OPINION: Black Lives Matter. Of course they do. But does alert level 2 suddenly not matter?
How come as 2000 people march shoulder to shoulder down Queen Street you are still forced to queue outside a supermarket while barely 50 people mill around inside?
The protest is a massive slap in the face to all of us who are still following the rules.
It's a gut-wrenching insult to all those businesses who closed and now face ruin as a result.
It's a punch in the nose to all those families who couldn't have funerals or still need to keep it under a hundred.
So where is the PM on this?
Jacinda Ardern's silence is deafening.
Her office is quoted as saying it's an operational matter for the cops. Sure, but where's the PM's concern on health grounds?
Is she scared to upset the protesters because they're her voters?
Or does her lack of concern mean the risk is gone?
It has been 10 days without a new case.
Maybe it is safe after all to move to a normal society?
Because, if not, then these protests, as worthy as they may be, as important as their cause is, make a mockery of the alert level system.
The horse has bolted down Queen Street and galloped around Aotea Square.
I'm with Winston, who is with David Seymour. They both now say what's the point of level 2. Winston says let's go to level 1 today. I say go to level 0.
Microbiologist Susie Wiles is urging every protestor to self isolate for the next two weeks, like that'll happen.
Let's hope they all signed in and gave their phone number and address at the bottom of Queen Street.
But seriously, just imagine if these protests have set off a new chain of COVID-19 and next week we learn about the Aotea Square Cluster.
If the authorities are not genuinely concerned about that, what the hell is the point?
Duncan Garner hosts The AM Show.
