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Last week a letter written by seven University of Auckland academics that appeared in the Listener, was greeted with extreme hostility from the left-wing establishment.
Professors Kendall Clements, Garth Cooper, Michael Corballis, Douglas Elliffe, Elizabeth Rata, and Emeritus Professors Robert Nola, and John Werry questioned a proposal to give traditional Maori knowledge the same status as ‘science’ in NCEA subjects:
“A recent report from a Government NCEA working group on proposed changes to the Māori school curriculum aims ‘to ensure parity for mātauranga Māori with the other bodies of knowledge credentialed by NCEA (particularly Western/Pākehā epistemologies)’.
“It includes the following description as part of a new course: ‘It promotes discussion and analysis of the ways in which science has been used to support the dominance of Eurocentric views (among which, its use as a rationale for colonisation of Māori and the suppression of Māori knowledge); and the notion that science is a Western European invention and itself evidence of European dominance over Māori and other indigenous peoples’.”
It seems astonishing that the Ministry of Education is allowing academics who subscribe to the radical view that science has been used as a weapon of colonisation and a tool for the suppression of Maori knowledge to drive curriculum development.
As a result of their ideology they are demanding “parity” for Maori knowledge in the curriculum, claiming that as a result of the Ministry of Education’s Treaty of Waitangi obligations, “subjects grounded in te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori ought to have equal mana with subjects which reflect non-indigenous paradigms or knowledge bases.”
It is this sort of extremist thinking that underpins He Puapua, the Labour Government’s plan for Maori sovereignty by 2040. The separatist rationale behind that blueprint is now being assimilated into almost every Government service and policy area – including education.
While the professors acknowledge that ‘indigenous knowledge’ plays a critical role in the preservation of culture, they say “it falls far short of what we can define as science itself”.
They further state, “Indigenous knowledge may indeed help advance scientific knowledge in some ways, but it is not science.”
Their concerns overlay growing anxiety within the education sector that diverting curriculum time away from science to Maori spiritualism and culture, will create further disadvantage for students in a critical learning area that is already a significant challenge. The latest National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement of Science shows only 20 percent of Year 8 students in New Zealand are achieving at or above expectations.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, journalist Graeme Adams, has analysed the storm of hysterical outrage generated by the Professors’ letter and explains that in spite of the histrionics none of the critics refuted the claim that Maori knowledge is not science:
“A distinctly curious feature of the backlash against the letter… is that none of its most prominent critics have actually defended mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) as being scientific.
“In response to what she seems to see as heresy, the Vice-Chancellor of Auckland University, Dawn Freshwater, announced that the letter’s question of ‘whether mātauranga Māori can be called science has caused considerable hurt and dismay among our staff, students and alumni’.
“Freshwater added a further faint endorsement: ‘We believe that mātauranga Māori and Western empirical science are not at odds and do not need to compete. They are complementary and have much to learn from each other.’
“Again, this says nothing about whether mātauranga Māori is scientific. And the question that remains to be answered by Professor Freshwater and others is — if it can’t be defended as scientific, what is it doing in the science curriculum?”
Good question!
In considering this matter, it’s important to recognise that the special role of universities in acting as the ‘critic and conscience of society’, by providing the public with independent, expert commentary on key issues, is enshrined in the Education Act 1989.
The Act also protects ‘academic freedom’, which it defines as “the freedom of academic staff to question and test received wisdom, to put forward new ideas and to state controversial or unpopular opinions”.
In a paper published in March 2000 for the Association of University Staff of New Zealand – Universities as Critic and Conscience of Society: The Role of Academic Freedom – Professor Gareth Jones explains the implications of academic freedom: “This would suggest that universities should be providing an environment within which academic staff can state and publish ideas and conclusions without fear of retribution or persecution, either within or beyond the walls of the universities. For this to happen, university authorities must be prepared to tolerate deviations from conventional wisdom by their academic staff, and to defend these staff when adverse pressures are brought to bear on them from sources outside the university.”
In responding to the hysteria generated by the letter from her seven professors, Vice-Chancellor Freshwater stated, “While the academics are free to express their views, I want to make it clear that they do not represent the views of the University of Auckland.” But by neglecting to properly defend her staff, she is clearly failing in her role.
Former MP and Police Inspector Ross Meurant not only questions the Vice Chancellor’s mandate to publicly “insult” her professors, but he also challenges the responses by Maori scholars:
“Various academics of Maori lineage collectively seem to hold the view, ‘Māori don’t need Western science to endorse or authenticate our knowledge systems’. The problem with this claim to fame is perhaps exposed by the following… ‘A new paper by the University of Otago… concludes that Māori were likely the first people to explore Antarctica’s surrounding waters, and possibly the continent. They write that Māori and Polynesian journeys to the deep south have been occurring for a long time, perhaps as far back as the seventh century, and are recorded in a variety of oral traditions. According to the oral histories of Māori tribal groups, the first human to travel to the Antarctic was the Polynesian explorer, Hui Te Rangiora’.”
