The disruption and traffic gridlock caused by the remnant protestors on Parliament grounds is not only impacting the
business of running the city of Wellington it is also affecting the region. More than 5,000 Kāpiti residents commute
from this coast to work in the Capital. Anything that disrupts Wellington has a knock-on effect on Kāpiti. The same can
be said of the other councils in the region.
I call on my regional mayoral colleagues to join me in totally supporting the Wellington Mayor and his council, working
with the police, to take quick and effective action to stop the disruption caused by these remnant and unruly ramshackle
bunch of protestors. As a former protestor, including during the 1981 Springbok Tours, I support the democratic right to
protest. But this bunch of the politically convenient are abusing that democratic right. This remnant at Parliament
grounds now are not representative of the peaceful protestors who exercised their democratic right to protest, made
their point and left.