Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters, but in New Zealand, authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow.
Initial moves to try and flush out several hundred protesters who have been camped on parliament’s grassy grounds since Tuesday had little effect.
The protesters, who have been voicing their opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions, responded to the soaking from the sprinklers by digging trenches and installing makeshift drainpipes to divert the water.
Photo: AP
When a downpour hit yesterday, their numbers only grew.
Protesters brought in bales of straw, which they scattered on the increasingly sodden grounds at parliament.
Some shouted, others danced and one group performed a Maori haka.
By evening, Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard had a new plan to make the protesters uncomfortable: using a sound system to blast out vaccine messages, Barry Manilow songs and the 1980s earworm hit Macarena on a repeat loop.
Protesters responded by playing their own tunes, including Twister Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It.
The protest began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to parliament from across the nation, inspired by protests in Canada.
At first there were more than 1,000 protesters, but that number dwindled as the week wore on before growing again yesterday.
Police have been taking a more hands-off approach since Thursday, when they arrested 122 people and charged many of them with trespassing or obstruction.
Police, who have been wearing protective vests had tried to slowly advance on the protesters.
However, that resulted in a number of physical confrontations.
A video of two female officers briefly dragging a naked woman by her hair from amid a scuffle went viral.
New Zealand police said they did not remove the woman’s clothing as some people had claimed online and that she had been naked for “some time” before her arrest.
Police also said the images and videos did not provide the full context of the protest activity or the situation that police faced.
Still, the scuffles seemed to prompt a strategic rethink by police, who appeared more content to wait events out as the week wore on.
However, by Friday, Mallard had seen enough and told staff to turn on the sprinklers overnight.
“I ordered them on,” he told reporters.
“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,” Mallard told news organization Stuff.
“Some people have suggested we add the vaccine in the water, but I don’t think it works that way,” he joked.
Mallard told media he was responsible for the sound system loop as well.
Among the protesters’ grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that some workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel.
Many protesters also oppose mask mandates and champion “freedom.”
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