Spiked on the vaccine mandate

Tim Black at Spiked writes:

During a press conference last week, a journalist said that this sounded like Ardern was creating ‘two different classes of people’, the ‘vaccinated [and the] unvaccinated’. Yes, Ardern responded, ‘that is what it is’. ‘If you are still unvaccinated’, Ardern continued, ‘not only will you be more at risk of catching Covid-19, but many of the freedoms others enjoy will be out of reach’.

There is no getting away from the draconian, illiberal implications of this policy. Ardern’s government has effectively created a two-tier society, a nation of first- and second-class citizens. What’s more, this divisive policy cleaves along ethnic lines. According to recent reports, only 57 per cent of Māori and only 73 per cent of Pacific peoples have had their first jab. That compares against 80 per cent for white New Zealanders. This lack of protection has meant that Māori and Pacific peoples make up 83 per cent of all recent Covid cases. And now it seems that the same ethnic groupings will also be deprived of their basic rights during any future Covid outbreaks.

This raises an interesting point. If the vaccine mandates lead to a large number of Maori being forced out of work, might there be a Waitangi Tribunal claim lodged about it?