September 15, 2021
Tukaki says neigh to horsey escape yarn
A Māori commentator wants to know how a couple got the exemption certificate they used to get out of Auckland before flying to their holiday home in Wānaka.
Equestrian William Willis and barrister Hannah Rawnsley have outed themselves for flouting lockdown rules, after earlier seeking name suppression.
Any case will be heard in the district court in Wellington because Mr Willis’s mother is a district court judge in Auckland – and she’s the one who reported him to police.
Matthew Tukaki from the National Māori Authority says the whole scandal smacks of privilege and protection by the old boys’ club.
“In no one’s book is a lawyer qualified for an exemption let alone an equestrian rider. You can’t tell me an equestrian is an essential worker. Not even if you were running with the Kelly Gang would you be considered an essential workers so it flies in the face of everything that every other Aucklander is doing,” he says.
Mr Tukaki says he could qualify for an exemption to travel to Wellington for the work he is doing, but he knows the right place to be at the moment is with his fellow Aucklanders.