December 15, 2021
Iwi checkpoints mask creeping state of power
Auckland’s borders have now reopened, with the so-called community compliance checkpoints moving further north.
The checkpoints at Uretiti and Maungatororo will be staffed by police with the assistance of volunteers from the Taitokerau Border Control.
That has the backing of iwi, but former New Zealand First MP Shane Jones believes it’s a case of state overreach.
He says new legislation allowing police to deputise Māori or Pacific wardens or iwi to help out doesn’t hide the fact they impinge on people’s liberties.
“It can be regarded as an extension of involving Māori in the exercise of authority by the state but I say to you we as citizens should always be vigilant against any fresh power, any extension that is offered by politicians to the state because the polticians come and go but the bureacracy and the state just trundles on,” Mr Jones says.
He says the fact the north will remain at the red setting even into the new year when even Tāmaki Makaurau will be at orange is frustrating, as there is a hard core of Northlanders – not including older Māori – who will never get vaccinated.