Brian Tamaki really annoys Auckland by adding to traffic congestion

Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, July 24th, 2022 - 53 comments
Categories: Hannah Tamaki, new conservatives, political parties, politicans, transport, uncategorized - Tags:

Brian and Hannah Tamaki and their supporters decided to disrupt the country in a major protest organised yesterday.  He must have been disappointed with the result.  Because although a few hardy protestors managed to disrupt Auckland by walking onto a motorway and by some others driving slowly.  The thinking behind it is hard to fathom.  There is nothing more likely to get you offside with Aucklanders than adding to congestion.

And looks like the rationale is to have yet another run at the elections next year.  And a mega merger of idiot parties is in the drawing board.  From the Herald:

Tamaki told Radio New Zealand he will soon make an announcement regarding three minor parties forming a coalition.

Tamaki said three minor parties have made the commitment to operate under a new umbrella.

“I’m in talks with others. So it looks like there’s going to be a new party on the block.

“We want to bring reform to this political establishment. It needs changing. We want to get it out of the hands of parties, and into the hands of people.”

Tamaki said he has no interest in personally running for Parliament, preferring to act in an advisory role to the new party.

The reason for the protest was to demand the Government resigns.  Comparisons were drawn with what is happening in Sri Lanka.  There are differences however.  One nation is besieged by debt caused in part by ridiculous tax cuts.  The other nation, Aotearoa, is doing perfectly well thank you very much with remarkably low debt levels given what we have been through in the past couple of years.

The matters Tamaki was protesting against included the high cost of living, understaffing of hospitals, GPs being overworked, education problems, three-waters legislation, a mental health crisis and under-resourced first responders.

It did not matter that there was a great deal of contradiction in their claims.  The high cost of living is predominately an internationally caused phenomenon, understaffing of hospitals and GPs being overworked are in part because we are in a one in 100 year pandemic and groups such as Destiny Church have been actively disrupting preventative measures such as the  vaccination roll out and mask wearing.  The mental health crisis is related.  If he has a better solution for Three Waters he should present it.  Presuming that Tamaki advocates for reduction in government spending to address inflation then this directly contradicts the steps necessary to address all of the other measures.

And for a more reasoned critique of Labour’s performance this year in these areas how about this analysis from Audrey Young in the Herald.  She points to the temporary measures designed to address cost of living pressures.  She reports significant implementation of Health policies.  In education the most important policy initiative that has been achieved in my view is the expansion of the the free healthy school lunches programme from 8,000 to 200,000 children.  And there is significant work being done on improving the plight of first responders.  Rome was not built in a day.

At the last election Vision NZ received 0.1% of the party vote.  I don’t think they pose much of a threat.  Especially if they continue to annoy the population at large with the sort of antics that they engaged in the sorts of antics that occurred on Saturday.

53 comments on “Brian Tamaki really annoys Auckland by adding to traffic congestion ”

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  1. Anne 1
    24 July 2022 at 11:01 am

    Jack Tame interview this morning with Dr Ashley Bloomfield on the eve of his retirement:

    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/live

    The interview starts 19 mins 23 secs in.

    Compare the words of wisdom as uttered by "Bishop" Tamaki yesterday at the protest with Dr. Ashley Bloomfield today. One is a charlatan with a forked tongue and the other is a highly intelligent medical expert – a gentleman of real worth.

  2. Stuart Munro 2
    24 July 2022 at 11:52 am

    I'm not sure that I'd agree that cost of living issues are primarily international in origin, though clearly current inflation is not driven by local demand.

    Major components like cost of housing however, are driven by policies that were, in the long term, untenable, but were endorsed by Brash's zombies at Treasury without Labour demur. Immigration was also a non-trivial contributor to the debacle, together with the toothless (no disrespect to Cressida Cowell's character of that name) useless Commerce Commission.

    Tamaki is a curious pathology – but until real worker voices are structured into policy development it should be expected that increased pressure will find a way to vent through random orifices.

