New Zealand - Three hundred Waikato motorcyclists were to be among about 3500 bikers who were set to descend on Parliament today in the "bikoi" protest against proposed Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) levy increases.
Paul Willard, Hamilton spokesman for Bikers Rights Organisation of New Zealand (Bronz), told the Waikato Times today that patched gang members rode alongside recreational weekend bikers and motorcross riders in the Waikato contingent, which left Cambridge yesterday morning and reached the Manawatu in the late afternoon.
The mood was switching from excitement to more serious as the final stage of the "bikoi" loomed, Mr Willard said, and he would be in a delegation to discuss the proposed levy increases with ACC Minister Nick Smith at 2pm.
The bikoi, begun in Whangarei yesterday, would see riders park their bikes at Wellington's Westpac Stadium then walk to Parliament.
Ulysses Club national vice-president Des Chiles said the bikoi would arrive at noon, when Parliament was in session, so the message received by the Government was loud and clear.
"The bikers certainly are still very angry that they are going to have to spend about $750 to register their motorbike," he said.
ACC is said to have paid more than $62 million for motorcycle riders last year but collected only $12.3 million in levies from them. But bikers counter ACC collected $4.2 billion in levies but paid just $3.1 billion in claims in the latest year.
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