Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

You’ll probably see and hear a bit of argy-bargy up North today as the politicians get welcomed onto the Treaty Grounds. If you’ve never been up there, it’s easily one of the best ‘Kiwi’ weekends you’ll experience. The sunshine’s guaranteed. People are friendly. The grub’s good and there’s plenty of watering holes filled with political chats flowing long into the night. Protest is an important part of democracy, it lances society’s boils and keeps powerful people in check. But it must be peaceful. The minute you start throwing fists, pushing cops, and shoving people round, you lose the room. I’ve seen that happen at Waitangi several times. I’ve seen that happen at many protests about a whole bunch of different issues. I hope it doesn’t happen this year. There’s a group of twenty online who apparently say they’re ready to be arrested in the name of protest. What a shame that would be. If there’s one thing we’ve shown each other as a country over the last fortnight, with the storms, flooding, landslides, and th