Activists’ focus centres on MBIE
WELLINGTON: New Zealand protesters started a global action campaign yesterday, staging rallies and sitins to support environmental protection.
Extinction Rebellion Aotearoa blocked off a street in Wellington yesterday morning as part of an ‘‘international wave’’ of civil disobedience that will peak with a fortnight of protests in London.
About 300 protesters were involved in the action, centred on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) headquarters.
Selfproclaimed ‘‘guerilla gran’’ Mary Rose (80) travelled from Tauranga to protest, saying MBIE had been targeted for ‘‘its involvement in fossil fuel expansion’’.
‘‘At one end of the street we’ve put a pink boat, the other end a pink car and around each are people that are locked on to block it off,’’ she said.
Protesters glued their hands together and on to the MBIE building, forming a human chain to prevent employees from entering.
MBIE advised employees to work from home yesterday.
Other protesters rolled through the city, carrying placards and banners.
Another group travelled to Parliament, where a woman dressed in green breastfed a baby wearing an Extinction Rebellion beanie.
Other groups then staged a sitin of an ANZ Bank branch, where some protesters glued their hands to the window and others laid silently on the ground. Police began arresting protesters in Lambton Quay late yesterday afternoon.