The big story this week in NZ was the Free NZ trial. We bring you up to speed on what has happened to Liz Gunn & Jonathan Clark.
Following that we delve into the big story across the ditch, where a win against the system should put some wind in the freedom sails.
Nick Patterson, a champion Australian MMA fighter, has achieved what many thought was impossible – he fought the law, and won!
Facing the worlds most extreme lockdowns, Australians were fortunate to have someone brave enough like Nick to take the state on as he simply exorcised his God given rights during a time where it was dangerous to do so.
Nick fought to keep his gym open, defended his friends and organised many pushbacks against the covid tyranny. As a consequence he has had four cases to answer to and recently he was vindicated in one such case when the judge ruled that evidence presented by the police was inadmissible in court, and ruling that Victoria police used unlawful tactics & unjustifiable violence against protestors. This could see police being charged.
For the past four years, he has faced prosecution by corrupt authorities due to his vocal stance against official narratives. Despite these challenges, Nick remains steadfast in his mission, amplifying his message through platforms like his Telegram channel, Fight Corrupt Police.
At his core, Nick Patterson embodies resilience, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to fighting for what is right, making him a powerful voice for change in his community and beyond.
It’s been quite the week! Sometimes, with the hustle and bustle of running the Voices for Freedom and Reality Check Radio machines, it can be easy to remain so intently focused on the incoming threats and upcoming campaigns that we forget to celebrate the wins! So, here are four things to put a smile on your dial
This week saw the return of everyone’s favourite radio station with a difference. After several weeks of fundraising, we reached the final target, thanks to thousands of donations from our fantastic community and listeners. The hosts and contributors were over the moon to get back behind the microphone, where they feel most at home, bringing you the news, discussion, and information you won’t hear anywhere else!
2. The People’s Terms Hit Parliament!
We all know how important it is that the events of the last four years are not swept under the carpet. Scrutiny of and accountability for the destructive decisions made during the Covid era is essential to ensuring that we never see a repeat performance!
Put bluntly, the current Covid Inquiry is a waste of space. That’s why our team put together a comprehensive set of terms for a new independent, full-scale, wide-ranging public inquiry into NZ’s Covid response, complete with replaced commissioners and prioritised focus on the safety of the Covid injection.
Over 33,000 Kiwi legends signed The People’s Terms, and last Thursday, Claire and Alia hand-delivered them to New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters, and NZ First MP Tanya Unkovich, marking a significant step in our collective advocacy.
Later the same day, the petition was introduced in the House and delivered to the Petitions Committee.
What happens next is in the hands of the politicians. We went above and beyond to give those advocating on our behalf for a proper Covid Inquiry the weight of a large cohort of New Zealanders to take into negotiations. It’s now up to them to do the right thing. Of course, we will continue covering the issues and applying pressure via interviews with key individuals on RCR. (One cracker you won’t want to miss is this Inquiry Sessions interview with former Australian barrister Julian Gillespie on GMOs and the Covid shots). On a personal note, the hand-over experience was surreal, given the treatment we all received in 2022 during the Parliament protest. Alia had to suppress the cheeky urge to loudly proclaim, “The filth has arrived!” when walking through the front doors of Parliament!
3. The ‘Safer Online Services and Media Services’ Backdown!
On Friday, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) announced it was abandoning proposals to further regulate online speech.
The proposals for online content and media regulation effectively amounted to “hate speech” laws for the internet and press, the centrepiece of which was an unelected, unaccountable ‘regulator’ that would have had the power to fine social media and internet-based content platforms for breaching rules designed to tackle harmful content.Media firms would have had to abide by mandatory codes of practice also overseen by the new regulator, replacing self-regulatory schemes such as those run by the Media Council and the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Last year, our Head of Legal Katie Ashby-Koppens and the VFF team created a template for you to provide your feedback on this matter. Your concerns were received and acknowledged in the ‘Summary of Submissions‘ report.
The DIA summary document names Voices for Freedom and the Free Speech Union as responsible for almost 19,000 combined feedback submissions using templates from VFF and FSU websites. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your feedback with the DIA. Yet another example of public pressure in action!
4. Special Event ‘The W.H.O. & You’ Scheduled for THIS Friday!
Recently, we were offered the opportunity to divert Dr David Bell (former WHO Medical Officer and scientist) to New Zealand on his way back to the USA from events in Australia. We knew it would be a tight turnaround to put this event together, but we knew we wouldn’t get another chance, so we leapt in boots n’ all! Then, Katie AK extended the invitation to Professor Ramesh Thakur (former UN Assistant Secretary General) as well, and he said yes!So, on Friday, 17 May 2024, esteemed leaders in their fields, Professor Thakur and Dr Bell, will join us for a special, one-night-only event in Auckland Central.
During the evening, they will discuss their concerns surrounding the WHO’s new pandemic treaties and what they mean for you, our country and the health of humanity.
Tickets are limited and will be on sale within the next day, so keep an eye on your inbox for details.
