John MacDonald: No protests outside homes? Yes, but where else?

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has had a gutsful. And I don’t blame him.

I’d be the same if I had protesters outside my place and especially if I had a window smashed, which is what happened at his Auckland home last night.

And I reckon the time has well and truly come for us to decide where it is appropriate for people to protest, and where it isn’t.

Outside people’s homes is a no-no for me, because families don’t deserve to be targeted by protesters.

But what about other locations?

Remember during Covid how livid we were with all the anti-vaxxers protesting outside schools?

So does that mean schools should be no-go zones for protest action? I would say yes. Because protest action outside schools impacts the kids and they don’t deserve that. The same way protesting outside people’s homes impacts their families, and they don’t deserve that.

These protesters at Winston’s place have been turning up after he announced that the Government isn’t ready to recognise a Palestinian state.

The window was smashed just after 5:30 last night, with a guy handing himself in to police a few hours later.

There’s no formal confirmation that he was connected to the pro-Palestine crew, but as Winston said to a reporter last night: “Either 1 and 1 make 4 or 1 and 1 make 2. It’s up to you.”

But we know it’s connected.

Which is why I support the Government’s plan to ban protesting outside people’s houses, but I also want it to go further than that.

Tell that to law expert Graeme Edgeler though, who thinks the draft law —in its current form— would be difficult for the police to enforce in places like Queen Street, in Auckland, where people do live, but it’s also, for all intents and purposes, a public space.

And Graeme Edgeler says if this ban on protesting outside people’s homes happens, there are going to be times when the police won’t actually know what to do. 

But here's the bottom line for me: however strong you might feel about something, it’s not on targeting people in a way that also affects their families. 

And what often happens when you get a groundswell of protest action is you get the people who are genuine and not out to cause any real trouble, but they can very easily lose control and get all sorts of muppets joining in. Just for fun. 

Which is why I think people’s homes and schools should be out of bounds for protest action. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's podcast where John McDonald
from News talks'b.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters he's had a guts ful,
He's had an absolute gutsful, and I don't blame him.
I don't blame him one bit. I would be the
same if I had protesters outside my place, and especially
if I had a window smashed, which is what happened
at his Auckland home last night. You would have heard
about this, and I reckon the time has well and

(00:35):
truly come for us to decide as a country where
it is appropriate for people to protest and where it isn't.
Which is the questions I've got for you this morning.
Where is it appropriate to protest and where is it
not outside people's homes? Absolutely no, no for me, because

(00:57):
for simple reason, because families don't deserve to be targeted
by protesters, do they? I don't deserve it. It's not acceptable.
What about other I cass remember during remember during COVID
how livid we all were with the anti vaxers protesting
outside schools? Remember that? Yeah? You remember it? So does

(01:20):
that mean that schools should be no ghostes for protest action?
I would say yes, because protest action outside schools impacts
the kids, and they don't deserve that, no matter what
the cause is. The same way protesting outside people's houses
impacts families, and families don't deserve that. So these protest

(01:45):
is just a bit of background. These protesters at Winston's place,
they've been turning up after he announced that the government
isn't ready just yet to recognize the Palestinian state. And
the window was smashed just after five point thirty last
night with a guy obviously felt a bit guilty headed
himself into the cops a few hours later. There is
no formal confirmation has been charged facing charges, but there's

(02:09):
no formal confirmation yet that he was connected to the
pro Palestine crew. That, as Winston said to a reporter
last night, quote either one and one make four or
one and one make two. It's up to you. We
know it's connected, don't we. Let's not pretend otherwise, Which
is why I support the government's plan to ban protesting

(02:32):
outside people's houses, but I also want it to go
further than that. Tell that though to law expert Graham Edgler,
who was staying to make this morning that he doesn't
think the draft law is worded properly and will be
difficult for the police to enforce.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
The new offense isn't a particularly serious one, you know,
in the Summary Offenses Act, which is all sort of
a very low level crimes, and so I'm not sure
this new offense is going to make that much of
a difference.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
And he was saying, well, what about places like Queen
Street and Auckland where people do live in apartments, but
it's also, for all intents and purposes, a public space.
Very good question. You could say the same about the
center of christ Church. People's homes are here, but it's
the center of town as well public space. And Graham
Mitchel says, if this ban on protesting outside people's houses happens,

(03:22):
there are going to be times when the police won't
actually know what to do. My response to that is
so what, because here's the bottom line for me. However
strong you might feel about something, or strongly you might
feel about something, it is not on targeting people in
a way that also affects their families. And what always
happens when you get a ground swell of protest action

(03:44):
And I'm not having the gut Farmers here, I'm just
coincidentally using that word. But what always happens when you
get a ground swell of protest action is you get
the people who are genuine and who aren't out to
cause any real trouble. But the genuine people they can
very easily lose control a and you get all sorts
of muppets joining in just for the fun, just for

(04:04):
the sport. And that is what has happened at Winston
Peter's place, which is my answer to the questions I'm
asking this morning is outside people's times and outside schools.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
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