by Guy Hatchard

A Turning Point in Our Nation: The sentencing of Billy TK Jnr and Vinny Eastwood to Jail

An Urgent Call to Voice our Concerns and Offer Support

Yesterday I was interviewed on a US radio channel jointly with Billy Te Kahika Jnr. and Vinny Eastwood. I realised I have been remiss. I have not publicly discussed their case here in New Zealand whose outcome will materially affect our future rights and treatment under the law. I want to rectify that now.

Mr Te Kahika, a pastor and former serving soldier and policeman, and Mr Eastwood, a social commentator and radio personality, have been sentenced to four months and three months jail time respectively for participating in a peaceful non-violent protest against level 4 lockdowns. Their case comes up for appeal against sentencing on the morning of Monday 31st July. They have both been subject to persistent unfavourable comment in mainstream media unreasonably impugning their character and intentions.

It is very hard not to think that they may have both been sentenced to jail in order to make an example of them and send a message to the whole nation. If this was the case, it will have been the hallmark of a repressive regime.

The wheels of justice turn slowly for a reason, it enables the judicial system to place offences in the context of subsequent events. It has been two years since the apparent offence. Since that time it has become known that lockdowns damaged our economy and disadvantaged the education of youth. They signalled the beginning of an era of high youth crime rates, too high in fact for the police and courts to contain or mitigate.It is also apparent that lockdowns and other pandemic policies ultimately proved ineffective at reducing the level of casualties and deaths. For example this article discusses that both Sweden who didn’t lock down and Israel who did had similar long term health outcomes.Mr Te Kahika and Eastwood are appealing their sentence. They note that no other persons have been handed jail time for offences of this type committed in New Zealand.

In contrast to their treatment, a great many people participating in protests during the pandemic have been arrested and released without charge, conviction, or punishment. This was just.

There are very important points of law at stake here that affect our rights as New Zealanders.

The law is supposed to be fair. Laws should be applied equally, without prejudice or inequality. In the English legal system, from which our laws are originally derived, the role of the judiciary was considered to include the defence of fairness. In the early 1970s I heard Lord Justice Denning, Master of the Rolls, enunciate this concept at Birkbeck College in London. His words made a great impression on me. He said the judicial system “should uphold what right-thinking men know to be fair between man and man, and in these days between man and the state”.

He emphasised the need for the courts to think rightly and fairly in passing judgement. He thought the judiciary should play a role in curbing any excesses of the State. He recognised that a government, even though it is democratically elected at some point in time, must not lose sight of the rights of its individual members. If it did, it is right and proper for the courts to issue judgements reflecting a fair application of universal principles of justice.

In New Zealand we have a principle of the supremacy of Parliament to make laws, but we also have a Bill of Rights. Provisions 13 to 18 of the Bill of Rights grant freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

They also grant freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and movement. Provision 6 states:“Wherever an enactment can be given a meaning that is consistent with the rights and freedoms contained in this Bill of Rights, that meaning shall be preferred to any other meaning.”

The concepts of law and government in ancient Greece were thought to be derived from natural laws. In this philosophy of justice, natural laws such as the laws of physics etc. were seen to be equally applied to all but also applied in such a way that everyone was nourished by them. In the affairs of state it is the role of leaders to balance the social interest and the individual interest. Democracy is supposed to offer an opportunity for all to contribute and participate, it is not and never has been understood as a system of repressive control.

In retrospect, the measures taken during the pandemic including lockdowns may have been well intentioned, but their net outcomes were extremely unbalanced. A fact that was admitted by the Prime Minister at the time who spoke of the intention to create a two-tiered society. It is even more clear now that this was a mistake, it was divisive, ultimately ineffective, and damaging. From this point of view with the wisdom of hindsight, Mr Eastwood and Mr. Te Kahika can be legitimately understood to be justly seeking to protect the integrity of our nation rather than undermining it. They sought to support our democratic society.

Last week we witnessed with horror the murder of individuals and the shooting of policemen in central Auckland. We now know that the perpetrator was under home detention for very violent offences committed against his whanau. During this detention he was also allowed the freedom to attend work. Contrast this with the current jail sentences against Mr Eastwood and Mr Te Kahika for minor actions that do not involve any violence.

We also heard that our Justice Minister Kiri Allan had been arrested for drunk driving and failing to follow the instructions of a police officer after an accident. She fled the scene of the accident. This provokes us to recognise that the elected government can be fallible. When it is, it is the role of the courts to inject balance into the public debate.

I sincerely hope that Monday’s hearing of appeal finds in favour of the applicants. I believe justice served in this case could be a turning point in our nation and a way of healing the divisions that have grown up during the turbulent and uncertain years of the pandemic. I believe that an appropriate decision by the court on Monday could go some way towards restoring the effect of the provisions of our Bill of Rights which were bypassed to a considerable, and I believe unreasonable extent during the pandemic.

It is a great misfortune of the forthcoming election that none of our currently elected political parties have talked about the need to entrench the Bill of Rights as a constitutional principle. Doing so would ensure balance between the rights of the individual and the power of the State. It would protect the people from ill-considered overreach by the government.