Ross questions the accuracy of oral history and makes the point that the late Sir Peter Blake, a “highly skilled and experienced ocean-going mariner, talked about how hostile, treacherous and dangerous the Great Southern Ocean is to navigate on the way to Antarctica. How did the Maori manage that on their outriggers/canoes and what clothing and footwear did they wear to cope with the freezing conditions? No thermal underwear back then!! Did they have ice breakers?
“I say to those who claim Maori went to Antarctica as far back as 700 AD and even if these alleged excursions were as recent as 1700 AD it should be clearly demonstrated that the claims they make, were possible! Like, put up or shut up! Jump in a canoe with a paddle and a grass skirt; no thermal gear, no sextant and no harpoon or spear gun. And see what happens!”
Journalist and former newspaper editor Karl du Fresne reminds us that a sinister agenda is underway: “Attacks on free speech – even freedom of thought, since that’s what the enemies of free speech ultimately want to control – are coming so fast it’s hard to keep up… The latest involves seven University of Auckland professors who have effectively been blacklisted for writing a letter to The Listener politely but firmly challenging the notion that traditional Maori knowledge should be accorded the status of science… In the febrile ideological climate of 2021 the professors’ stance counts as heresy, and it brought the full, vindictive fury of the woke academic left down on their heads.”
Karl concludes, “The takeaway message from all this? It’s that even respected academics speak their minds at their peril. Depart from ideological orthodoxy and you can expect to be howled down, possibly even at the expense of your career. The aim is to deter dissent and discussion, and the tragedy is that it works.”
The caustic backlash against the professors – including from the head of their own university – surely demonstrates that free speech is no longer possible in this country. It’s in this political climate that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to criminalise free speech.
The six-week public consultation process to ascertain whether new hate speech laws are needed, closes at midnight on Friday. We would urge everyone who wants to see New Zealanders retain our right to speak freely without worrying that the Police will come knocking on our door if we say the wrong thing, to send in a quick submission – even if it’s just to say that you believe the current legal framework is adequate and more regulation is unnecessary.
Submissions can be emailed to: humanrights@justice.govt.nz or completed online HERE.
The point is that hateful speech is already highly regulated in this country – as we outlined in our overview HERE.
Those who want to introduce greater control over what fellow Kiwis can and can’t say have proposed a number of specific changes. They include transferring section 131 of the Human Rights Act into the Crimes Act to make it a criminal offence to use words which are ‘threatening, abusive, or insulting’ to intentionally ‘stir up’ ‘hatred’ towards a ‘protected’ group.
They want the number of protected groups dramatically increased to include the 13 characteristics listed in the Human Rights Act: race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, sex, marital status, ethical belief, disability, age, employment status, family status, sexual orientation and political opinion.
They have proposed increasing the penalties for the new crime from the current $7,000 fine to $50,000, and from a maximum of three months in prison to three years.
They want the wording of the section 61 civil offence in the Human Rights Act to be updated to match that of the new hate crime law – and a new civil offense ‘incitement to discriminate’ created to make it unlawful to incite others to discriminate against members of the protected groups.
Beyond that, what would be included in a Bill remains unclear, since the Minister of Justice – who is in charge of the reforms – refused to answer questions about the details, and the Prime Minister’s attempts to do so were muddled.
Former MP and constitutional lawyer Stephen Franks has published a comprehensive advisory on the law change proposals, outlining some of the complications that may cause confusion.
Wellington barrister Graeme Edgeler has also investigated the proposed law change and concludes, “I remain sceptical of the government’s hate speech proposals: I don’t believe the government has made the case for them, and I especially don’t believe it has explained nearly well enough the expression it wants its laws to cover, nor leave alone. I am very much open to the idea perhaps we shouldn’t change the law at all.”
Former broadcaster Lindsay Perigo is scathing about the law change proposals: “Rather than entrenching totalitarianism, let us boldly proclaim that there is indeed no such thing as a right not to be offended, and that the precept, ‘I disagree with what you say but defend to the death your right to say it’ should permeate all social discourse and be emblazoned across the sky.”
I will leave the last word to political commentator Chris Trotter, who strongly believes that introducing hate speech laws would be a disaster: “To bring the country together, the Royal Commission – and now, seemingly, the Labour Government – is intent on empowering the citizenry to send their neighbours to jail for up to three years for the ‘crime’ of pissing them off… It won’t work, Jacinda. No matter how much you’d like it to; no matter how sincere all those promises you made to the victims. It won’t work. You need to listen to those who are warning you that the unintended consequences of this direct attack on the freedom of thought and expression, guaranteed to all New Zealanders in the Bill of Rights Act, will be huge. Freedom is unruly. It’s rude. It hurts people’s feelings. Makes them angry. But people died for it, Jacinda. Leave it alone.”
