The New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) said on Wednesday that it was preparing to send “Defence Force assets” to Wellington to disperse an anti-coronavirus vaccination mandate rally near the country’s parliament building, which had entered its ninth day.
On February 16, New Zealand’s Stuff news site stated, “An NZDF spokesman said conversations on the probable deployment of Defense Force assets are ongoing, and no decisions have been taken.”
“Four Defense Force vehicles have arrived in Wellington and are ready to deploy if needed,” a spokesman for the NZDF said.
“They are being per-positioned in case they are needed,” she told reporters, “but no decisions have been made concerning their usage to aid the towing effort.”
According to Stuff, “four army trucks traveled to Wellington from Linton and Waiouru on Wednesday.”
On the ninth day of protests over Covid-19 limitations in Wellington on February 16, 2022, police stand at the top of steps chalked with protest statements that lead to Parliament, inspired by a similar action in Canada.
On February 15, anti-vaccine mandate protesters gathered outside New Zealand’s parliament building were given an ultimatum by the police to move their vehicles — many of which were blocking roads around the legislative center as part of the demonstration — or face having their vehicles towed and seized. On February 16, the rally’s participants generally rejected the police force’s directive, which is controlled by New Zealand’s federal government, and proceeded to congregate by the hundreds near the parliament building’s grounds.
The rally’s organizers said they were motivated to protest New Zealand’s coronavirus vaccination mandate after seeing the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration in Canada, which also demands for an end to pandemic-related vaccine mandates and mobility restrictions. The “Freedom Convoy” began in late January and is still going strong across the country. Thousands of commercial truckers have purposely blocked major parts of Canadian trade routes in order to raise attention to the issue.
