even during wars, there is an expectation to reach out in diplomacy and to work on solutions. In this instance, no olive branch was offered to those who did not toe the line of a dictatorial leader who was more concerned about not getting 100% buy-in to the “one source of truth”.
They came to her front lawn to be visible, to be listened to, and the same leader who speaks of ‘kindness’ chose to disregard all those who have been let down by unjust mandates, infringing their human right to earn a living.
It is disappointing that the PM could not show compassion for people already hurting. Instead, she framed the thousands of everyday Kiwis who are our families, colleagues, church members, teammates, drinking buddies and friends, as unclean, diseased people, who we needed to keep away from our homes for Christmas.
We should expect leaders that work with the people on solutions.