Farmers come out in droves to support Southland's Groundswell protests
Sunday, 21 November 2021
Bryce McKenzie didn’t get to hear Groundswell NZ’s message when it was broadcast over the radio at The Mother Of All Protests in Gore – he was too busy directing traffic.
The town was gridlocked early on Sunday afternoon as hundreds of tractors, utes and trucks convoyed along Main St, protesting against Government regulations.
“It might be bigger than the last one – there aren’t as many tractors, but there are a lot of people in vehicles and a lot lining the streets in support,’’ he said while directing tractors around a roundabout.
“From what I’ve heard from our co-ordinators, it’s pretty much the same all over the country.’’
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* Groundswell's Mother Of All Protests will go ahead despite Covid-19 restrictions
**
Groundswell NZ held the protest in 70 locations around the country to protest against Government regulations, including the Three Waters Reform programme, the ute tax, and some freshwater, indigenous biodiversity and climate change regulations, which the group says are ‘’unworkable”.
A small group of anti-vaxxers were also protesting in Gore but there had been no issues, McKenzie said.
“We suspected that would happen. They have a right to protest just like we do, and I’m pleased everyone is being respectful of that.’’
He was less impressed with a small number of people in the protests who had used offensive or racist protest signage.
He hoped The Mother Of All Protests would be the group’s last.
“If we don’t see some change we’ll go to Wellington in February, but I really hope that doesn’t need to happen.”
In Invercargill, Morton Mains dairy farmer Gary Swney drove in the protest. A sign strapped to his car was inspired by Greta Thunberg’s “blah blah blah” comments about climate inaction, and said farmer’s concerns were falling on deaf ears as well.
He had been farming for more than 50 years, and said appreciation for farmers had completed reversed in that time, to become non-existent.
Farmers felt they had no value and there was a lot of depression because of it, Swney said.
Browns man Shane Young was also part of the convoy, and said Significant Natural Areas were of particular concern to him, which he described as daylight robbery.
Young hoped the Government would listen to the message the rural community were sending by protesting.
There was a crowd of about 90 people standing by the Invercargill Cenotaph, supporting the protest.
Makarewa contractor Hayden Harnett parked his tractor near the Cenotaph after taking part, and said he thought the protest was a success because a lot of the public joined in.
“It made a statement.”
He was most concerned about Three Waters, as well as winter grazing rules and activists who took photos of winter grazing.
Despite Groundswell’s 1.35pm radio broadcast ending with an invitation for protesters to go home, a few of the roughly 50 heavy vehicles which were doing laps of Invercargill are still circling, more than an hour later.
Supporters standing on Invercargill’s main street remained despite the rain as well.
In Gore, the tractors and trucks started leaving at about 2.30pm, although plenty of people remained under shop verandahs to watch them go.
Across the country, thousands of farmers and ute drivers took to the streets on Sunday for the third protest organised by Groundswell NZ.
Tokoroa dairy farmer Arianna Ashworth said the protest came at a bad time, and it had hijacked by anti-Government protesters.
“Groundswell's message is being muddled by a lot of individuals opinions that stray far from the true message,” she said.