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This photograph was taken at the anti-mandate and anti-vaccination protest that occupied the grounds of New Zealand's Parliament buildings and its surrounding streets for 23 days from 7 February to 2 March 2022. The occupation was organised by a range of disparate groups opposed to the NZ government's Covid-19 mandates. While it attracted hundreds of peaceful protestors, it also attracted conspiracy theorists and a number threatening violence towards the Prime Minister, Members of Parliament, the media, police and members of the public. The protest was forcibly closed down by the New Zealand Police on 2 March 2022 due to the escalating levels of violence.
The photograph, which was taken on the morning of 28 February, features one of the many vehicles that took part in a convoy that headed to Parliament grounds from around the country on the 6-7 February 2022 to protest against the Covid 19 vaccine mandates. The protesters used vehicles to block the streets and create grid locks in the city. It features key messaging and iconography relating to the protest, including the presence of the silver fern and United Tribes flag.
The protest was inspired by the ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Canada, which involved the nearly 3-month long occupation of the Canadian parliament area in Ottawa by a convoy of truckers opposing the country’s Covid-19 restrictions, particularly the legal mandate that truck drivers had to be vaccinated to cross the border, but was quickly broadened. The ‘convoy’ idea was quickly picked up in Australia, and subsequently New Zealand, where a Facebook group and number of Telegram channels were established to create ‘Convoy 2022 NZ’.