New Zealand - It was, perhaps, Phil Goff's first Triumph in quite some time.
A thousand bikers roared their disapproval at proposed ACC levy hikes yesterday - along with Labour leader Phil Goff on a brand-new motorbike he had bought shortly before.
Goff rode into Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre on a Triumph Bonneville 860cc, priced at $14,500 at one Auckland dealership.
Last time the Opposition leader rode into such an event, it was on a bike borrowed from colleague Rick Barker - provoking a certain amount of ridicule at his earnest attempt to replicate Easy Rider.
Unperturbed, Goff repeated the photo opportunity, but on his own bike. Borrowing Barker's may not have been an appealing option in the week that the senior list MP embarrassed his boss with the dodgy polls scandal.
So instead, said protest organiser Howard Mansell, Goff picked up a brand-new bike just hours before the rally.
Goff met with close to 1000 Ulysses Motorcycle club members to protest the rise in ACC hike - which would see Goff personally paying an extra $500 per year.
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Goff said the proposed legislation was "riddled full of holes".
Motorcycle groups from all over Auckland converged on the events centre to highlight and protest the proposed 350 per cent increase in ACC levies on motorbikes, introduced by the National Government.
Mansell, the Ulysses Auckland secretary, said the group did not go on a mass ride because the point of the rally was to bring awareness of the ACC hikes - not to annoy motorists.
Goff promised the support of 38 Labour MPs in fighting the law change.
When asked if he would consider joining Ulysses Goff replied: "They're about the only bike gang I would consider joining."
Nick Smith, the Minister in charge of the ACC, laughed on hearing of Goff's Triumph Bonneville purchase.
"So he's become a real bikie?" he asked. "There's a real social trend of high-income males, late-50s, to go and buy a big bike."
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