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you believe the Government should abandon their planned hate speech law changes?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| the present laws are more than ample | GORDON |
| The Fascist/Commo agenda , cindy and her mob, have planned is now becoming very clear. Hate speech laws are only the start!They have a much bigger plan coming! | David |
| Definitely | Ken |
| Yes, they are already fine. | Kim |
| There should always be free speech no matter what it is about, and if it is bad few will listen. Let people make up their own minds about things. This teaching of Maori myth in schools next year really concerns me. They must teach facts, not fiction. | Eric the Red |
| Hate speech is being broadened to include anything that our Labour |Government and Maoris, dont like the sound of, which means everything’. If schools are to teach subjects such as how wonderful Maoris were 1,300 years ago to explore the Antarctic and how their knowledge of the world is so superior to Europeans then again other subjects will get less attention than at present.. Judging the knowledge and skill in present day reading abilities, reading is already neglected as is maths and most of the remaining curriculum. I started teaching, some 60 years ago and the latest development is that the methods we taught reading then were thrown out as useless. Now after 50 years has come the realization there is a problem with children not learning to read properly so lo and behold we have the methods we used then being hailed as the solving of the problem. Full circle turned but still these other subjects are added in whilst the basics are neglected. | Chris |
| We need more speech, not less especially against the raging separatist agenda of the Mahuta-Ardern government. | Monica |
| Indoctrination at its worse. Whatever is this country coming too, | Brenda |
| There are adequate protections under the current legislation for GENUINE hate speech. | Laurie |
| All these stupid ideas that this dumb Labour Party are putting forward are just smoke screens to divert people’s attention away from the real issue that is the fact that they are handing New Zealand on a plate to the maoris. Where is Cinderella going to put all those people that break the law, there won’t be any room for them unless she releases all the gang members, perhaps that is her next stupid intention?. Cindy is bare faced liar , she made a statement that the police were in support of her recent gift to the mongrel mob but if one were to read the dom post on Monday 9th August you would have seen a statement from a senior policeman from the Hawkes Bay Organised Crime unit to the effect that her statement about having support from the Police was Bullshit , his words. This PM is evil and treacherous and must be removed from power immediately along with her spineless hanger onners. | Ralph |
| It is becoming increasingly clear Jacinda Ardern and her government neither understand or value the constitutional platform they are standing on Tinkering with the tools of tyrants can only lead down the dark path to tyranny. Its time they left the statute books alone and admitted they are completely out of their depth. We can already see it and they don’t have to prove it to us. I’m struggling to believe this is the government of New Zealand so unashamedly lurching from crises to crises on so many fronts whilst insisting on pursuing policies oppressed people in many parts of the world long to be rid of. | Donald |
| Read my submission to the Misery of Justice | Philip |
| The so called hate speech to be banned my we’ll be free of any actual hatred, but the euphemisms an other language altered in ordinary usage to avoid prosecution will probably seethe with real hatred while the silly law makes New Zealand into a worldwide laughing stock. | Ian |
| Leave things as they are | Jane |
| Abandon this stupid idea of a ‘Free speech Law’ It will not work and will more likely pitch neighbours against each other with consequences that could get out of hand | Derek |
| I would call this Government “stark raving bonkers”. “A new civil offense ‘incitement to discriminate’ created to make it unlawful to incite others to discriminate against members of the protected groups.” What sort of double speak gibberish is this? Written by a mentally deranged “committee”. These people are clearly “anti New Zealand” and they have lost my consent to govern. They do need our consent to govern you know. They get our consent to “serve” the citizens for their benefit, not for a corrupt governments agenda directed by the UN. They are a pack of criminals, that is all of them, not just some., and I remove my consent. Our National MP is an idiot and is stunned into spouting the same line as the idiot government. Time for them to be fired, and lets not wait until an election. Question: Are the members of the Police on board with the government’s corruption? Are all of the New Zealand Defense Force members all OK with this corruption from this illegitimate lot? Good question Huh? It’s not good enough to say “well I was Just following orders you know”. There is right and there is wrong, there is truth and there are lies. One thing I know for sure is that the TRUTH is always true and the judgement of that is in the hands GOD. Can you see it? | Neil |
| Definitely. We have too much control now. | Neville |
| Most definitely | Ann |
| Over this racist govt and its be kind pm. She isn’t interested in New Zealand we are not her team of 5million | Dianne |
| They are anti democracy, and this is just another example of it. | Carol |
| many of us are totally sick of this bullshit ,they can pass what laws they like ,but unless the people agree with these draconian orders ,,they are farting against thunder ,the people will revolt the same applys to their apartheid crap ,this is what you get from a bunch of cretins that are too thick to realise that this could easily lead to civil war,,i hope they are proud of themselves cheers hone | tony |
| This Govt is destroying everything our forebears fought for, struggled for and are a disgrace to free thinking and their own ancestors. The sooner we vote them out the better! | Warren |
