The fact that TPPA protestors managed to bring Auckland’s entire CBD to a standstill yesterday is a testament to just how powerful a tool people power is.
Even better, it shows us it’s a card we all have in our back pockets.
While outwardly John Key was arrogant enough to dismiss the thousands upon thousands of people who descended on Central Auckland as nothing but a “rent-a-crowd”, internally it must be a cause for concern that the TPPA protests have now escalated to a level that some say has rarely been seen in New Zealand since the 1981 Springbok tour.
Alongside the tens-of-thousands strong traditional march down Queen Street, another few thousand protestors demonstrated clever organisation and innovation by creating a peaceful “TPPA Free Zone” around Sky City Convention Centre, where the TPPA was being signed by world leaders.
Using a mixture of sit-ins and strategically-placed towering bamboo tripods complete with a keen activist teetering on top, the group rolled out a series of roaming blockades at all of the CBD’s key intersections.
Not only did these blockades serve to physically stop the delegates inside Sky City from leaving for most of the day, but they also caused maximum disruption with minimum resources, and put what was happening in our city on the world map.
International media giants like the BBC were quick to publish photos and commentary of the Auckland protests, no doubt creating further headaches for John Key’s Government who were hoping for positive press about the signing of the “world’s biggest free trade deal” right here Down Under.
Yesterday serves as a reminder that the fight’s not over yet.
