By Tyler Durden
As Australia finally begins to scale back some of its least-popular lockdown rules in the face of growth opposition by the public and the business community, anti-lockdown demonstrations in New Zealand are ramping up once again.
A large group of demonstrators gathered at a park in Auckland on Saturday to protest ongoing COVID lockdown measures in the tiny Antipodean nation of roughly 5MM, many arriving with a procession of motorbikes lead by a local church leader.
The demonstrators, said to number between 1K and 2K, according to local media reports, descended on the Auckland Domain on Saturday to demand an end to the lockdowns.
A caravan of motorcycles led by Brian Tamaki, a vocal anti-lockdown activist who heads the Auckland-based Pentecostal Destiny Church, was among the first on scene at the protests on Saturday, and he captured videos as the procession made its way to the park.
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki leads a procession of motorbikes moving along the Southern Motorway towards the Auckland Domain to protest lockdown restrictions in Auckland, New Zealand. #NewZealand @ApostleTamaki
More #GettyFootagePhil Walter https://t.co/yoX9QoCsbI pic.twitter.com/e9v0U1XHrp — Getty Images News (@GettyImagesNews) October 1, 2021
Tamaki and the rest of the crowd remained peaceful during the demonstration, with Tamaki delivering a fiery, 40-minute speech denouncing the draconian shutdown orders, which have remained in effect in Auckland for nearly two months.
Thousands have gathered in front of Auckland War Memorial to protest against lockdowns and mandated vaccinations. @newshub pic.twitter.com/r8Ef4gopw3
— Emma Stanford (@emmastanford11) October 1, 2021
In his speech, Tamaki compared the lockdown in Auckland, which is nearing its 50-day milestone, to being on “house arrest”, while lamenting the dynamic of not being able to trust one’s own neighbors not to snitch on them.
“Now Auckland’s coming up to 50 days – 50 days we’ve been on home detention. That’s the same thing they give to prisoners who’ve done a crime; it’s an alternative to going to jail,” he said. “I’ve been locked up for over 50 days in my house, and I haven’t done a crime. I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’ve been punished. We are penalized.”
“I can’t go outside because the neighbor might tell on me. I can’t drive down the road to get some milk and bread because the policeman might pull me over.”