  3. mike 3
    24 July 2022 at 12:25 pm

    To paraphrase Tamaki – We have started a party 'to get out of the hands of parties'. Blimey! Is this guy real. Sadly he is. And, dangerously, the only vision he has for his VisionNZ party is theocracy. That's right, rule by priests. The ultimate aim? Bring back burning at the stake. It's been missed.

  4. Ad 4
    24 July 2022 at 12:29 pm

    They should be treated the same as the several hundred cyclists who took over the same bridge.

    No one on the left called for those cyclists to be arrested.

    The hard right is uniting while the hard left is in disarray. So the last thing the Auckland left would need is a fast dose of hypocrisy.

    • Anne 4.1
      24 July 2022 at 2:30 pm

      No one on the left called for those cyclists to be arrested.

      You reckon? I remember watching the video and feeling very frustrated that the police were standing around and letting it happen. I'll bet I wasn't the only 'leftie' who felt the same way.

    • Herodotus 4.2
      24 July 2022 at 2:32 pm

      Because white middle class wearing Lycra is acceptable, the police/ govt would lose at lot of public support should they have acted in a similar manner as they are proposing here, those middle class need to feel that they can protest take over the harbour bridge with immunity.

    • Incognito 4.3
      24 July 2022 at 2:47 pm

      Was the Tamaki Gang demonstrating for an extra lane on the M-way they walked on?

      Had they announced (e.g. informed Police) they were going to walk on that M-way?

      Is lycra worse than leather when staging a protest?

    • Clive Macann 4.4
      25 July 2022 at 3:54 pm

      "No one on the left called for those cyclists to be arrested."

      Hmm, unless you have SPOKEN and LISTENED to EVERY leftie then you have no right to speak for them ALL.

      Talk about being self entitled, Ad.

  5. Sanctuary 5
    24 July 2022 at 12:36 pm

    Tamaki's rhetoric is getting close to committing treason under the crimes act IMHO.

  6. Barfly 6
    24 July 2022 at 3:02 pm

    If Tamaki was on fire I wouldn't even piss on him.

  7. woodart 7
    24 July 2022 at 3:35 pm

    its a great service that tamaki is doing . he will vacuum up much of the wacko vote that would otherwise gravitate to act . hopefully he will align with a conservative party/ groundswill, and further hoover votes away from act/national. should be entertaining viewing as assorted oddballs jockey for position in this unholy alliance. billy and jl ross should get involved. maybe the corpse of don brash?

    • Ikey 7.1
      24 July 2022 at 9:43 pm

      Conclusion based on your likely scenario is another coalition with Labour, not going to happen.

  8. weka 8
    24 July 2022 at 4:13 pm

    Maybe winning over Aucklanders isn't the point? Maybe the point is to attract the disaffected, and to create more political strife so that the number of disaffected grows? Trumpian. The chaos serves the cause. Even if he never gets anywhere near power, it will help National to have more people hating Labour. I'm sure he prefers a Nat government to a L/G one.

    • roblogic 8.1
      24 July 2022 at 10:44 pm

      It's not an honest political protest, the point is to troll Aucklanders and make the church members feel like they are actually doing something.

      Destiny should stick to its social programs and service to the community, that is a far better ministry than this (heretical) Dominionist political posturing.

      So many scenes from “The Life of Brian” are applicable here. But Tamaki’s movement is not funny, it is taking a dark turn, going down a destructive path of QAnon/MAGA mindfucks

  9. BAW 9
    24 July 2022 at 4:25 pm

    Nat voter here.

    But they won….

    The vax mandates are being shut down, the vax pass is gone, and mask mandates are being ignored.

    If he wants Jacinda gone then he is going to need the Nats. Problem is that his small party will get less than 5% and thus take votes away from the Nats. I see an own goal here. Of course he makes things worse if he tarrs the Nats with his brand.

    • Incognito 9.1
      24 July 2022 at 7:24 pm

      But they won….

      Are you serious?