| Absolutely | Mike |
| It’s just not right! | Andy |
| Completely unnecessary and one more example of the lack of resilience and courage of conviction which exists in our current politicians. | Kerry |
| Bigots hate free speech. | Robert |
| This is he last thing NZ needs. It is totally superfluous, our current legislation is more than adequate. NZ needs free speech so that its people can continue to be free. | Pieter |
| This proposal is almost communist in its intentions. As Chris Trotter has said, we have fought two world wars to protect our rights to free speech. This proposal is dangerous. It MUST be stopped! | Russell |
| No one believes more firmly than Comrade Cindy Stalin that all people are equal. She would be only too happy to let you to make decisions for yourselves, like whether to own guns, what you can think and say, whether your ‘my body, my choice’ hard won fundamental human right to bodily autonomy that applies to abortion applies universally, to forced vaccination. But Cindy Stalin is concerned that sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, Comrades, and then where should we be? SHHH! If your opinion is not politically correct why would you even want to share it? | Shaun |
| Our laws already adequately cover this! | Sheila |
| This is a disgraceful attempt to eliminate every citizen’s right to express a strongly held but provocative view. The law already caters for excesses in this area. | Robert |
| All speech should be free and unrestricted, Only unlawful actions should be restricted. | Linc |
| Well said Muriel. LEAVE IT ALONE JACINDA!. You,Jacinda, have created enough division in this country already. It’s time to stop your nonsense. | Heather |
| And I have submitted on that basis to the Human Rights Authority. | Brenton |
| 1984 ( George Orwell) control the language, cotton the people. | John |
| I may have voted on this previously | Malcolm |
| To put the words ‘I think ‘before expressing opinion gives one the right to express opinion freely. we must never allow any government to tell us how to think ! | Aubrey |
| as soon as possible – idiots | tony |
| no law change needed | gerard |
| this a government that wants too totally control the narrative from the media to the individual | john |
| She’s a control freak. We all knew it and now she’s showing her true intent. Don’t do it Jacinda. | Robert |
| I seriously do not want to live in this country anymore under this government. | Pam |
| MY RITE TO FREE SPEECH IS MY RITE TO SPEAK FREELY WITHOUT BEING MADE A VICTIM BY JACINDAS COMMUNIST PARTY. | JON |
| This Government should be buried alongside their hate speech laws, He Puapua, gang funding, Maori on local councils without a vote, Maori health having precedence over anyone else, Maori businesses getting automatic 10% of Government (peoples) purchasing, preference in University placements and State jobs, getting your kids to acknowledge “White privelege” and a raft of other BS. As I was writing this I thought I was revisiting the Nazi rule book. Maybe we can throw a blanket over them and leave them there to rot in a festering pile. The best way for that is never to vote for them or their loony tunes mates the Greens. Still waiting for National to get into step with voters with some extremely positive statements on above issues. | Terry |
| They’re to stupid (or arrogant) to see the consequences of their decisions | FloJo |
| The process of De-civilization is not the road to travel down…ever. | Chris |
| Hate speech laws are a key step on the road to ethno national socialism and more generally to hamper push back against an identity based, neo Marxist agenda, with Maori, Muslims, Transvestites and other groups being the new oppressed as opposed to the traditional Marxist class struggle. Consequently I believe that the proposed hate speech law will be enacted and that those who value freedom and democracy will need to be prepared to defend it much more vigorously than signing a few petitions. | Ron |
| Proposals against incitement of hatred/hostility: This proposed legislation would also negatively impact the very people it claims to protect. The Muslim community could be in breach of the law by reading from the Quran, which expresses the status of and attitude to women; the concept of jihad and the duty to kill those who do not support the Muslim faith; specific sections on the Jews; the so-called Evidence and clear truth which would be offensive to some of other faiths. To use the atrocious Mosque attack as a reason for this law is totally ineffective because the attacker was of a class of people who flaunt the law already. Why do you suppose this new law would have any effect on such people? The proposed new law is dangerous in that it does not consider intention of expression – but solely the opinion of the listener or reader of any information, who could even be someone who is mentally deranged at the time, but completely within their rights in taking offence where it was not intended. The result could be an innocent person, possibly someone trying to help, being accused and prosecuted on a whim. Existing legislation already allows minority groups to express their beliefs legally; there is no need for a further law on this. The proposed levels of fine and imprisonment do not fit the crime in comparison with existing maximums for physical assault and intent to harm. The definitions of what constitutes hate speech are vague, and therefore open to wide interpretation probably beyond your lawmakers intentions. Definitions need to be more clearly defined. My concern also is that rather than fostering greater social cohesion and a place where everyone feels they belong – this proposed law will do the opposite, encouraging people to look for offence where it is not intended, and thereby creating division rather than cohesion. | Nola |
| Hate is the opposite of love. one is negative and one is positive. | Maurice |
