Southanders head north to join Wellington protest action

Friday, 18 February 2022

Molesworth Street running between Parliament (left) and the Victoria University of Wellington Law School (right) lined with protester vehicles early last week.

A Southlander who joined protesters at Wellington’s parliament grounds believes the occupation will continue for months.

Sandra Knight, who lived in her tent near the Beehive for six nights, said the protestors were getting more and more organised and were happy onsite.

Knight, 59, said she had health conditions so had not been vaccinated despite the jab being mandated in the health sector, where she worked as a cook.

As a result, she lost her “dream job”.

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Invercargill woman Sandra Knight joined protest action at Wellington's parliament grounds for nearly a week.

She said she went to Wellington to support everyone else who had lost their jobs and freedoms after refusing the jab.

When she first arrived the protestors were “shaken up” after a well-publicised confrontation with police, and soon after got “absolutely sodden” when the sprinklers were turned on.

However, she never regretted her decision to go.

Invercargill woman Sandra Knight gets a selfie with a policeman while joining protest action at Wellington's parliament grounds.

“As soon as I arrived a young Māori girl came over and asked If I would like help to pitch my tent and that’s how the whole week rolled. There was nothing but helpfulness and acceptance.”

Knight said she walked around the protest site for a week and the only aggro she saw was several young “hot head” males swearing at police, which occurred several times daily.

On site were a “rest and relaxation tent”, free back massages, a karaoke tent and a mental health tent “for people feeling a bit stressed”. A herb garden had been planted and free food and clothes were available for the protestors, while kids enjoyed an inflatable swimming pool and a jumping castle.

“They are getting more and more organised every day. They are digging in, This is going on for months, no one's backing down,” she said.

She made lots of friends, always felt safe, and believed the protestors were happy because they were “taking back a bit of power’’.

“We were so powerless [beforehand].”

MPs have agreed they won’t engage with protestors until they remove illegally parked vehicles blocking the streets around parliament, remove their tents and stop intimidating Wellingtonians.

And on Friday, Wellington leaders asked that the protest end immediately, saying city workers had been intimidated by the protestors, some residents were too frightened to leave their homes and a number of businesses had closed to protect their staff.

Gore dairy farmer James Matheson joined the protest action on February 12 and will return home early next week, but plans to go back to Wellington on a tractor.

He was “anti mandate and sick of the Government regulations on farmers”.

Matheson said there was a good vibe at the protest and everyone was helping each other out.

He stays in a hotel while in Wellington and does free “security” with others involved in the protest for about 16 hours a day.

There were some “bad elements” who went through the site at nights, mainly from the city, and clear heads were needed to defuse situations, he said.

Northern Southland man Zeb Horrell was also at the protest, for four days while staying in a tent on a street near the Beehive with a friend.

Horrell said the protest was peaceful and well organised in the time he was in Wellington. A central tent provided free food and necessities to protestors, laid off doctors and nurses helped with first aid if required, and out-of-work teachers took makeshift classes for children on site.

Following a weather storm he joined protestors in dancing to 80s and 90s music which was a heartwarming moment, he said.

Horrell said he was a healthy man who had chosen not to be vaccinated. He went to Wellington to support the protest because be believed the Government’s Covid-19 response was harming Kiwi culture more than the virus would have.

Families had been separated by border closures, jobs were lost and businesses had closed, and people were unable to attend the funerals of loved ones, he said.

It was “not unclear” what the protestors wanted. “We want the mandates to end.”