Freedom Village, Wellington, 25 February 2022

Seeing and feeling is believing. Pictures from the ground or the air simply can't encompass or do justice to the huge expanse of tents, vehicles, marquees and infrastructure. One onlooker, who visits daily from Palmerston North said to me something along the lines of, look at how well this place functions and how fast it came to be like that. If the government could do anything remotely as successful and as quickly, they'd surely build more than 10,000 affordable houses a year.


Then there's the general air and feeling of the camp. The resolve, the morale, community spirit, esprit de corps - call it what you will, is almost palpable. It's like NZ was in the sixties or seventies; everyone looking out for everyone else. A real and actual demonstration of community kindness, unlike the empty rhetoric of such as mouthed by PM Ardern.

The resourcefulness of the freedom campers is astonishing. Not surprising given that so many trades are represented. The camp has it's own re-cycling centre, daily rubbish removal, litter wardens on constant patrol, early morning path sweepers, and so on. I did not see one piece of litter in my walkabout.


Nobody is counting the cost because their freedom is at stake, along with the freedoms of their family, workmates, friends and neighbours. They will not leave until the covid apartheid mandates instituted by the Ardern government are repealed along with everything associated with them.


There are people of unusual and alternate viewpoints, clothing and hair styles among the casual and easy-going throng. So much like a beach-side, summer camping ground. I passed by a group of what looked like orthodox Judaists addressing a small gathering. As I walked around, I looked for any signs of extremism, so often reported or implied by the NZ prostitute media.


No swastikas, no hate sign slogans, no obscenities chalked or tagged on walls; the only venom readily seen was being directed across the forecourt to those cowering inside - especially the PM. Even then, it was mostly tempered with humour. One sign said:

Phone message for Cindy. Helen called. Job available at the UN. Suggest you take it.

Rubbish Promises


New Variant


The wall of hate speech


A Hare Krishna food tent and several communal kitchens around provide three meals a day. Also available were barbers, masseurs, herbal first aid treatments, books, coffee cart service, a clothing tent, a hardware tent and so on. There are many people involved in providing battery-charging services for a plethora of electronic devices, along with generators and fuel.


The two nearby generators, receiving a fuel check from one of the village's stalwarts.




Another such effort.


I visited a remote, donated warehouse area where bulk supplies seemed to be constantly arriving, including local Wellingtonians bringing large baking dishes of pre-cooked food like quiche or lasagne. All involved are volunteers and all the food is donated.








In my mind, there is no doubt that if some of those on the other side of the barricade dressed-down, buried their sense of self-importance and went for a half-day-long casual and incognito stroll around Freedom Village and joined in, they would get a totally different perspective from the prejudicial disdain they speak of, at the moment. Getting down to earth, to the level of those they're supposed to represent could be a great experience for them, if only they'd allow it.

You can only fool all of the people some of the time, Cindy!

What can one say about the NZ mainstream media? I witnessed the shoulder-to-shoulder line of officers push back the protesters into the freedom village area from where they had been peaceably standing or seated, so a forklift could lift the concrete block bollards off the pallets on which the were sitting, so the pallets could be removed. Some were in riot gear and some holding what might've been pepper spray.

Was the person operating the forklift on a public road a police officer? If so, did he hold the appropriate licence class to legally do so?

Assistant Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said in a statement published on STUFFed that police [were] "concerned at the level of aggressive behaviour."

How was the police pushing back protesters not an act of aggression? On that occasion, any increase in aggressive behaviour came from no one but the police. That act of police aggression - could it fairly be called that? - was neutralised by a protester walking back-and-forth between the police line and the protesters, loud hailer in hand, urging the protesters to keep calm and step back. Despite that and not surprisingly, angry shouts were directed at the police officers from the protesters.

As for the media tales reporting a police statement referring to: "deteriorating sanitary conditions" and "confirmation of Covid-19 at the site meant it was no longer a safe environment for families and children," they are just that. Tall tales from assistant commissioner Richard Chambers. As for confirmation of covid-19 at the site, ask yourself this: when was any test carried out on a protester? The only confirmed cases so far are in the ranks of the police!

Along the way was this . . .

---

The next day . . .

Mind Your Language!

After saying Friday ". . . confirmation of Covid-19 at the site . . ." Saturday's fake news is different.

From STUFFed

The occupation camp at Parliament has been deemed a "location of interest" by health officials due to the spread of Covid-19, potentially affecting hundreds who visited the site over the weekend.

Did you see what they did, there? ". . . deemed and potentially . . " Speculation - nothing more.

Definition of deemed: to hold the view that something is something else, irrespective of the evidence or lack of evidence.

The occupation site, which spans Parliament grounds and many adjacent streets, was designated a Covid-19 concern on Thursday morning by health officials. People at the occupation between Saturday 11.55am and 11pm and Sunday 11am and 11.59pm, are at risk of exposure to Covid-19, and considered close contacts.

Did you see what they did, there, again? ". . . are at risk . . ." More speculation and guesswork.

What a difference a day makes! The Freedom Village has gone from a "deemed location of interest" to a "designated concern." What's next?

Meanwhile, a large cluster of Covid-19 cases at the anti-mandate occupation was likely, given the close quarters protesters are in and the lack of masks, Health Minister Andrew Little said.

A "large cluster was likely . . . " The supposition continues.

"I expect there will be a lot of people there who do get symptoms but won't get tested because they don't want to concede to the existence of Covid, but there will be some, particularly some of the older folks there who could get quite unwell."

"I expect . . . who could get quite unwell . . . " Great Ministerial expectations plus more conjecture added, for good measure.

All the reported items quoted above are conjecture and inflammatory speculation. Absolutely no proof provided. Everyone at the camp knows of the existence of covid-19. (Where did Munster Little get that odd notion?) They are there protesting against the government cancelling their freedom rights for no valid cause. Why don't you go ask Dr Bryan Betty, Munster Little?