Summarised by Centrist
Political commentator Chris Trotter is arguing that the estimate of 20,000 protestors at the June 8 March for Nature protest may not be an accurate number – and that their numbers may not matter to the government anyway.
“In the era of drones and artificial intelligence, how hard can it be to provide an accurate count of protesters?” Trotter begins his column, responding to a person who told the NZ Herald that 20,000 people might have shown up to support the Greenpeace-coordinated downtown Auckland protest against the government’s Fast Track Bill.
Trotter says 20,000 people is a “not spectacular” turnout but then asks “Does any of it matter?”
“Even 50,000 protesters, out of an Auckland population of 1.5 million, would struggle to satisfy the definition of a ‘revolutionary crowd,’” Trotter argues.
Trotter then considers the new Crown Minerals Bill, led by resources Minister Shane Jones, and how New Zealanders mostly respond to our right wing government prioritising realism over idealism.