| There’s no easy answer to this as it’s a coordinated plan for the western nations instigated by the United Nations, with the aim of controlling us all under the umbrella of a One World Govt. why all countries, including our close allies, are complying with this is a mystery,as communism has proven to fail everywhere it has been tried – hence the present failure in Venezuela. I have been banned from commenting on Facebook for 28 days, several times, for criticising our communist leader, which should be my right as freedom of expression. If only our leaders, in Britain, Australia, NZ would defend our people. Can’t expect much from Canada, France, that nutcase President of the USA, or even our Comrade Ardern., who seem hellbent on destruction of our countries. Then we have that sinister Bill Gates is hellbent on depopulation of the planet (dare I say in part from the vaccine presently being pushed).Things are going to get worse unless we have a miracle of some kind to save us all. | Carolyn |
| Freedom to express your thoughts is an essential practice in society. | Ian |
| If they don’t it will be another nail in their coffin. Even die-hard Labour supporters are against this because they can see it is Orwell’s 1984 all over again. | jd |
| NO,NO,NO to hate speech laws. PLEASE think back to Nazi Germany. The law as it stands now is adequate. | Robina |
| Communism! Aided by news media. Police force will be stretched arresting us plus Mongrel Mob. Oops! ! Am I allowed to criticise MM still? | Dell H |
| Its a gagging law and we live in a free society which includes the freedom of speech and thought | tony |
| Typical labour shit | allan |
| Halt the Govt’s planned destruction of New Zealand’s Democracy and the maorification of our language and traditions ! | Donald |
| current legal laws are more than adequate | warwick |
| Ridiculous, what are they playing at. | William |
| The best way to get rid of all this “Communism” by stealth is to get rid of Cindy | Donald |
| Just another crazy policy from a government full of ideology and little else | David |
| YES, If goes through it will be just another freedom this communist government has taken away from us, | Athol |
| All I can see are dark days ahead and trouble with a capital T. | John |
| this stuff only happens in communist countries and dictatorships. I would class the present Labor gov’t as fast becoming a dictatorship. National and Act need to make it known that they will oppose and recind this nonsense. Bruce R. | Bruce |
| Somehow you have to find a way to have the information you, Don Brash,Michael Basset,Rodney Hide,Chris Trotter to name just a few provide aired on National News to show “the people “that this country is on a path which will lead to anarchy if Ardern and her Marxist cronnies are not stopped. | Bill |
| This hate speech will certainly include factual history like cannibalism and tattoing heads of slaves to be cut off and sold to Europeans. | kevin |
| Two Reasons. 1. There are already Laws that would take care of ‘UNLAWFUL” Speech and 2. This is the front door for a Political Party to suppress any dissenting views on their Actions or Policies. | Geoff |
| We’ve already heard the “Hurt and dismay” bleating from some quarters which will quickly translate into “I am offended and therefore it must be hate speech,” We say scrap it but when did leftist politicians ever listen to the real voters out there? We need some rational and representative adults to run the country! | Denis |
| Stop the UN censorship agenda! | Melahi |
| Only when you understand what really went on will you truly know just how well you where screwed over! By then it will be too late.All will be owned and controlled by another man. Sold to him by somebody who didn’t Care for the people, the Land and Our unity? Chief Gone Cloud! | WARWICK |
| Already sufficient law in place to deal with any problems arising. | Graham |
| If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it! | Colin |
| stop trying to put a wedge between maori people and pakeha people kick these radicles out of the labour party | murray |
| The greatest intolerance is the intolerance of another persons point of view. | Kevin |
| Censorship laws are always dangerous to democracy and civil rights. Governments strongly tend to exploit any censorship laws to stifle opposition. Where necessary censorship laws should be clear, behaviourally specific and restrained in their punitive extent. These proposed laws are reckless. | John |
| This Labour government is creating a level of racism that this country has never seen before. What has happened to the law where all people are equal under the law and no ethnic group should be advantaged over another. | Roger |
| At the heart of our democracy is the freedom to have the right of speech without fear or favour. I find it abhorrent that my family has fought and died for this country and definitely not to have these freedoms taken away arbitrarily. These were exactly the type of thing they fought despicable dictators for. | Alexander |
| We would be better off abandoning this Government! | Scott |
| Best idea is to shelve the Bill and let’s get on with more important issues like getting the PM to resign and take her Red mates with her to her new job in the UN waiting with her name plate already fixed next to Uncle Allen Clarke’s office……!!! | Bruza |
| Well done in putting this article together. Put this in the press. | Doug |
| Given, that since 1993 there has been one prosecution and two claims made relating to sections 21, 61 and 131 of the Human Rights Act 1993, would not justify the transfer of these sections to Crimes Act 1961. It certainly would not justify increasing the associated penalties of 3 Months imprisonment or $7,000 fine to 3 Years imprisonment or $50,000 fine. There is no legal pressure to justify any amendment, the only pressure being political dogma. As detailed by Judge Willy , a Law that is ambiguous or not able to be clearly understood by all of the general population will be acted upon with adversitry rather than general compliance. The inability or unwillingness of the Minister of Justice to define the parametres of the law, and the clear inability of our supposed Prime Minister to do likewise, clearly shows that the law changes being proposed will be unworkable and subject to a myriad of interpretations to the point that the meaning will be “just what I choose it to mean”. There is no legal justification for the creation of the new law and the inactitude with which it is discussed [or perhaps more accurately avoided for discussion] by both the Minister and his PM dictates that this proposed amendment should be dropped from any further discussion and enactment. | Michael |
