This morning, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the situation around the death of African-American George Floyd, who was killed by police in the US, is "horrifying", while she welcomed the peaceful solidarity protests in New Zealand.
Thousands of New Zealanders participated in a peaceful rally on Monday, in solidarity with protests in the United States and various parts of the world, denouncing the way Floyd was killed, after a policeman knelt on his neck, last week.
In an interview with Morning Report , Ardern said that since the 15 March Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand has had its own conversations on racism, extremism and violence.
"That's something that I imagine as a country we will continue, and that's something that's important to us as a nation that we don't shy away from those debates and those discussions.
"No-one in New Zealand will claim perfection here, no-one. I understand the sense of urgency people felt in response to what they see."
"I think I stand with everyone who is terrified because of what we saw."
On another hand, Ardern spelled discontent over abandoning of social distancing rules.
She said that the flouting of rules was not an argument to move away from them, rather health evidence and data. Ardern noted that the Cabinet would consider a move at a meeting on 8 June.
New Zealand has not recorded any cases of coronavirus during the past ten days, and is on the verge of eliminating the virus locally, knowing that the country has been subject to a comprehensive closure for nearly seven weeks.
"I don't wish to stop peaceful protest anymore than I wish to stop a funeral and a tangihanga or a wedding right now, but we have the rules there for a reason, and it is to look after people's public health."
Ardern won worldwide praise for her handling of the worst shooting incident in New Zealand, when a white race gunman killed 51 people in two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019.
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