50,000 people turned out today in Auckland to march against mining. 50,000. This isn't quite the largest protest march in living memory - the anti-union "kiwis care" march in 1981 was a similar size, and from a much smaller population. But its certainly the largest in a generation. The foreshore & seabed hikoi, "enough is enough", or the laughable pro-child beating "march for democracy" are all dwarfed by comparison.
Kiwis don't take to the streets lightly. When we do, in these numbers, it means there is real anger - and a real political threat. If the government doesn't listen, then the next place these people will be marching is to the ballot box. And unlike the bad old days of FPP, their votes will count. Thanks to MMP, any government is 2% and a coalition realignment away from opposition. Today's march was that 2%, right there.
If John Key is half the politician people think he is, he will back off, and kill Brownlee's mad plan to despoil our natural environment. And if he doesn't, if he behaves like the National governments of the past and tries to impose unpopular change in the face of electoral opposition, he'll likely find himself a one-term Prime Minister.
