It has been astonishing to watch the Christchurch City Council try to set a match to democratic freedoms in the city.
The proposed council charges for traffic management during protest marches involving Destiny Church leaders are a breach of the Bill of Rights and a fundamental attack on the civil and political rights of every Christchurch resident.
One can only presume the mayor wants to apply this new policy to all future protests in the city. In other words, public protest will be reserved for those who can afford tens of thousands in council charges. Is this what she intends?
If not then why do Destiny Church leaders face these charges when to my knowledge the council has never before charged anyone at any time for traffic management associated with marching through city streets?
In an earlier time, the “race” of the organisers would have been a sensible guess but surely not in 2022. Or is it just that the mayor dislikes the messengers and the message?
The mayor’s action in supporting these escalating charges, for several weeks now, is in line with autocratic regimes around the world but never in a democracy. It is a cringing embarrassment to find them here in Christchurch.
If these protests have breached the law or covid regulations then it is over the police to take action but not the mayor or public employees.
Please indicate by return email that these traffic management charges will be withdrawn.
john john ohhh john…I know your 1st instinct is ‘defend’ any and all demos…but most interact with the police to minimize actual danger even though their aim is disruption(of course it is) these numpties didn’t in fact they actively kept their plans secret, if we’re gonna police freedom campers shitting by the road side..then why not people who just shit where they fancy…..oh because they have placards.
Good answer, there are ways of doing things & varying degrees of merit in whatever the cause is & in this case the protesters did not serve any useful purpose.
Obviously, I don’t want to see a situation where protesting becomes impossible so I have no objection to a negotiated settlement.
You are correct about this John
Here’s hoping the Council take them to court.
There are some obvious legal ‘matters arising’ from this:
1. Does the Council have this fee structure as a standing bylaw?
2. Did the Destiny Church agree to pay for the cost of traffic management beforehand?
3. Can the Council cite previous examples where they’ve successfully charged protesters for traffic management?
4. Has the Council previously charged parades, football matches and other public events for traffic management?
I suspect the answer to each of the above is a fairly definite ‘no’, so I think the Council can go whistle for their money.
100% John! 🙂 Our right to protest is a sacred right. Shame on CCC.
This is a case of the CCC being petty tyrants and seeking to financially punish a group for having what the CCC considers the wrong beliefs.
The CCC has never treated any other protest group in such a manner: It is pure discrimination.
The only correct course of action here for the marchers is not not pay a cent, in other words be treated the same as all other protest marches in chch