Activist Arrested In John Key’s Office During Non-Violent TPPA Sit In
In an all woman sit in, Show Us Ya Text occupied the Prime Minister’s office in Kumeu today until they were removed by
police around 11am. The all female protest wanted to highlight New Zealand’s proud democratic history and the threat
posed by secret TPPA negotiations.
Female members of “Show Us Ya Text” held pictures of Kate Sheppard proclaiming “I am Kate” and occupied Prime Minister
John Key’s office while supporters waved banners outside. Police were on the scene within minutes and removed the
protestors, taking their details and forcing them off the premises.
“All protesters involved received comprehensive non-violence training and strictly adhere to these principles in all our
actions. The assault charge laid is completely unfounded and we have video evidence to back this up” said Georgina
Blackmore.
She went on to say, “Kate Sheppard fought for women's democratic rights and these same rights are now threatened by the
government's secrecy in the TPPA negotiations”.
“Last week our deadline to the government to release the TPPA text passed. The secrecy of these negotiations is
incompatible with the democratic society Kate fought for and we’ll be conducting a non-violent search and seizure in
Wellington on Tuesday September 15th”, said Blackmore.
ENDS