    • mickysavage 9.2
      24 July 2022 at 8:45 pm

      I hope they get 4.8% of the vote and no electorate seat.

      The christian conservative movement has from my point of view been really successful because it has never won seats in Parliament and has always marooned a number of votes. Long may it continue.

      Of course a major reason has been that the movement is full of hypocrites.

    • Clive Macann 9.3
      25 July 2022 at 3:59 pm

      "They won".

      Seriously, how/why did you come up with that?

      All those things you mentioned were always going to be removed at the time the Govt and Medical advisors were best.

      Had nothing to do with Tamaki and his cohorts. LOL

  10. Anne 10
    24 July 2022 at 4:40 pm

    Bryan Gould says it all:

    "So, now we know for sure. The “protesters” who defiled the grounds of parliament and who (according to their own account) intended to create in three of our major cities “maximum disruption and inconvenience” to other citizens, are not interested in democracy – indeed, quite the contrary. Their objective, quite clearly, is to deny and defy the outcome of a democratic election and to overturn an elected government.

    The issues which they had earlier claimed were those that motivated them – vaccination and other measures to counter the covid pandemic – are no longer live issues. The only remaining issue is their overall hostility to our elected government and their willingness to use any means, including assaults on the rights and freedoms of other citizens, to establish a regime of indeterminate character but which would clearly not be democratic or respectful of the rights of others.

    In some ways, the leaders of the so-called protesters have done us all a favour by making their nefarious objectives so clear. If the issue and choice that now confronts us is to decide between Jacinda Ardern and her elected government on the one hand and Brian Tamaki and his Destiny Church on the other, the response is surely a no-brainer. The “protesters” may have unwittingly shot themselves in the foot by showing their hand so clearly."

    See side-bar for original.

  11. mauī 11
    24 July 2022 at 6:09 pm

    6 years ago many on here were supportive of the TPP protests that caused traffic chaos in the name of sovereignty and freedom… Hmm, sound familiar..

    .https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-04022016/

    • Incognito 11.1
      24 July 2022 at 6:15 pm

      You can shove your false equivalences, troll.

      • RedLogix 11.1.1
        24 July 2022 at 7:08 pm

        Tough day?

      • mickysavage 11.1.2
        24 July 2022 at 8:53 pm

        It is a valid point. Happy to let this discussion develop because I do need to understand why one is ok and the other is not.

        • Incognito 11.1.2.1
          24 July 2022 at 9:39 pm

          Sure, but that’s a different set of questions and the presumed equivalence of the causes/goals is irrelevant – we have the right to protest but we don’t have the right to walk on M-ways to cause traffic chaos; it was not hikoi. It is very easy to argue major and fundamental differences between the two protests that make any further comparison a rather strenuous exercise in mental gymnastics, IMO. Would it be valid argument in Court to compare with the TPPA protest, for example, if it were to come to charges?

          I’ll let mauī explain although I doubt anything will be forthcoming from that troll and anyway, this is your Post.

    • Rosemary McDonald 11.2
      24 July 2022 at 6:29 pm

      Those were the days… I wonder how many hanging around here on TS now were actually there in Auckland that day?

      God…I so remember Labour hopefuls during that campaign telling us they'd fight the TPPA to the bitter end.

      What a joke they turned out to be.

      • Anne 11.2.1
        24 July 2022 at 8:21 pm

        Rosemary re-writes history yet again?

        There may have been a small number of LP members who opposed the TPPA , but my recollection is: Labour did not oppose the agreement. However they may have wished to change an aspect or two of it. Labour have been instrumental in negotiating and signing most of the trade treaties we have with other countries.

        • Rosemary McDonald 11.2.1.1
          24 July 2022 at 9:13 pm

          Rosemary re-writes history yet again?

          There may have been a small number of LP members who opposed the TPPA , but my recollection is: Labour did not oppose the agreement.

