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Daniel Hutchinson From The Hutch |
What a crazy week we are having. The writing was literally on the wall for the Wellington protests this week as Police sought to restore order to the centre of the country's democracy.
Really, the Government needs to be firmly focused on managing a pandemic which is sweeping the country at a phenomenal rate. There are also international events that we need to be keeping a close watch on as well.
Those unhappy with the way our elected members are handling things get a vote, like everyone else, at the next election. In the meantime, they are perfectly entitled to make themselves heard, demonstrate and lobby for change.
They don't have the right to permanently occupy public areas, shut down businesses, abuse people who are exercising their own right to walk through town. They are not entitled to pelt Police with paving stones and set fire to a children's playground.
Lactose intolerant
At the end of it all there was more milk than blood flowing down Molesworth St as protestors relied on their trusted online sources for a pepper spray remedy.
Milk is not a proven remedy for pepper spray although many protest movements swear by it in their online forums. Doctors don't recommend using it as it is not sterile.
Bottled water is apparently a better option for rinsing out pepper spray, although the thing that stings – oleoresin capsicum – is an oil derived from peppers and not easily displaced by water alone, or milk.
So, my best tip for violent protestors is to carry plenty of water and some baby shampoo because it won't irritate the eyes like ordinary soap does.
What with pitchforks and Fonterra's secret pepper spray remedy, it did manage to be a very Kiwi-flavoured riot.
Make butter not war
Meanwhile, New Zealand is always destined to be a bystander in the battle for old Soviet territory, but we'll do what we can to help David fight Goliath.
The Ukrainian's fight for the right to live life on their own terms puts our little riot into perspective.
While we are being urged to stay home and mask-up, Ukrainians are being asked to make Molotov cocktails and hurl them at the enemy. A Kyiv-based brewery has switched from bottling beer to making these improvised weapons.
Perhaps we could send some of our protestors over there – the ones that just went there to fight.
This is a dangerous game being played, with the spectre of nuclear war hanging above it all and New Zealand might finally have to take a stand on something.
In the past we have been able to simply go along with sanctions imposed by the United Nations. We don't even have a mechanism in place to enforce our own tailored sanctions on another country.
Taking a stand
That's about to change with new legislation being rushed through Parliament. In the past we have been able to avoid pressure from our traditional allies to take sides, hence our cosy trade relationship with China.
Russia is only our 27th largest export market and worth a mere $293 million in the 12 months to June 2021. Half of that was butter, which is probably not critical to their war effort.
It is good stuff though so any chef that works for a high-ranking government official or an oligarch will be very nervous indeed.
‘Hi, I'm Covid'
The somewhat bewildering onset of Omicron means we probably all know someone who has it.
With cases well into the tens of thousands a day, all we can do is go along for the ride, never trust a sneeze and occasionally pop our head up to ask, ‘Are we there yet?'.
It's hard to get your head around the loosening of border restrictions at the same time as the pandemic reaches its zenith but it makes sense, I guess. The enemy is everywhere already so a few thousand more vaccinated, and probably previously infected people coming in isn't going to change things much.
Managing the pandemic to protect the economy is a pretty big shift from the policy to date but this variant is proving to be far less deadly than previous versions.
Here's hoping the next week will bring more hope and less violence.
daniel@thesun.co.nz
