OPINION: Elites show contempt for Kiwi protestors, again

@Ani O'Brien reflects on Convoy 2022

OPINION: Convoys of vehicles travelled from all over the country to arrive in Wellington this morning. New Zealand flags waved from practically every car and signs bore demands for freedom. From afar the mood of the convoys seemed upbeat with participants sharing food, stories, and even crashing on strangers’ sofas on the way to the capital.

Multiple photos of the same elderly serviceman dressed in uniform have been circulating social media. He is standing at the end of his driveway with a New Zealand flag, saluting the passing vehicles. Bless him.

Screenshots of organising correspondence show that the Protest Convoy organisers wanted action that expressed love for their country rather than rage at the Government - though inevitably there was some of that too.

I have no doubt that there was some arsehole with a racist sign or a small group of Q Anon fruit loops. They will have been the anthesis of the majority of the Kiwis there today, but they will be photographed and given disproportionate media attention. Thousands and thousands of determinedly peaceful Kiwis will be tarred because of editorial decisions to depict them all as racist and anti-vax.

I refuse to do that here. I acknowledge that there will have been a few people who let the rest down, just like at any other protest, but I will not dismiss these Kiwis as collectively extreme or hateful.

Protest in New Zealand has accompanied many of our progressive movements and we rightly remember iconic protestors fondly. Regardless of if you agree that Ardern’s Government has been oppressive and that mandates should be removed, we should all respect their right to express their opposition.

Instead, there has been a distinct contempt expressed for these protestors by the elite classes and the media. They are like the truckers in Canada, “the deplorables” in the United States, and the “Covidiots” in Britain. They are the dismissed as irritants who won’t just do as they are told. They are the same people that censorious elites want to prevent from listening to Joe Rogan’s podcast because they can’t be trusted to be discerning on their own.

Like their counterparts abroad, these protestors are on the whole hard-working, tax-paying people who have become so frustrated that they’ve picked up a placard. They have lost jobs, missed funerals, said final goodbyes on FaceTime, made sacrifice after sacrifice; they’ve been scared about their future too.

Of course, those who are most vocal in condemning the protestors are frightened too. They’re terrified of catching Covid-19; something that is all but inevitable at this point. They are able to feel more in control by policing who wears a mask, narking on the cafe that isn’t asking for vaccine passes, and calling anyone who speaks out against the most stringent measures nasty names.

And it is these hectoring vigilantes who, being more likely to be in privileged circumstances, have the most sway over the media and the Government. People who call for the unvaccinated to be refused medical care or New Zealanders abroad to be shut out of their own country can be seen interacting with the powerful and influential online while those expressing hardship over lockdowns and mandates are avoided like the plague.

A degree of sociopathy is discernible in how our Government and its elite surrogates view and treat people like the protestors at Parliament today. They are not to be empathised with, certainly not to be listened to. Their concerns be damned, they deserve only disdain and ridicule.

It is because of this block thinking and singular accepted narrative that we saw not one single MP go out to speak with the protestors. There will certainly be MPs who wanted to, but it appears that all parties have made it clear to their caucuses that no such action will be tolerated.

This is the prudent thing to do, unfortunately. No party wants to be accused of supporting anti-vaxxers or racists. No one wants the Harete Hipango treatment. They know that the media will skewer any MP who sets foot outside regardless of if they agree with the protestors or not. This fear of bringing a negative media cycle down on their party creates a chilling effect and means that there is no room for nuance or a magnanimous gesture from MP to constituents.

Ignoring protestors to avoid poor media may be the politically astute strategy, but I do not think it is right. Our democracy is poorer for the rapidly widening gulf between the political-media class and ordinary Kiwis. Trust in Government and media is declining. Even correspondence between constituents and their local MPs is not what it once was. Fear of being too loose with messaging or speaking too plainly means that responses are more and more likely to be formulaic.

Imagine if each party sent a few MPs out onto Parliament’s forecourt simply to listen and take in the messages being shared with them. Imagine if the media understood that they were simply there to listen and that it doesn’t mean they endorse every sign being waved. Maybe then Kiwis, so fed up that they travelled across the country to stand on the lawn of Parliament, would feel heard and like their concerns might actually be relayed to others and considered with respect.