Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki is continuing to plan a major protest initially planned to march across the Auckland Harbour Bridge - despite authorities blocking the event.
The NZ Transport Agency and Police have confirmed that an application by The Freedom and Rights Coalition - the umbrella group that includes Destiny Church - had failed to meet the criteria needed to access the bridge.
And any unlawful access to the motorway will be met with enforcement action by police.
But a defiant Tamaki has taken to social media, calling on supporters to go ahead with plans for a protest on Saturday, January 31.
“Why a peaceful protest cannot walk the bridge, yet tens of thousands of cars and heavy trucks cross the bridge every day without a single word of safety risk to public,” he wrote online.
“It’s obvious [the] Government and Police are panicking that big numbers of Kiwis will be turning out to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Sat 31st January.
“We will meet at Victoria Park at 11am, Saturday 31st, January, Auckland central. The decision will be made then.”
Tamaki claimed the decision not to allow what he described as a peaceful protest over the Harbour Bridge was a “desperate panic reaction” from the Police.
He also referred to “the Muslim police commander and Indian police commander in charge.”
Police Superintendent Naila Hassan yesterday said that Police recognise the right to peaceful and lawful protest.
“[But] any attempts to deliberately walk across the bridge or disrupt access for other motorists will be considered unlawful activity.”
Hassan also said there was consideration that a protest through the centre lanes of the bridge would likely force closure of at least all lanes in one direction, significantly affecting the public.
“This could also potentially put lives at risk due to attendees’ proximity to live traffic and disruption to emergency services,” she said.
“Any access to the motorway network requires a permit, and as no such permit has been issued, any protest action on the Auckland Harbour Bridge would be unlawful.”
NZTA’s national manager maintenance and operations, Andrew Clark, said it was the roading agency’s job to protect road users on and around the Bridge and its structural integrity.
There was a high threshold for requests to access the bridge for special events.
The coalition’s proposed traffic management plan did not meet that, he said.
Clark said the bridge was not designed for pedestrian use, and large groups of people walking across it caused “swaying of the structure” that led to “large movement between the clip-ons and the central truss bridge lanes”.
The January 31 protest has been heavily promoted on social media platforms, including Facebook, by Tamaki and those involved with the True Patriots of NZ Facebook page.
Tamaki has been telling followers that this was their chance to protest about immigration.
The True Patriots of NZ group - who dub themselves as “guardians of the Kiwi way of life” and “defenders of faith, flag and family” have proven to be controversial after turning up at events - including a Sikh parade in South Auckland last month - with some holding banners saying: “This is NZ, not India.”
- NZ Herald
