The businessmen and women of Christchurch themselves know it, even if the city’s Dictators Pro Tem have yet to begin learning it.
No wonder Christchurch businessmen are becoming increasingly restive at being locked out of their city and locked out of even of their own premises, while royals and V.I.P.s are given guided tours through their rubble.
Last week they began marching. And yesterday they stormed the armed cordon around their ruined businesses, to which they are denied access even to salvage the money from their tills—even as the demolition of their property continues without even the courtesy of consultation. [Watch the Video of yesterday’s protest here and read a report here.]
"We're hearing terrible stories of theft and looting and we don't understand why the crooks can get in and the business people can't," she said.
"We really want to stop the demolition companies from demolishing buildings without anyone's consent...That's why there are many frustrated people." …
"We are all going bankrupt,” said [businessman Kurt Langer, whose ruined photography studio lies inside the cordon with equipment and the work of a lifetime lying intact inside.] “We are about to lose everything and they will not tell us anything. It's a complete police state," he told reporters.
The Dictators Pro Tem have yet to even talk to these business owners, over whose livelihoods they continue to ride roughshod, and who have been reduced to running dangerous night-time raids on their own buildings simply to salvage computer equipment and records before the criminals do.
A temporary “cease fire” on demolishing buildings without consultation with owners was announced last Friday, in response to last week’s march, but there has still been no consultation at all with building and business owners---and no owners allowed inside the armed cordon unless they have political connections.
Let’s hope the protests continue until the dictators allow them to begin recovering their livelihoods. As Stephen Franks said yesterday,
The humiliation piled on them since the earthquake by the lords of emergency, "in their own interests, of course" is humiliation we should all have felt. Lets now hope tomorrow's revolt is bigger, and the next day until the oppressors are shamed and slink away.
Until then, armed vehicles continue to man the cordons to ensure no-one commits the crime of wandering down Park Terrace—even while the looting of business owners’ property continues inside.
10 comments:
I never thought I'd see these pictures of armoured vehicles patroling the suburban streets of New Zealand in my lifetime. The true nature of individuals and government comes to the fore in a crisis and our Government has shown its colours in this one.
This is complete bullshit, It was bad enough I had to find out by chance that my flat was being demolished and got back in to town just in time to rescue my possessions, but this is people's entire means for providing for their families here!
We need to find a way to use this frustration and get some votes for Libertarianz!
So what are you basing you claims of looting inside the area controlled by the army / police on ?
@John: On the reports of Chch business owners.
Although to Chch business owners, having their property and livelihoods being pilfered by petty thieves is far, far less a thing than having it destroyed by those whose job it is to protect it.
Hone Carter put out a press release saying it was in the interests of everyone that the cordon remain in place. National twittered it.
So that's it. If you had any doubt, the National Party couldn't give a fuck about private property rights, it is disgraceful.
This could happen anywhere. It is the National Party kowtowing to its bureaucrats, accepting all they say and just accepting the power is necessary. They are conservative, so they would rather do nothing but exercise power when told to do so.
It SHOULD result in voters leaving National in droves- but it wont happen, because the braindead kiwi media doesn't like stories about businesspeople complaining, or stories that don't involve celebrities or sport, or scandals that appeal to teenagers.
Of course Labour says nothing because it believes in exactly the same, and ACT is comatose.
By ones actions should one be judged. National have made their priorities clear.
This situation is by far the most disgraceful violation of property rights I have seen.
The whole "the safety of the public must take precedence over property" bullshit has become ever-more prevalent over the past few years to the point where now anybody deemed to be putting themselves at risk is prevented from going about their (lawful) business.
Not only that, but we are seeing the destruction of people's lives in Christchurch, lives which they could have and would have rebuilt but for the heavy-handedness of the State - supposedly acting for their 'own good'.
If this does not convince people that the government, in its current guise, is their enemy rather than their friend, then nothing will.
Watch this video of the protest yesterday in Christchurch, and prepare to be as angry as I am.
This is not the New Zealand my grandfather fought so hard to protect 70 years ago.
Look at that socialist David Farrar st kiwiblog with the following nonsense post:
Should business owners be able to access their businesses?
Mr Farrar supports the Civil Defence cordon to keep away people (even property owners) from potential harm to themselves. His argument is simply idiotic.
the movement is growing and shortly access should be gained to most places inner city, and we will remember that as the little rooster in his orange jacket crowed in the morning and the evening we could not retrieve goods from perfectly safe places,
And the people currently moaning about the cordon will go right to voting for the same old thing when it's gone. How many of 'em were Libz voters or non-voters? If they did it to themselves, they deserve what they get.
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