East Aucklanders needing to get around the city on Thursday this week may need to leave home earlier than planned if they want to get to their destination on time.
Te Pati Maori (the Maori Party) is calling for all Maori to go on strike that day in protest against the coalition Government’s policies.
It’s the day the Government will deliver Budget 2024.
The ‘Toitu Te Tiriti Nationwide Activation’ is being promoted on the party’s Facebook page with an image of two old-style firearms as well as the New Zealand and national Maori flags.
People who take part in the day of protest are expected to drive slowly in large convoys of vehicles on various roads around the country to disrupt the flow of traffic at peak times.
The motivation for the protest is “demonstrating a unified Aotearoa response to the Government’s assault on Tangata Whenua Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, “demonstrating the might of Tangata Whenua Tangata Tiriti working together”, and “asserting the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as enduring and everlasting”.
Te Pati Maori is also asking all Maori to skip work on Thursday to take part in a hikoi near them “to prove the might of our economy by disconnecting entirely from it”.
People joining the protest are expected to gather at spots close to motorway on-ramps at 6.30am that day.
In Auckland the protests are expected to be held at locations including a Z fuel station in south Auckland, the BP in Hobsonville, the Palmers Albany Garden Centre, and at Aotea Square in the CBD.
The coalition Government has repeatedly rejected the assertion its policies are harmful to Maori.
Prime Minister and Botany MP Christopher Luxon told news media today, May 28, that the plan for a nationwide protest activation on Thursday was “illegal”.