          All very muddled and confusing at the time it was Anne, and I can see where it might make for difficult remembering…

          https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/76377266/andrew-little-and-labour-make-a-hash-of-selling-partys-tppa-stance

          Finally, after a caucus retreat in the Wairarapa earlier this week, Little emerged with a clearly-packaged sound bite; the party could not support the TPP as it stood and would vote against any enabling legislation that cut across New Zealand's right to pass laws in its own best interest.

          Some made their stance quite clear….

          Labour has joined the campaign to oppose the deal as the focus turns to the signing in Auckland next week.

          Mr Goff, a former leader and former Trade Minister and now an Auckland mayoral candidate, and David Shearer, also a former Labour leader, last night told the Herald they both still supported the TPP.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mps-break-ranks-on-tpp/LQVMCWHJ7QGIW25P3VYKMAPQD4/

          And sometimes there were some quite definite statements made…

          In its minority report, the Labour Party expressed strong opposition to the TPP, saying the Government had failed to effectively represent the long-term interests of New Zealanders.

          "As it stands, we cannot support the ratification of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement," the Labour Party said.

          New Zealand had "weakened" its sovereignty for relatively small gains, Labour said.

          The $2.7 billion boost to the economy amounted to a 0.9 per cent lift to GDP in 15 years' time. The New Zealand economy was projected to rise by 47 per cent over this period, Labour said.

          The Green Party and New Zealand First also expressed their opposition to the agreement in their minority reports.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/trade-minister-disappointed-at-labours-tpp-vote/4BZM3GG2Q3U6BRSBHZBZDSRZVY/

          But changes were made… maybe…and Labour happily added a letter or two and signed…https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/01/labour-insists-decision-to-sign-tpp-is-not-a-u-turn.html

          Did we ever get to see the full text? So much secret squirrel stuff going on…

          https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-overdue-for-an-open-and-honest-debate-about-21st-century-trade-relations-160922

          Before the 2017 election, with the TPPA’s public support in tatters, the Labour Party was keen to paint itself as part of the increasingly popular movement against corporate-led globalisation.

          Its minority report to the select committee noted:

          The Labour Party wishes to protest in the strongest terms at the government’s failure to effectively represent the long-term interests of New Zealand in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.

          And yet when the incoming Trump Administration stepped back from the TPPA in early 2017, Labour turned cheerleader for a slightly modified CPTPP agreement.

          In government Labour argued the necessary changes had been made to make the agreement acceptable, but in reality hardly anything had changed.

          • lprent 11.2.1.1.1
            24 July 2022 at 11:57 pm

            Sigh… You really need to look at a timeline for the TPPA.

            Think of it as several different agreements.

            The original TPPA before the US hopped on to it was fine as far as I was concerned.

            The TPPA with the US involved was a useless mess, especially with questions of intellectual property rights including the pharmaceuticals, and in the arbitration regime associated with that. Basically it traded everyone else in the NZ economy off for a minimal access for farmers to the restrictive US farmed goods market.

            We ratified that pile of crap in 2016. Fortunately Trump (as chief idiot of the USA) dumped that version after 2016 by making it clear that he wouldn’t ratify it. Best decision that he could have made for the benefit of the citizens of New Zealand.

            The CPTPP is the agreement that was actually signed. It got rid of most of the issues that I had with the TPPA, That was signed in late 2018 by the more rational states of the TPPA and came in effect at the end of 2018.

            I can live mostly with that agreement. Almost all of the most objectionable clauses in it were removed, albeit with a pious note that they might be negotiated in if the US decided to try to join. Jane Kelsey points out that

            A few provisions, mainly on intellectual property rights, were suspended but not withdrawn, while a series of side letters of questionable legal value meant investors from Australia and Peru could not challenge New Zealand laws or decisions directly in dubious offshore tribunals.

            But that isn’t correct. For the US to come into the CPTPP, they’d have to negotiate those back in, or to get the CPTPP suspended and revert back to the TPPA. As she points out later, there are 11 countries who would have to be convinced

            In short, I would describe your characterisation of Labour position and that of its MPs as a a dumb fantasy by someone who hasn’t bothered to actually followed the negotiations on the TPPA/CPTPP.

