As a demonstration against vaccination mandates and COVID-19 restrictions stretches into a fifth day, parliament speaker Trevor Mallard authorises the use of sprinklers and Barry Manilow music in an attempt to encourage people to head home.
Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters, but New Zealand authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow.Parliament speaker Trevor Mallard says he activated the sprinklers to dampen protests in WellingtonThe protesters responded by playing We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister
They also brought in bales of straw, which they scattered on the increasingly sodden grounds at parliament.But by evening, parliament speaker Trevor Mallard had come up with a new plan to make the protesters uncomfortable: using a sound system to blast out vaccine messages, Barry Manilow songs and the Latin hit, Macarena, on a repeat loop.
At first, there were more than 1,000 protesters but that number dwindled as the week wore on before growing again on Saturday.and charged many of them with trespassing or obstruction. "No one who is here is here legally, and if they're getting wet from below as well as above, they're likely to be a little bit less comfortable and more likely to go home."