Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Disrupting people won't make us sympathetic to your cause

I've actually been surprised at the level of anger I've heard expressed today at that Treaty Principles Bill hīkoi crossing over the Harbour Bridge - and I don't think it's a good thing for this particular cause.

Yesterday, completely out of the blue, I got an email from a mum I know complaining about the impact it will l have on kids trying to get to their NCEA exams on time.

Today, I bumped into someone this morning furious about the timing because it was rush hour. And someone in my family is raging about it as well.

To be fair to these people, it's understandable anger and I can see why they're so cross.

Basically, it's because this protest feels like it was designed to create disruption. Either that or the organisers didn't think it through - which I doubt very much because they have proven to be quite deliberate in a bunch of the things they do.

What happened to facilitate the hīkoi today was that authorities had to close two lanes on the Harbour Bridge in our biggest city from 8 in the morning - at peak morning traffic time. That will have messed up the day for thousands of people coming in from the North Shore.

If these guys were decent to the people of Auckland just trying to do their jobs and get their kids to school, they would've shifted their walk time back by a couple of hours, when most people are in the office and won't be messed around.

It's not as if the hīkoi would lose attention because it caused less disruption.

They are all over the online news feeds, they’re being covered by radio shows like ours, they'll be all over the TV news later because the protest is big. And it's about a very contentious issue, that being the Treaty Principles Bill. These guys did not have to muck Aucklanders around to get the coverage they wanted.

Ultimately, I don't think it's a smart move from them. Just like I don't think it's too smart to have gang members join the hīkoi with their patches on display.

All it’s going to do is frustrate middle New Zealand and make middle New Zealand more sympathetic to the other side, because that’s how politics works nowadays - we pick sides. We don't like that side, we go to the other, that's how this works.

And that’s ultimately an own goal, because the only hope David Seymour has for this bill is that it becomes very popular and that it gets rescued because enough people want it.

And this hīkoi, I reckon, won’t have hurt his chances at all.

A lesson to people planning future protests - try not cause disruption on purpose, because that way we’re more likely to be sympathetic to your cause, not less.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Together do for sel on this he Koy.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I've actually been surprised at the level of anger that
I've heard expressed about the thing and about the fact
that it crossed the Harbor Bridge today, and I don't
think it's a good thing for the particular cause, and
the particular cause, of course, is to oppose the Treaty
Principles Bill.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yesterday, completely out of the blue, I got.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
An email from a mum that I know complaining about
the impact it we'll have on kids trying to get
to the NCEA exams on time. Today I bumped into
someone furious, just absolutely furious about the timing, completely unexpected.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Didn't expect it from this person at all. Furious about
the timing because it was it was crossing the Harbor
Bridge at rush hour. And then someone in my family
is raging about it as well on the regular. Now,
to be fair to these people, this is quite understandable
anger because basically what that cross at is that this
protest feels like it is designed to cause disruption. I mean,

(00:52):
there's always the outside chance that the organizers just whoops,
just plan something for morning traffic. I doubt that very much.
That it was an accident that these people have generally
proved to be reasonably smart in what they do. More
likely it's designed to cause disruption, and so what happened
is to facilitate the hecoy. Today authorities had to close
two lanes on.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
The Harbor Bridge and our biggest city from eight in
the morning, peak morning traffic time. Now, that will have
messed up the start of the day for thousands of
people coming in from the North Shore. If these guys
doing the he coy were decent to the people of Auckland,
you know, people just trying to do their jobs, largely
uninvolved in politics, trying to do the jobs, trying to
get the kids to school, they would have shifted their

(01:31):
walk time over the Harbor Bridge back by a couple
of hours, maybe aimed a little closer to midday, by
which time most people will already be in the office
or you know, have their kids at the NCAA exams
and won't have their day messed around. It's not as
if the hecoy would lose media attention because it caused
less disruption, would it.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I mean, they are already.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
All over all of the online news feeds are being
covered by radio shows like ours today that will be
all over the TV news for multiple stories undoubtedly tonight,
because the protest is big, and because it is about
a very contentious issue, being the Treaty Principals Bill, these
guys did not have to muck auckland Is around to
get the kind of coverage that they probably want to
get now. Ultimately, I don't think this is a smart

(02:10):
move from them, just like I don't think it's a
smart move to have gang members joining the he coy
with their patches on display just days out from the
gang patch band, which indicates that people hate seeing these
patches there. They are just wandering down with the he Coy.
All this is going to do is frustrate Middle New
Zealand and make Middle New Zealand more sympathetic to the
other side, because that is how politics works nowadays. We

(02:31):
pick sides, we don't like that side, we go to
the other side. That's generally how it works. So all
they've done is have just sent people to the other side.
That's ultimately an own goal, because the only hope that
David Seymour has for his bill at the moment is
that it becomes so popular that it has to survive,
that it has to be rescued, that the Nats change
their mind on killing it, and this he coy I
reckon will not have hurt his chances at all. So

(02:51):
listen to people planning future protests. Try to not cause
disruption on purpose, because that way the rest of us
are more likely to be sympathetic to your cause. For
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