            In government Labour argued the necessary changes had been made to make the agreement acceptable, but in reality hardly anything had changed.

            That is a statement that simply indicates that you don’t know anything about the differences between the 2016 TPPA (which I opposed) and the CPTPP that I could live with. The few minor suspensions were exactly the ones that I and many others in the Labour party and many of the business community outside of agriculture opposed.

            The end result of the CPTTP wasn’t that different in effect from some of the previous FTAs between members of the CPTPP. Its effect was to cause a slow reduction in tariffs across the region, with minimal overrides on local laws. The intellectual property restrictions that I viewed to be a active economic constraint on NZ were largely suspended. The investor-state provisions were scaled back as well.

            Prove me wrong – list them and explain what the effect of each of the changes was. There was information about it from 2017-19.

            What Jane Kelsey does have entirely correct is this….

            The CPTPP risks becoming another merry-go-round in the largely secretive circus of free trade agreements. Countries seem willing to climb on board without prior public scrutiny or any compelling rationale.

            It’s time to pull back the curtains and have an open and honest debate about the kind of trade relations New Zealand and other nations really need for the 21st century.

            I had a close look at the TTPA, and as she said – much of it isn’t public. The economic forecasts by MFAT were a work of PR fiction that didn’t appear to have any basis in any commercial world that I know.

            But it really doesn’t help having a lazy person slagging off a political party using links from before 2017. They were all about a agreement that never got implemented.

            TPPA is not the the same as the CPTPP. Which is what your obnoxious and stupid rant appeared to conflate. You sounded exactly like brain dead parrot repeating something that they read back in 2016. Perhaps you should look at the situation that is actually in place now rather than living in the damn past.

            • Rosemary McDonald 11.2.1.1.1.1
              25 July 2022 at 8:27 am

              Sigh… The key word in Anne's comment at https://thestandard.org.nz/brian-tamaki-really-annoys-auckland-by-adding-to-traffic-congestion/#comment-1901894 is "history".

              And the accusation that I was "re writing" the same in saying that in 2016 Labour was opposed to the TPPA .

              I responded with links to just some of the news articles from the time that support my claim.

              And a more recent article from someone who might have a clue or two on the matter.

              Which is what your obnoxious and stupid rant appeared to conflate. You sounded exactly like brain dead parrot repeating something that they read back in 2016. Perhaps you should look at the situation that is actually in place now rather than living in the damn past.

              There seems to be an acceptance of personal attacks on commenters here on TS when there are disagreements…it is clear to see where that culture originates.

              It was a discussion about the anti-TPPA protest in Auckland in 2016 and the stance that Labour took at that time.

              • lprent …
                25 July 2022 at 2:16 pm

                The stance that Labour took at the time was to do with the TPPA. Your links just show that as a parliamentary party they didn't support the TPPA going forward in the form it had at the time.

                They specified the specific parts of the agreement that they had issues with. Which were based around intellectual property provisions, the investor-state form, and some specific issues related to the treaty of Waitangi. All of which were removed, suspended, or significantly changed.

                Yet you highlighted this…

                In government Labour argued the necessary changes had been made to make the agreement acceptable, but in reality hardly anything had changed.

                Why? That was complete bullshit. The Labour parliamentary party had made clear in the select committee minority report exactly what sections of the treaty worried them. Those that caused them to oppose the ratification of the TTPA – something that I can't remember them doing in any previous trade treaty in my lifetime – including problematic ones like CER. Those same sticking points for the TPPA were the exactly the parts that were changed in the CPTTP.

                I can understand Jane Kelsey's position. She doesn't particularly trust any trade treaty from CER onwards – so she highlights the flaws in each treaty, and she does it in detail. Critics of that type of useful.

                But there simply was no 'u-turn' by Labour. Neither you nor Jane Kelsey have managed to or even attempted to make a case for it as far as I can see. You simply projected your desired outcomes and criticised that Labour didn't follow them. Neither of you bothered to look at what Labour members of parliamentarians were worried about and what they objected to.