I am asking for people to voice their support for Mr Eastwood and Mr Te Kahika. It is surprising how little the media has published the concerns we raise here, rather choosing to denigrate the defendants, despite the fact that the judgements in this case affect everyone’s rights in NZ for the future. They are both family men of hitherto good behaviour who would suffer greatly if jailed. The emotional and material cost of their defence has been substantial. In particular, Mr. Te Kahika has personally spent $97,000 on legal costs so far (an amount beyond his modest means) and needs more financial support to continue his defence and pay outstanding bills. I believe that support for the defendants is in every New Zealander’s interest. To make arrangements to contact and support the defendants:

Email of Billy Te Kahika Jnr. billy@ibc.net.nz

A/c Mr W Te Kahika, Bank account: 02 – 1245 – 0777955 – 001

E-mail of Vincent Eastwood: guerillamrnews@gmail.com

https://www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com/donate.html

They are ready to provide verification of their costs and expenses.

You can view a documentary about their arrest here and sign a petition here

Biden’s psychopath in chief Antony Blinken meets Mahuta in Wellington. Cam Slater comments: “Why do we have such scruffy individuals representing us?  Mahuta had started to spruce herself up, but we are back to loose fitting tops and sneakers. This is a diplomatic meeting, not a photo from People of Walmart.”

from Ross Muir

First one: The damages costs for Kiri Allan’s car crash will be high. Any insurance cover will be cancelled because firstly she was over the breath limit and secondly she refused a blood test, both of which cancel any insurance, so all costs fall on her.  The DIA were asked if the taxpayers would be paying the bill, which they should not as Kiri was on personal time having nothing to do with her duties, however the DIA will not comment.   This means, of course, that we WILL be paying, or they would have given a definite “No”.

Second one: University pass rates have dropped alarmingly. Maori and Pacific students are just not studying (stated) despite special provisions made for them to study. Maori pass rates as low as 61% (non-maori 86%). It’s blamed on covid and cost of living. Last time I looked, the Restrictions for covid were applied to everyone, except that Maori/Pasifika had special places created for them to study safely that were not available to the “others”. But checkout operators at supermarkets do not have a separate pricing system based on ethnicity.   The “victim” card is played subtly again.

An insidious ideology is involved in both cases.

by Caitlin Johnstone

The Biden administration looks set to become even more warlike than it already was, if you can imagine, with virulent Russia hawk Victoria Nuland and virulent China hawk Charles Q. Brown now being elevated to lofty positions by the White House.

Nuland, wife of alpha neocon Robert Kagan, has been named acting deputy secretary of state by Biden, at least until a new deputy secretary has been named. This places her at second in command within the State Department, second only to Tony Blinken.

She probably did more than anyone else to sour US–Russia relations; now, she is one of Washington’s top diplomats.

Continue reading

Found on the web; redolent of hispanic approaches in outdoor situations but tiles with such themes won’t be widely stocked in NZ.

by Geoffrey Churchman

Readers who receive the Kapiti Observer freebie newspaper (our household hasn’t for quite some time) will see this on the front page (the screenshot is from the Neighbourly website), which understandably has riled a lot of people.

Repeating an earlier article in The Post (which our household doesn’t get either) it was revealed that Mr Bolger’s Coastal Advisory Panel has decided it believes that the sea level will rise about 2 metres by the year 2100 (see this article) and is recommending “managed retreat” along much of the coast. Raumati has been contentious for a long time — but Bolger’s panel thinks bizzarely, that hundreds of Otaki, Peka Peka and Te Horo properties are at risk of inundation by 2130.

The matter was presented by a council staffer at the Raumati Community Board meeting last Tuesday and a public meeting is being held on it this Saturday in the Raumati Beach Bowling Club, details below.

Bede Laracy, the chair of the RCB says: “the meeting on Saturday is the first in a series of public meetings that will occur as part of the CAP process. The first stage is to assess what things matter to Raumati residents. That has been planned for some months. As a Board we saw the importance of Raumati residents being made aware of the process. As such, we arranged for a presentation from staff to occur at our Board meeting on Tuesday to help people enter the CAP process with at least some understanding of the process. We are the only Community Board that has done this, and we petitioned Council and Jim Bolger directly in order to achieve it. Whatever people’s views of CAP, we see it as crucial that local Raumati citizens engage with the process to ensure we have as broad a range of views as possible represented. The mistake would be to refuse to engage, as by doing so lots of important perspectives won’t be included in the assessment.”

From the outset of this Council-appointed Panel, Mr Bolger has made clear that he is a religious Climatism zealot and believes that sea levels are rising even when there is a lack of evidence to that effect, in fact to the contrary; the beaches of north Paraparaumu and Waikanae (at least) are accreting and those who have read the several previous articles on the subject will have seen ample evidence that claims of a 2 metre sea level rise over the next 77 years are bunkum.

It should be noted that Climatism has been an editorial stance held by Stuff too, and it gives no coverage to data that conflicts with it.

The Costal Advisory Panel should be disestablished and its proclamations ignored.

The below flyers have been circulating on the coast, but Coastal Ratepayers United emphasise that they are not involved with their production or distribution.

This may be some of the most damning evidence uncovered against the covid shots yet. A new peer-reviewed study found “damage to the heart is more common than thought.”

“One in 35 health care workers at a Swiss hospital had signs of heart injury associated with the vaccine, mRNA-1273, researchers found.

“If regulators around the world don’t take notice of the information I’m about to give via this paper, then they are at best, in my view negligent.”

Article plus video