New Zealand passes Coronavirus laws that threaten indeginous and all civil liberties

For some weeks now the liberal left have pointed to New Zealand as the perfect example of how to tackle the threat of the Crononavisrus pandemic. In doing this it is often used, understandably given the incompetence of some governments, as a way to attack an administration they do not agree with. In doing so they have found a new poster girl for their cause, namely Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister of New Zealand. However, people should be careful of what they wish for.

Particularly after the latest legislation which New Zealand lawmakers have just voted to pass this week. The COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill which sets the legal framework for alert level 2. Unfortunately, this unscrutinised legislation also gives extreme powers for enforcement officers to enter premises and close them down, and it gives the police the ability to enter peoples own homes without a warrant to ensure you aren't breaking any of the rules. 

It is fine to point to the inadequacies  of our own governments. However, it is wrong for people in the Celtic countries to hold up as a model of the right way to respond as New Zealand.

Especially when the indigenous population of New Zealand have expressed concerns. Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said she was "gravely concerned about the bill’s provisions that propose to increase police powers including the suspension of the search warranting process".

"This is fundamentally undemocratic and a clear case of state overreach."

Mrs Ngarewa-Packer said giving the state "unlimited powers to enter marae is simply unconscionable". 

"The right of tangata whenua to have authority over and remain safe within our own homes and marae is not only a fundamental principle of the New Zealand democracy, it also a right premised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

"Nothing justifies continual and unchecked breaches of the Te Tiriti, not even the pandemic response."