Occupy movement to spread to New Zealand’s campgrounds over summer
November 10, 2011
New Zealand’s occupy movement is set to hit campgrounds across the country this summer, as protesters come out in force against corporate greed and hyper-capitalist ideals they believe are hurting the country. Campgrounds around Paihia, Whangamata and Gisborne have already been fully booked out for what are being dubbed ‘peak protest weeks’, from December 26 to January 5, while other campgrounds all over the country are also filling quickly.
“The manner in which society allows the super-rich to mold the market to serve their own interests at the expense of the poor is absolutely appalling,” says 22-year-old Otago University Student Jarrod Lambie. “That’s why me and four of my friends are hiring a campervan and occupying several of the South Island’s most beautiful camping venues one night at a time for three weeks.”
Others advocating against income inequality are taking the protests a step further, choosing to leave the country as a symbolic gesture of their disdain towards its governance, before returning weeks later at the end of the peak protest period.
“It is nothing short of disgusting that this small minority of so called successful people are able to exploit the remainder of the population for personal gain without sharing their wealth with those who deserve it,” says 29-year-old marketing analyst Lydia Fox. “My partner Ed and I certainly won’t stand by this and will be flying to Fiji the day after we get married, for a two week occupation of Castaway Island Resort.”
The occupy movement has even been taken up by hordes of young New Zealanders, who plan to occupy their backyards during their summer holidays.
“As a nation, we’ve simply got to open our eyes to this sick system of corporate greed, which in my mind is tantamount to corruption,” says seven-year-old James Bellfield of Lower Hutt. “My friend Harry and I won’t be dismantling our tent or the pillowfort within until there are some concrete guarantees from this Government or the next that will ensure a fairer distibution of wealth.
“We are the 99 per cent!”
National
