The Freedom Market – The Free Marketeers

 The Free Marketeers, better known as the Nelson Freedom Market, emerged in Nelson during New Zealand’s Covid-19 ‘traffic light’ restrictions. As a breakaway from the Motueka Sunday Market, it was set up by stallholders who opposed vaccine passes, QR scanning and mask mandates around October 2021. Locals voiced their frustration at the market’s rule flouting and reporters that visited the site were filmed and met with dismissal.  While a QR poster was up it was for a different location from a previous marketday. Nelson-Tasman was under the orange setting of the Covid-19 protection framework, which required community events to enforce pandemic health measures. There was also a rise in covid cases which had cancelled the traditional Nelson Market and Monty’s Sunday market for a short period of time in early December 2021. 

Co-founder, Penny Cameron (PC) framed the market as operating under common lore [law] and posted signage that threatened “crown/corporate entities” (aka the police) with ‘fines’ of $100,000 for first offence, $200,000 for subsequent offences – without any statutory basis. When a reporter contacted PC for comment she castigated the reporter for failing to research covid debunking information – “there is no evidence this virus exists” .  Following media contact the market’s social media page posted about optics and the need to monitor language, and that they wanted people to be saying the “right stuff”. 

In other videos, PC promoted pseudolaw ideas such as the state being a corporation and birth certificates acting as ‘contracts’ and told others they could opt out of government control by declaring “I’m alive, I’m not dead. I do not need you administering my affairs”.  [all completely untrue] . 

This sovereign influence appears to stem from co-founder Norm Collins (aka ‘not-the-norm’)  who claimed to be an ‘ordained minister, a radio host, and a ‘common lore’ [law] advocate. He promoted sovereign doctrine through workshops with fees ranging from $30-40 dollars per person and videos. These trainings were marketed as “peaceful remedies” to fight against government overreach. His online presence is minimal compared to other sovereigns but totes socery , pseudolaw, and even anarchy. One post rails against school lockdowns in times of emergencies, essentially framing it as overreach. One of his promoted sovereign trainings  took place at a retreat in the Lower South Island in March 2022 : 

“He's Back! Norm Collins workshop on Common Law - Have you ever had the feeling "something isn't right" but never been able to put your finger on it?”

NC had come to public attention previously in May 2020, he filmed himself refusing to comply with Covid contract-tracing at Nelson Animates pet store.  When a staff member asked him to follow the rules, he compared her to Nazi officials “just following orders” and evoked Nuremberg, accusing her of participating in unlawful government overreach. The video circulated widely online drawing strong public criticism. NC later apologised for how he treated the employee but defended his broader stance on individual rights and government illegitimacy. 

Beyond operating the market, the two tried to franchise the Freedom market model. Through a video on multiple platforms they promoted the idea that others could replicate the freedom market and promoted sovereign pseudolaw. In one video PC said that being sovereign keeps the “corporate predators at bay” and that sovereigns like NC were knowledgeable and that this is “the hour for these guys”, followed by NC stating that being a sovereign gave you the “weapons to defend yourself”.

While the Free Marketeers attracted local attention,  the initiative did not scale into a sustained, nationwide movement; it remained a largely regional experiment subject to public complaint and regulatory scrutiny. Nonetheless, the underlying pseudolegal framing—disseminated via workshops, videos and market publicity—persisted beyond the market itself, continuing to circulate in alternative media and smaller circles.  Despite the fact, worldwide these notions of ‘lore’ have failed due to the absolute fallacy of the doctrine.