                For a starter neither of you bothered to even list the things that got changed – against the objections written in the minority select committee report or the stated objections of the Labour party as a whole. You only have to look at what remits got passed at NZLP conferences.

                There seems to be an acceptance of personal attacks on commenters here on TS when there are disagreements…it is clear to see where that culture originates.

                Consider that I spent quite a lot of time working against Labour supporting the TPPA from very early on in the negotiations. Amongst other things I spent a period of time talking to Phil Goff about my objections to it during one of the conferences. I spent time writing about my objections to it here and spending time discussing it. Personally I can't remember you managing to say anything of relevance during that period. basically shouting slogans is the trait of a idiotic parrot rather than someone thinking about the topic.

                I consider that your lying about where the NZLP position was, where it went to by ratification time, and where the CPTPP wound up is a direct personal attack on me and my integrity. As well as for everyone inside Labour who thought about the issue and actively worked on changing the mind of the NZLP and the parliamentary party.

                You have to remember that when TPPA was first opened up to US inclusion that the parliamentary party was largely in favour of it regardless of the potential down sides. It wasn't the mindless career outsiders like Bomber (or yourself probably) who changed their position against the worst aspects of the US TPPA. It was almost entirely opposition by NZLP members, and the dedicated work of researchers like Jane Kelsey who did that.

                Now I'm sure that it was a matter of simple thoughtlessness and laziness that caused you to offend me like that. Besides the stated policy on this side is robust debate. That doesn't preclude stating opinions on someone else position.

                I said for instance

                In short, I would describe your characterisation of Labour position and that of its MPs as a a dumb fantasy by someone who hasn’t bothered to actually followed the negotiations on the TPPA/CPTPP.

                And as anticipated – you clearly had and still have no idea what those positions were during the TPPA debates.

                Prove me wrong – list them and explain what the effect of each of the changes was. There was information about it from 2017-19.

                Ha! Just because you have absolutely no idea what those are, doesn't seem to prevent you from mindlessly insulting those who actually do.

                But it really doesn’t help having a lazy person slagging off a political party using links from before 2017. They were all about a agreement that never got implemented.

                Which you appear to have proved again in your reply.

                You sounded exactly like brain dead parrot repeating something that they read back in 2016. Perhaps you should look at the situation that is actually in place now rather than living in the damn past.

                Well these weren't insults – they appear to be accurate assessments of your comment and your probable level of avoidance / response.

                Perhaps if you simply thought about what you were writing and dealt with criticism of your position without falling into victim mode you'd draw a less robustly nuanced responses.

    • Mike the Lefty 11.3
      25 July 2022 at 8:34 am

      Well Maui the protests you refer to were well organized. The organizers co-ordinated with police to keep the disruption contained. Compare that with Vision NZ supporters who wander all over the road like Brown's cows abusing police and by-standers alike and leaving rubbish everywhere.

      Such nice folks!

  12. Mike the Lefty 12
    24 July 2022 at 10:04 pm

    Vision NZ needs to be renamed "Tunnelvision NZ".

  13. Peter 13
    25 July 2022 at 10:00 am

    I was pleased to hear Phil Goff say of Tamaki's comment "angry, self-entitled dick heads," that Tamaki should look in the mirror.

  14. Barfly 14
    25 July 2022 at 11:18 am

    At this point Tamaki's efforts are a minor annoyance- A future where someone organises a "counter-protest" could well end up in a riot

  15. observer 15
    25 July 2022 at 11:38 am

    The weather in Auckland has been terrible over the past few days (link: looking out the window).

    But it relented briefly, for Brian Scamaki's mob to have a stroll on Saturday. This proves that Old God takes his instructions from Bigger God Brian.

  16. Maurice 16
    25 July 2022 at 11:48 am

    Just wait till Farmers bring their protest to the motorways … and leave manure everywhere!