His name was Trevor (Mallard), he was the Speaker (of the New Zealand House of Representatives) — and when all else failed to deter anti-vax protesters camped out outside of parliament, he used the Parliamentary speakers to blast the hits of Barry Manilow on loop.
As per national publication Stuff, Mallard also wielded the 1993 wedding dancefloor classic "Macarena" as his sonic weapon amid the protest, as well as other cuts from a playlist of the world's 25 most hated songs. (While the exact list is not identified, List25's 25 Most Annoying Songs in the World ranking from 2016 includes both "Macarena" and "Copacabana," as well as the likes of Rebecca Black's "Friday," "The Thong Song" by SisQó and "The Harlem Shake.") It was futile, though: the protesters refused to leave, even when he turned on the sprinklers.
New Zealand has dependably had some of the lowest COVID-19 case counts in the world, but they have experienced a modest increase since the dawn of the Omicron variant. In addition to condemning such protesters, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden has issued a nationwide vaccination mandate.
Though nine out of every 10 Kiwis are vaccinated, holdouts have populated the protests, with many having lost their jobs over refusing inoculation.
The whole ordeal certainly calls to mind the "Ram Ranch Resistance" in our own commonwealth, where counterprotesters hijacked the trucker convoy's radio communications on the Zello app by playing Grant MacDonald's explicit country-metal gay sex anthem. Manilow also came out as gay at age 73.
As per national publication Stuff, Mallard also wielded the 1993 wedding dancefloor classic "Macarena" as his sonic weapon amid the protest, as well as other cuts from a playlist of the world's 25 most hated songs. (While the exact list is not identified, List25's 25 Most Annoying Songs in the World ranking from 2016 includes both "Macarena" and "Copacabana," as well as the likes of Rebecca Black's "Friday," "The Thong Song" by SisQó and "The Harlem Shake.") It was futile, though: the protesters refused to leave, even when he turned on the sprinklers.
New Zealand has dependably had some of the lowest COVID-19 case counts in the world, but they have experienced a modest increase since the dawn of the Omicron variant. In addition to condemning such protesters, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden has issued a nationwide vaccination mandate.
Though nine out of every 10 Kiwis are vaccinated, holdouts have populated the protests, with many having lost their jobs over refusing inoculation.
The whole ordeal certainly calls to mind the "Ram Ranch Resistance" in our own commonwealth, where counterprotesters hijacked the trucker convoy's radio communications on the Zello app by playing Grant MacDonald's explicit country-metal gay sex anthem. Manilow also came out as gay at age 73.