Hot on the heels of a wee video featuring VFF’s Tane Webster encouraging people to – shock horror! – get involved in their local communities; a couple of Stuff reporters got in touch with their long lists of questions.

They wanted to know the reasons why VFF was encouraging people to apply for positions on D.O.C. boards, as well as a bunch of other stuff.

Because we take the time to write responses and very few of said responses ever make the cut, we decided to release our correspondence with these folk so that people know the full set of facts from our perspective.

For context, Nadine started her list of questions with the statement, “Now that the mandate issue has passed, what is your platform beyond the “freedom” message?”…

Our response was as follows:

Hello Nadine,

To be clear, the mandate issue has not passed. Thousands of New Zealanders are still subject to vaccine mandates in their area of employment. The Government retains the right to reinstate mandates at any time. We are unaware that any political party has changed its stance to oppose the use of mandates. The Horizon poll conducted during the parliamentary protest highlighted that one in three Kiwis supported the protesters and their goal to end the mandates. Members of the public are still using our legal resources to seek redress for unethical and unlawful dismissal, with one such case recently winning and being awarded $30k in damages, wages, and costs.

VFF’s fundamental focus is on protecting the rights and freedoms of New Zealanders and preserving the Kiwi way of life for generations to come. We are not aligned with any political party. This year VFF will continue to equip New Zealanders with credible information and resources to educate and empower people to speak up on critical issues impacting us all. We remain committed to highlighting the flaws, inconsistencies, risks, and harms of global trends and private initiatives influencing NZ governance and policy. Connecting and growing our community of more than 100,000 supporters and 40,000 local group members is another key focus for VFF in 2023.

In recent years Kiwis have witnessed a trend toward the central government having an increasing role in our lives. VFF believes decentralisation improves communities and ensures that populations have a voice in their local governance. We encourage our supporters to participate and invest their time and expertise in their communities and community organisations. Such involvement includes standing for democratically elected or formally appointed positions in local government, school and other community boards, Department of Conservation boards, and other institutions that benefit from a range of voices and perspectives.

Voices for Freedom is a New Zealand organisation funded by Kiwis. We are not aware of any overseas funding. We know this as our team personally contacts individuals donating amounts of more than $1000.

Regards,

Alia