| This dreadful govt needs to spend much time on positive things | David |
| Perceived “hate speech” is already covered by various existing legislation. | colin |
| There are sufficient laws in place to cover all aspects of so called `hate speech’ – get a life !!! | sheryl |
| Don’t fix things that are not broken. | Dennis |
| I sincerely hope they do. Putting so called hate speech front and centre will continue to erode social cohesion. Labour’s racial apartheid laws have done irreparable social damage to New Zealand which will only deepen if this law is changed. Hate speech is subjective the very opposite of what a law should state, it must be clear and it appears neither our PM or her Justice Minister can articulate what hate speech is.. Opinion and criticism would be captured at the expense of our diminishing freedoms. Leave the current law as it is, making changes for changes sake is not leadership. | Sam |
| They are trying to implement total control of the press, nothing to do with hate speech | brian |
| What would you expect from this band of socialistic amateurs. Pack of communistic rogues set on destroying NEW ZEALAND. | Peter |
| Leave the bill of rights alone | Geoffrey |
| It’s all PC BS ! While we are at it we MUST DEMAND a binding referendum on He Pua Pua,, The 3 waters project, and finally the promotion by stealth of the use of the Maori language on mainstream media when we all know that only 17% of our population are said to be Maori and 90% of New Zealanders do NOT speak or understand the language. There are Maori 2 TV stations so lets have Maori spoken on these rather than imposing it on the silent majority who don’t understand what is being said. So finally a binding referendum MUST be had on the general use of the word Aotearoa. The Government have no mandate for any of these extremely contentious issues so let’s see this all out in the open !! | Andrew |
| Dam right they should | Shirley |
| Definitely abandon these hate speech law changes. The current laws are sufficient and all we need. | Keith |
| What are we coming to ??? | John |
| I have made a submission to cover all the reasons I have had brought to my attention against this vague, dangerous and antidemocratic legislation. | Mary |
| Chris Trotter says it all. People in 2 world wars in the 20th century died to preserve and maintain free speech, this crap being proposed is just another step on the path to a totalitarian New Zealand society | Trevor |
| I have a fight to love whom I want to; I have a right to hate whom I want to. I claim a right to say out loud who I love; I claim a right to say out loud who I hate. | Murray |
| I am over eighty and I think the world has gone mad! I shall be afraid to voice an opinion on anything soon! | Jennifer |
| This is grand theft and assets owed and paid for by rate payers, should not have say of its use removed by slight of hand. Amazing direction by this government again- there must be say by rate payers in a referendum! | Bill |
| Thousands of lives were lost in two World Wars to protect our freedoms of Speech. We do not want the NZ Government to take these away. Honour those who fought and won | Wayne |
| I strongly disagree with this. Everything this government does appears to be a step closer to communism | Lois |
| The law already exists for hate speech. Why make it more complicated? Use the KISS principle — Keep It Simple Stupid, but hey, that could be misconstrued as hate speech. If it aint broke, don’t fix it! | Kevan |
| Jacinta’s proposals are garbage, totally political and totally unnecessary | Dave |
| There is I understand a piece in the Koran that says “Kill the Jews< the Christians and the Infidels” Will this be allowed? | Arthur |
| Definitely | Sue |
| We need to retain freedom of choice in NZ | Jill |
| Yes! This Government does not want the truth and facts to undermine their PROPAGANDA machine. Of course the law changes should be abandoned. They won’t be. The country is stuffed. | Bruce |
| People died for the freedom of others,leave good alone | Peter |
| Impossible to define – judgements will make the law, Precedents will give way to appeals & bog the courts down – too many delays now thus denying justice. | Peter |
| Yes, most definitely. Hate Speech Laws enacted will allow tribal mysticism to rule us at whim throughout the land. We will live in constant fear, wondering as we wake each morning what the next government command will be. It’s all about power and control by those less able. I HATE HATE SPEECH LAWS! And by the way, Lindsay Perigo should be assisting with drafting laws for a new New Zealand Constitution, NOT based on tribalism, collectivism and socialism – but just the opposite. “The art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” – Sun Tzu Isn’t that what you are attempting to do Jacinda? | Don |
| Citizens of New Zealand you need to keep speaking up and keep expressing your views on these ever increasing draconian measures. We need to know what exactly our parliamentary candidates stand for before we cast our very precious vote at the next election. The power is always 2ith the people if they choose to use it. | Janine |
| Why should the actions of one person not a NZ citizen be the catalyst for a change in our NZ Bill of Rights. Lets concentrate on how the perpetrator of that crime highlighted the inefficiency of our firearms procedures and leave our democratic right to free speech alone. NZ Citizens should not be punished for the actions of criminals. Lets teach inclusivity “the quality of trying to include many different types of people and treat them all fairly and equally” | Rhonda |