I will preface my commentary on this issue by stating that Ukraine’s fatal blunder was buying into NATO’s over-confident delusion that they (the Armed Forces of Ukraine) actually had a reasonable opportunity to defeat the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in a high-intensity conflict.
I initially believed NATO military leaders must have had a sober view, far in advance, that their half-million-strong, well-armed, trained-to-NATO-standards Ukrainian proxy army had almost no chance of prevailing on the field of battle against Russia.
But watching drone video of Ukrainian fortifications has convinced me the US military brain trust, in the course of their eight-year-long preparation of the eastern Ukrainian battlefield, effectively disdained the Russian military and its commanders.
Their vanity persuaded them the Russians would mindlessly smash themselves to pieces against an entrenched well-armed force.
Indeed, they were so confident of the genius of their plan that they persuasively encouraged many hundreds of now-killed or captured NATO veterans to “share in the glory” of humiliating the Russians and bringing down the Putin regime once and for all.
They deluded themselves into believing the Russians lacked strategic and logistical acumen, a sufficiently well-trained force, and – arguably the biggest miscalculation of all – sufficient stockpiles of ammo to conduct a protracted high-intensity conflict.
In short, I have come to believe US/NATO commanders actually persuaded themselves that this “Mother of All Proxy Armies” had an excellent chance to soundly whip the Russians in a battle situated in their own back yard.
In other words, they disregarded centuries of European history that they somehow convinced themselves had no relevance to their 21st century aspirations to defeat Russia militarily and take a great spoil of its resources.
But, as is now readily apparent to all objective, knowledgeable military analysts around the globe, the Ukrainian proxy army has been pulverized by a patient, methodical, and significantly outnumbered Russian force, using long-established Russian doctrines and tactics.
Even more revealing is that once-vaunted and universally feared US/UK weaponry – almost all of it actually rather antiquated – has proven to be far less “game-changing” than the pea-brained strategists in Washington and Whitehall mistakenly believed.
Javelins, NLAWs, and Stingers have been exposed as mostly ineffective against their intended targets (tanks, helicopters, and low-flying jets). M-777 howitzers break down after just a few fires. GPS-guided “precision” munitions are routinely jammed by Russian electronic warfare counter-measures.
Worse yet, the inculcation of NATO field doctrines in the minds of the Ukrainian officer cadre has resulted in pervasively inflexible responses to battlefield events that develop contrary to expectations. Consequently, discipline has disintegrated, and improvisation has been paralyzed.
To be sure, if one were to go by the laughable assessments of western think-tank propagandists and their dutiful lackeys in the media, “Ukraine is winning” and “the inept Russian military has been humiliated”.
But more discerning observers around the world know better.
Sober military men in potential adversary countries across the globe see with clarity that Russia has, with one hand tied behind its back, eviscerated the massive, relatively well-armed and well-trained Ukrainian military.
The US/NATO intimidation factor has been forever compromised.
More geopolitically significant, at least in the near future, is that European NATO members can also read the scorecard of this war: they now understand as they never could previously that standing on the NATO side of the field is hardly a guarantee of security.
I am convinced NATO will not survive the results of this war in Ukraine. Sure, they’ll “keep up appearances” for the time being, but there can be no doubt most now understand that siding with a rapidly declining empire is fraught with great risk and minimal gain.
More concerningly, the Chinese have been watching all of these developments with great interest. They are almost certain to be emboldened to act decisively to secure their sphere of influence in the emerging multipolar world.
The trial of journalist Liz Gunn and cameraman Jonathan Clark took place in the Manukau District Court. The pair faced charges of trespass and resisting arrest following an incident at Auckland International Airport, where they were filming ‘unvaccinated’ travelers.
Journalist Steve Braunias doles out criticism in equal measure on both, what he calls the “unnecessary torture of the seemingly messianic Liz Gunn” and of Gunn herself.
“To encounter Liz Gunn in the wild is, in my opinion, to think oh please shut up,” he writes.
He references poet Alexander Pope in describing Gunn’s trial as breaking a butterfly on a wheel, but describes the “conspiracy hobbyist” as overbearing and xenophobic.
In particular Braunias describes Gunn’s interaction with the airport staff, calling her “a little Indian girl” alleging she did not understand how things are done in New Zealand.
Gunn’s defence argued that her actions were not aggressive and that she was simply exercising her right to film in a public place.
The judge dismissed the trespass charges, but allowed the assault and resisting arrest charges to proceed. The case finished on Friday, but judgement has been reserved until later this month. The verdict is expected to have implications for the debate on civil liberties in the country.
When it comes to residential design, the future is here. Futuristic houses, with their biomorphic curves, gravity-defying elements, sleek materials, and bold angles, look like something dreamed up by Hollywood or AI. But these futuristic houses are not renderings or sets from an upcoming sci-fi movie; they are real homes occupied by real—and very forward-thinking—owners. From a spectacular home in Russia by legendary architect Zaha Hadid, to a prefab pinwheel-inspired house in Italy, these architectural wonders are futuristic works of art. Preview the architecture of the future in these ten eye-catching homes that are way ahead of the curve.
