One of the themes of the day, and the occupation in general, is:
"We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's standing by the water
We shall not be moved"
And I mean water quite literally. The latest news from the occupation of Parliament grounds, here in New Zealand, is that there's a storm brewing and the next 3 days will be very wet and windy. Late this afternoon, the Speaker of the House, aka Labour's head bully boy, aka Trevor Mallard, aka the duck ordered the Parliament grounds sprinklers to be turned on and left on all weekend. He is quoted as saying "No one who is here is here legally, and if they're getting wet from below as well as above, they're likely to be a little bit less comfortable and more likely to go home." Stick it up yer arse, Trevor.
Oh yeah, and Trevor? The sprinklers. Not a biggie. Nothing a bit of kiwi ingenuity can't fix.
Speaking of kiwi ingenuity, one of the things that has been very noticeable is that the crowd have largely not needed to be governed. Nobody has to be told what to do. A need is noticed and somebody just does it. Wellington locals are buying food and making it in their own kitchens. Another friend does a 2 hour run every afternoon to pick up food and deliver it to the main food team. There are food tents, portaloos, a medical tent, people looking out for the children, musicians turn up and play. Is this a demonstration that we can actually run our own society without politicians getting involved?
But let's back up a bit...
Updates from yesterday
The most likely story of the naked girl is that she WAS wearing a g-string and summer dress, but the dress was pulled off her when the cops pulled her out of the crowd. She went limp to make it harder for them, but not sure that worked for her. A friend who spoke to her partner reports that her hip or pelvis has been cracked.
The woman who had a woman cop place what must have been obscene amounts of pressure on her sternum has had it confirmed it's fractured. See more here:
https://www.facebook.com/jeanette.wilson.5030/posts/3058144554445813
The 17 year old boy whose photo we saw in my last post - you know, the one where the burly cop had all his weight going through the boy's head - was held by police for 5 hours before being released. They couldn't charge him, as he is a minor. This lovely kid tells his story here: https://m.facebook.com/groups/thehealthforumnz/permalink/548066529627108/
Wellington city council felt that since ticketing all the vehicles had achieved nine tenths of fuck all, they'd better ramp it up a notch, and called for tow trucks. The towies all said "sorry, too busy".
Day 4
It was a very different situation today. We can only assume that the police realised that their brutal actions were not only illegal, but witnessed and condemned by the whole world. Today they stayed a good distance from the people. Or maybe they were short staffed, as there are reports that about 10 of yesterday's officers resigned at the end of the day. And that they called in police from other regions, who refused to come.
They tried a few intimidation tactics, which didn't work. At one point, a squad went running through the crowd, presumably to make it look like something was about to happen. Nothing did. They came out and lined up in riot gear and with batons. Then the shields and batons got put away again. At one point, the phenomenal Chantelle Baker walked the line telling them that we loved them and knew they were just doing their job, and praying with them. By the time I got down to Parliament at 3pm, they were lined up several metres away from the barricades doing a whole lot of nothing. Fuck, that must be boring.
At about 5pm, a squad came marching down the street. Half were left at one of the entrances to Parliament grounds, see photo below, and the other half marched down to the next entrance, closed and locked the gates and marched back again, and off they all went. Ten minutes later, the gates had been reopened by the crowd. What the actual fuck was the point in that?
I came home to find photographic proof that I had been there in my Inbox. A friend who works for a government department that shall be nameless had been watching a live feed and saw a familiar face. He took a screen shot and sent it on to us. The ageing hippie chick with a tie dyed shirt and camera, front and centre - that's me.
The NZ convoy was a bit different than other countries. Our trucks are owned by the companies not the drivers. So all the large trucking companies are carrying on as normal and there wasn't the same ratio of large trucks. But the everyday people with motorbikes, cars, vans, utes, campervans and small trucks more than made up for it. Some photos of those are in my Day 1 post.
Today, as I was arriving, the second wave of the convoy was just arriving in the capital. Although the grounds were pretty full when I arrived, they were chocka when I left. [Oh, BTW, chocka is an Australasian term meaning very fucking full.]
There was a party atmosphere going on. Someone sneeringly said we thought we were at Woodstock. Let's call it Woodstock with the love and the music, and a whole lot of determination, but without the drugs, dirt and promiscuity. The music possibly isn't quite as amazing, but still a lot of fun.
One singer presented us with a new version of brick in the wall:
We don't need no vaccination
We don't need no thought control
No dark control in the country
Jacinda, leave them kids alone
Hey! Jacinda! Leave them kids alone!
All in all, this government has to fall.
People brought their dogs...
... their children ...
Tamariki is Maori and means children
... babes in arms ...
... and in the womb ...
People of all ages found a place to rest and be part of the family.
Of course, there were the infiltrators. Spot the plain clothes cop anyone? Could he be more obvious?
The school boys in the background, still masked up after a day of child abuse, make a bit of a counterpoint to the rest of the freedom loving crowd.
Again we ask the question, what will tomorrow bring?
I was going to do a few house jobs in the morning and head down later, but we have been called to do a pop up sign event mid morning. So I'd better get myself into bed.
Love to all those holding the line for us tonight in the rain.