| The proposed hate speech laws are no more than a slight of hand, to implement TOTAL government control. Now lets look at the comparing Maori knowledge with science scenario. Maori were a stone age culture, who had not invented a wheel before European explorers arrived. All science is driven by investigating theory, & hopefully coming out with a proven fact. So here we are, presuming that Maori experimented with Grand-mothers jaw bones, to see if they could prove that Maui fished the North Island out of the ocean. I don’t think so. Mind you, many believe the modern THEORY, that CO2, produced by human activity, is altering the climate, so I just shot myself in the foot on that one. Which leads on to the statement that Hui Te Rangiora explored the Antarctic. Could be possible ! If all that human activity , or the belching of the dinosaurs, back then, had melted all the ice caps, then yes, he might have had a go. So discount nothing, because with our current government, everything is possible, provided you don’t offend any-body.. | A.G.R. |
| Basic human right of free speech is essential in a free democratic society, these communists need to be sacked. | Clive |
| IT IS A ATTACK ON FREE SPEECH | BRIAN |
| The law is fine as it is. | Lynne |
| Is the Pope catholic? | Maddi |
| Its dangerous ground | Colleen |
| Every one has the right to have their say. Like it or not!! | Melva |
| Who would ever have thought this nonsense could be even contemplated by “steady and reliable” NZ’rs | Edgar |
| This law will only serve the perpetually offended and tie up court resources for spurious reasons. Unless, of course, it includes the comments by Ms Freshwater, a Pom ( like me but by birth only) who has only been here5 minutes and now she displays the brainwashing which usually takes a long time to absorb but with her intelligence she got it the first session she attended. She should be ostracised by her staff but has probably scared them off. Free speech for ever. | Mike |
| Absurd notion Reeks of Communism | JD |
| Ardern’s government is hell bent on dividing us. Our ancestors died tom protect our rights of free speech and freedom. Ardern’s law will mean that they died in vain. | Kerry |
| Strange that people so dismissive of western…… well anything…. had the loudest voices when they thought that they weren’t getting preferential treatment for vaccinations. Did it escape them that this medicine was the product of a number of evil colonial powers, or was it just the usual hypocracy. | Geoff |
| YES – YES- YES -abandon all these attempts and ALL other unjust and unrighteous plans this government is proposing, | CMM |
| It is another example of this government’s continual efforts to change New Zealand society | Shaun |
| Free speech is a cornerstone of democracy, should that fundamental right be removed without a mandate from the citizens of our country, how then can those at present in power profess a democracy. Simple answer is they cannot. We lose free speech then we cease to be a democracy. Then I really fear for NZ | Carolyn |
| absolutely. there was no race issue in NZ until our sick communist leader & co-conspirators set out to encourage imagined grievances- divide & conquer at it finest | mark |
| The labour government is dangerous to our future society. They will destroy democracy and nz will become a dictatorship | Gordon |
| Existing laws are totally adequate | Murray |
| I see that a Muslim leader in NZ now wants the proposed hate speech laws to apply to Parliament. Seems some people need to understand they now live in a democracy and not the theocracy they left. | June |
| If this hate speech proposal passes into law New Zealand is destined to become another North Korea. It must FAIL. | glyn |
| We are rapidly heading towards becoming the Peoples Republic of New Zimbabwe! | Peter |
| Anyone can accuse you of hate speech , and who would be believed | Colin |
| At least it will be one subject they have listened to. | Warren |
| If the government pushes this unconstitutional legislation through their will be a massive change to New Zealand society as we know it and it won’t be positive for Jacinda Ardern Maori and minority groups we are a democracy back of cindy | Warren |
| Of course they should. It is absolute nonsense | Gail |
| Unless they define hate speech. then I will reconsider. As it is, even the government doesn’t know!!!! | Graeme |
| They are not ruling for the 5 million as was promised | Florence |
| Yes 100%. The ongoing repercussions from this law change will be devastating to our freedom of speech. This is to shut us all up! | Vivienne |
| I have written a long and personal submission against the proposed law change. I could always write more!. | Rochelle |
| Total intrusion of our democratic right to say what we think without fear of retribution. The Minister and the PM cannot clarify the definition or what is included in “hate speech”. | Ian |
| When will people wake up to this dangerous leg legislation | Raymond |
| this is not nazi germany!! | norman |
| Just one more step towards a fascist police state headed up by Mao Tse Cindy and her band of sad, sad fascists. NO. NO MORE LABOUR MOARI CRAP. | Mark |
| Unbelievable to think they think they can push this thru with the backlash it has caused. The arrogance of comrade ardern to ignore the 10% drop in support is mind boggling. | Bev |
| All Totalitarian , Communist, Marxist, Leftist regimes love to control speech. Our socialist Labour government is no different. Time to vote them out. | Greg |
| This question should never need to be asked in a free country. | Tiim |
| To restrict speech means to ultimately restrict thought. NZ is not a totalitarian state …yet. | Catherine |
| There are already far too many controls and regulations in place to appease those who are overly sensitive to any opinion but their own | Kevin |
| We have freedom of speech !! | Robin |
| I don’t think they will. However, I see that Dr Stuart Lange has written a response on behalf of NZ Christian Network, proposing some re-wording of the planned law changes; it’s very well written and proposes some excellent changes. I encourage you to read it. (Don’t let the “Christian” part put you off if you have negative feelings about Christians – give it a fair hearing.) | JO |
