The Advance Party may be the opposite of an advance in New Zealand politics. Their main aim seems to be to advance as many crazy conspiracy theories as possible.
But they have attracted thousands of followers, as evidenced by an anti-Covid rally in Auckland yesterday, which defied the level 2.5 restrictions currently in place in Auckland.
RNZ: Advance Party and crowd rallies against Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns
A crowd of a few thousand packed in Auckland’s Aotea Square this afternoon, at the “National Rally for Freedom”, organised by Advance Party co-leaders, Jami Lee Ross and Billy Te Kahika.
There was little social distancing and few people in the crowd wearing masks.
When the rally was finished, the large group continued its protest down Auckland’s Queen Street before returning to Aotea Square.
There were a number of police present at the rally; they refused to comment when approached by RNZ and asked whether there were any concerns about social distancing given the size of the crowd.
In a statement to RNZ later, police said with today’s event it was “possible that attempts to enforce Alert Level restrictions would have caused tension in an otherwise peaceful protest, without being effective in managing physical distancing of participants”.
That pretty much gives any protesters a green light to do what they like regardless of lockdown laws and rules.
It is disgraceful that a current Member of Parliament be blatantly behind breaking the law, but Ross has disgraced himself a number of times already so this is just another step downwards for him. His chances of being re-elected in Botany are miniscule so he seems to be hoping Te Kahika’s popularity will get him back into Parliament.
But how popular? Several thousand at a rally is a significant number, and there will be more supporters around the country, but they would need somewhere around 150,000 votes to make the 5% threshold (last election ACT got 13,075 votes for just 0.5% and Greens got 162,443 votes for 6.27%).
Even if they made history and the threshold, their influence in Parliament would likely be small. Labour would be extremely unlikely to do a coalition or confidence and supply deal with Advance NZ, and Advance NZ would be hugely hypocritical to even attempt to work with Labour.
Somme of their prominent COVID-19 Response Policy but it is laced with highly questionable claims. Their opening paragraph:
The COVID-19 virus has led nations around the world to take radical action to prevent its spread. In New Zealand, the Labour government has adopted an approach of eradication at any cost. That strategy has failed.
They are basically saying that “nations around the world” are wrong and they are right with untested claims.
The approach here hasn’t been “at any cost”, and it has been relatively successful both health-wise and economically so far.
In the false hope of eradicating the virus, we now face Labour’s Second Wave of Lockdowns. There is no end in sight for the current lockdown or for ending COVID-19 restrictions at lower levels. Labour’s plan is for years of rolling lockdowns.
I haven’t seen Labour state anything like that. Most countries including New Zealand are hoping that a vaccine will be available in the next year or so.
As new information is learned about COVID-19, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the fatality rate of the virus is considerably lower than first predicted. In the early stages of COVID-19 entering New Zealand, fear spread with many believing mass deaths would take place.
First predictions were widely variable based on limited information and based on a range of approaches.
Predictions where that doing nothing to limit Covid, as Advance NZ seem to be promoting, would likely
Initial predictions of death have not materialised around the world, and COVID-19’s case fatality rate is not unlike that of seasonal influenza. Flu or colds have never been eradicated, and attempts to do so have proved futile. The WHO and GAVI are predicting a similar situation for COVID-19, and it looks like we will have to learn to live with it and find ways to protect our most vulnerable without shutting down society. (https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/could-covid-19-ever-be-eradicated)
That’s an odd claim considering what is prominent on the gavi.org home page:
#VaccinesWork
Vaccines are one of the most successful and cost-effective health investments in history with wider benefits that accrue across a lifetime.
Keep informed about the latest topics in global health, including top stories related to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Also from Gavi: How COVID–19 is leading to famine and a ‘hunger pandemic’
COVID-19 has infected more than 27 million people, killing nearly 900,000 of them. As well as this devastating impact on people’s lives and health, there has been significant collateral damage from the pandemic – especially hunger and malnutrition, putting the lives of millions more at risk.
10 September 2020
That seems to be the opposite of what Advance NZ claim and promote. They also claim:
The reasonable question to ask now is – what long -term economic, social, and health costs will New Zealanders face…
That is a reasonable question to ask….
…in a futile effort to eradicate COVID-19 – a virus we now know we can manage as a nation without losing considerable freedoms?
…but it is followed by a claim that they can’t know. They don’t cite any examples anywhere in the world where Covid has been managed without losing any freedoms.
From their Policy in Brief:
Implement a risk-based approach where vulnerable citizens are protected and supported, but all others are free to continue daily life.
By segregating ‘vulnerable citizens’ from ‘all others’? That doesn’t sound like freedom for either group.
Their website tries to sound reasonable and considered but is littered with highly questionable claims and has major flaws in thinking.
Advance NZ is unlikely to make the MMP cut, and even if they did they would unlikely have much if any influence on policy.
But by promoting defiance of lockdown rules they are actually putting the rest of us at risk of more spread of Covid, and more lockdowns.