Council sorry for clash of events
Animal rights activists waving lewd placards marched through Wellington’s Christmas festival after a council blunder.
Wellington Animal Rights March spokesman Chris Huriwai supplied Stuff emails and text messages showing Wellington City Council was warned in August that Saturday’s march would start at Te Papa before heading down to Parliament via Lambton Quay.
It was only two to three days before the march when the council asked the marchers if they could take an alternate route because the A Very Welly Christmas event was being held in Lambton Quay at the same time.
The protesters’ refusal to change routes meant children out for a festive event were confronted by a crowd of protesters brandishing banners including swear words and one suggesting people performed oral sex rather than eat meat.
Huriwai said organisers ‘‘encouraged’’ respectful signs and the march was advertised as a family-friendly event. ‘‘Controlling the messages that individuals brought into our kaupapa was an ongoing process throughout the day,’’ he said.
But Wellington Hospitals Foundation chairman Bill Day, who was running a stall at the event, said most parents and children looked away from the ‘‘inappropriate’’ signs.
Council spokesman Richard MacLean confirmed the animal rights group made arrangements with one section of the council a few months ago ‘‘but the knowledge of this protest did not reach our events staff’’.
‘‘When they found out about the march earlier this week, they tried to negotiate a change of route with the march organisers but they were not prepared to shift.
‘‘We are really sorry the clash occurred – we will obviously review our internal processes so this kind of thing does not happen again.’’
Council staff emailed councillors and others on Friday, warning them the march was scheduled at the same time as the parade but it was not expected to cause too much disruption as they were going in the same direction.
‘‘While we have no ability to stop the march from occurring, we will be contacting the march organisers to ask them to be aware that there will be young children at the parade and to ensure that they take this into account with regards to signage etc,’’ the email, obtained by Stuff, said.
Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons said the sign about oral sex objectified women, was offensive, sexist and unwelcome.
Mayor Andy Foster said there were signs on display that were not appropriate – especially when there were children around. The gate-crashing protesters showed a ‘‘shocking display of insensitivity’’, he said.
Councillor Jill Day said there was a time and place for protests and Saturday at A Very Welly Christmas was not it. ‘‘Those sort of messages are not appropriate for a children’s festival.’’
The council confirmed it had some negative feedback on social media about some of the ‘‘adult-themed placards’’.
Saturday’s protest came a year after a group of vegan protesters crashed an Auckland Santa parade dressed in cow-print onesies.