‘Prosecution action’ over two protests

AUCKLAND: Police warn they will be taking ‘‘prosecution action’’ against organisers of Saturday’s antilockdown protests ‘‘in the coming days’’, but have not yet made any arrests.

About 2000 people congregated in Auckland Domain and about 1000 at Kensington Park in Whangarei protesting the Government’s alert level restrictions and response to the Delta community outbreak.

‘‘While those in attendance generally conducted themselves in a calm manner and adhered to rules around mask wearing and distancing between smaller separate bubbles, the gathering was by its very nature a significant breach of Covid19 Alert Level 3 requirements,’’ Superintendent Shanan Gray said.

‘‘Police confirm that they will be taking prosecution action against a number of individual organisers in the coming days.’’

Prof Michael Baker was hesitant to characterise the socalled ‘‘Freedom NZ’’ protests as potential superspreader events.

But the University of Otago epidemiologist did say Covid transmission was likely occurring at them, and symbolically the protests were a corrosive form of ‘‘antisocial behaviour’’.

‘‘I don’t always throw the superspreading label around. It’s mainly related to indoor events just because of how the virus goes,’’ Prof Baker said.

‘‘Superspreading usually requires an indoor environment where you have a single person who can fire out aerosols and affect a lot of people around them and we’ve seen that in Auckland obviously with the Samoan Assembly of God event.’’

But the unchecked mingling and shouting at Auckland Domain and in Kensington Park, Whangarei, made some form of Covid19 transmission likely, Prof Baker said.

Prof Baker said the Freedom NZ protests — which again featured a speech by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki in Auckland — were damaging to social unity.

‘‘My concern is by flouting the rules in such a dramatic way, it’s

going to weaken the resolve of people in Auckland to say ‘I’m sticking with the rules and these people are getting away with flouting the rules’. I would call it a form of antisocial behaviour.

‘‘It’s quite insulting to people in

Auckland and elsewhere who are doing the right thing to protect others around them.’’

It was ironic many of the 2000odd people at Auckland Domain would not be alive if not for the restrictions they were protesting against, he said.

‘‘If we had the mortality experience of the UK and US it would have meant four of those people [protesting at the domain] would not be alive today.

‘‘They’re promoting a whole lot of oppositional ideas that collective action doesn’t work, that the virus is nothing to worry about. But also that the vaccines don’t work.

‘‘This is paradoxical because the thing that will get New Zealand out of lockdowns faster is high vaccination. So on one hand they’re holding a placard saying antilockdown and they’re also holding a placard saying antivax.

‘‘Actually, the vaccine is the thing that will get them out of lockdown. So this is the absurdity of the messages they’re portraying. It isn’t intelligent or cohesive, it’s just a contrarian message and when you actually look at it it’s absurd,’’ Prof Baker said.

There were 51 new community cases reported yesterday, four of them in Waikato, the Ministry of Health said.

There were 41 new community cases reported on Saturday. —