I see this afternoon that you’ve made a cute post about feeling off-colour with Covid. Poor diddums. Did you really think you and your triple-jabbed status were going to escape the virus? Bless.

I know you told the country that by taking 1, 2, 3, 4? jabs they would not only protect themselves but their communities as well from the dreaded and dangerous Covid Boogeyman. I cringed through these moments utterly devoid of anything even remotely scientific in terms of evidence for your wild statements. Even Pfizer wasn’t so bold as to make the claims you all did.

I knew that time would be your worst enemy as one does not simply escape the international patterns playing out again and again across the globe. Did we have a crystal ball? No, and we didn’t need one. It was clear to anyone who took the time to pay attention that highly vaxxed countries were experiencing outbreaks similar to those with lower rates – the vaccines could not, and did not, prevent infection or transmission. All we had to do was wait for time to prove you and your friends wrong. And it has. Only, if being “wrong” was all we had to worry about we could all just flash a snigger in your direction and move on with our lives.

But it isn’t.

In being “wrong” you did two things:

1. You destroyed people’s lives. You took away people’s ability to serve others in their communities; to have self-worth; to provide for their families; to put a roof over their children’s heads and food on the table; to engage in sports, arts, cultural, and religious activities; to access higher education; to further our teens’ life options by sitting driver licence tests and other qualifications; to go out for dinner with friends or loved ones to celebrate or just to connect; to BE THERE with elderly relatives in their last days or moments; to access healthcare without discrimination; or to attend your child’s school camp or field trip. The list goes on. I’m sure you get the picture.

You also robbed many of their health and some of their lives with your promotion of an inadequately tested, unsafe, and experimental product.

ALL your measures – based firmly in the realm of fantasy – hurt people, Chris. Lots and lots of people.

2. You connected us in ways you wouldn’t be able to comprehend. For this, I thank you. We couldn’t have done a better job.

Your deliberate segregation and division of this beautiful nation resulted in people with incredible values and integrity finding one another. They found a kinship that is difficult to describe. People cut through the nonsense and got right to the heart of the issues that really mattered.

That “River of Filth” out there on the front lawn of Parliament? Those people felt like they were “home” – many for the first time ever in their lives. And it wasn’t the location that was important, or the tents, but the way in which people touched each other’s hearts and truly cared for one another. They met the needs of the wider group, happily and with a smile. The fact you all refused to come down and speak with us only served to give the people more time to form genuine, quality, enduring relationships. Thank you.

The time of the protest may now be over but understand this: Those people won’t forget the reasons why they came or what they experienced while they were there. They are joining local groups around the nation in their tens of thousands and they are finding that there are people all over this country that think, feel, hope and dream just the same as them.

They do not like what you and your friends have done to our country, Chris. They are finding alternatives and work-arounds to problems posed by clueless little twerps in Wellington offices jumped up on power-trips. They are tapping into that Kiwi ingenuity and No.8 wire mentality to solve problems and create new and improved solutions for community initiatives that actually WORK to enhance their lives.

And we will be right there alongside them, Chris.

Digging those home and community gardens, setting up education and employment solutions, playing discrimination-free sport, listening to music, getting haircuts, sharing hobbies and faith, reaching out to those who are isolated and alone, making meals for people in need, and spreading the word of another incredibly rewarding way of living. A way of living that ejects overbearing parasites from our lives and firmly retains the grip of responsibility for our own health, wellbeing, children and grandchildren, and the way we choose to live in this country we call home.

Yours truly,

Alia Bland

Voices for Freedom