Tim Dower: What's going on with the Northland border?

I think we're overdue a bit of honesty and openness on what's going on with the Auckland border. 
A bit of transparency. 
At the moment, we still have a hard border and if you've been through it, you'll have seen it's obviously a police operation. 
The actual checking as you go into and out of the contaminated zone could be done by a civilian with a little wand, I've also encountered uniformed soldiers. 
But it's clear the police are running things, and taking the opportunity to pull a few cars and trucks over for regular road safety checks. 
All very much in the interests of anyone on the roads. 
Now, come December 15th, those hard checkpoints on the northern and southern boundaries were meant to be going. 
A system based on trust we were told, with random police checks, like those you can expect anytime you're out on the roads. 
Now it turns out the police are building up a roster of 300 staff to run checkpoints in Northland. 
Grant Robertson trotted out the 'operational decision' line yesterday, but is that true? 
If it was true, what was the point of making law so it's OK to have iwi-led road blocks, provided police are there? 
How have police calculated they need 300 staff to support random checks? What have they been told about roadblock plans, that we don't know? 
Who's really driving this? 
Have the Government and police been pushed into maintaining checkpoints by the inference that, hey, if you don't do it, we will. 
What's it really going to be like, come December 15th? 
Who's really running the show? 
Come to that, who's really running the country?

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