| Let them go ahead and destroy themselves,the stupid marxist a’holes.What a bunch of losers. | Ross |
| Most definitely. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of a free society. There are already regulations in place to address abuse, intimidation and threatening statements. Why go down this track….? Unless you seek a Socialist society and massively increased control of the people. Wake up New Zealand – this lot have to go. Soon!!! | Grahame |
| This Government and the Prime minister are heading to the back benchers come election time and will be in oppostion for a very long time. | ken |
| It’s a short step to banning political disagreement | bill |
| No need for such laws as they already exist in current legislation | Godfrey |
| Hate speech law: it is an outrageous proposal and fraught with so many complications that courts will struggle to find any degree of conforming thought. It is not only outrageous, it has to be unenforceable. | Bruce |
| Just another step towards total Fascism-as in Germany in the 1930’s!! | Henry |
| Jacinda needs to abandon any thoughts of a “hate speech” law as it would be unworkable….it’s against our Bill of Rights…and would make lawyers wealthy. | Jamie |
| Most definitely. The changes will cause serious and uncontrollable unrest in our country | Gordon |
| The forgotten soldier will truly be forgotten. | sven |
| New Zealand stands for One country, One people & One law, that allows free thought and speech. Why is Jacinda’s government trying very hard to change this ? | John |
| Leave law as is this change is another loss of free speech | leo |
| It should never have started in the first place | William |
| Most f$%%^^ definatly the commo barstards | eric |
| A communist state in the making!!! Never underestimate this government, if this bill is passed NZ will never be the same! | Margaret |
| They are totally unnecessary | Julian |
| The current laws are adequate but very few if any people have been charged under them. Freedom of speech is a democratic right. Freedom of speech also allows people to know what others are thinking whereas curtailing that freedom drives unacceptable attitudes underground. It is better to know what peoples thinking is than to not know it. | Kevin |
| It cannot be justified and carries with it suggestions of sinister motivation | Harvey |
| How can they make a law when they are unable to define what hate speech is? Jacinda’s you’ll know it when you hear it is inane and ridiculous. The whole Ill thought out thing needs scrapping. | Steve |
| Just another communist ploy to gain the control they think they deserve to force their utopia upon an unwilling populace Until it is possible to clearly and unambiguously define hate speech the concept is flawed Such a definition is not in my view possible | Robin |
| The laws as they stand are more than adequate. | Liz |
| Curbing freedom of speech is a step too far for any post Stone Age culture | Alain |
| If enacted, it will take New Zealand back to the dark ages. A recipe for Civil unrest, for what purpose ? | Bryan |
| PLEASE. PLEASE PLEASE. Is there someone out there who will put there hand up to lead an action to bring down this Communist Orientated Government. Just listening to talk on the street there will be no shortage of supporters. Garth McVicar stood up when he had enough of our pathetic judicial system. Enough is Enough. | Urban |
| when I greet my brother with “g’day you old bastard” that means if he’s had a bad day he could take me to court. this govt is full of loonies and nutters not to mention dictator and her brown nosing mates. Soon the brown shirts may knock on my door which happened in the 30’s. | Richard |
| She is a white, ex Mormon idiot, who is as thick as a brick, in a job she is unqualified to do, making law’s that don’t make sense..have I covered every part of her intended hate speech changes? | Barbara |
| It may seem simply humane to clamp down on hate speech, on insults, on speech that makes people feel marginalised, hurt and unsafe. But if, in doing so, we damage the key tool which has given us the chance to live as well and freely as we do – are we prepared for that? When the government of the day – no matter its stripe – is able to dictate what can and can’t be said, are we safer? Or are we in grave danger? We should make more effort to support those hurt by the words of our fellow New Zealanders. We should work harder at building resilience and self-worth in ourselves and in our children – limiting the effect hurtful words can have. But these proposals, and ultimately the law, is not the way to achieve this. | Derrick |
| There is no need for such legislation. There is already sufficient enforcement legislation in place to curtail extreme radical opinion. Does this government wish to mimic China and Russia to silence an open and free democracy? | chris |
| Categorically yes! | Shirley |
| panic legislation after the Christchurch incident which could be concluded as one off | robin |
| Yet again personal freedoms are to be undermined by a government intent on suppressing free thinking people who do not follow their ideological ideas. Suppression and control of the constituents by a dictatorial regime | Peter |
| Absolutely, the current laws are adequate. This is just another sick move by this PM to stop the more intelligent people from criticizing her dumb government As for Maoridom to be taught as a science we really have sunk to the lowest possible level. Enough of this bloody nonsense, we need a strong leader in this country, someone who is a proud New Zealander and not an Aotearoan, who will stand up and quickly right the wrongs that are happening without fear | Tom |
| If the Jacinda government goes ahead with its hate-speech law it will become the laughing stock of the free world. Wake up and learn a little more about the law, Jacinda! What a bunch of immature, woke, idiots! | Rob |
| Totally undemocratic | Stewart |
| It is a huge mistake. | murray |
| This is not a hate speech law but a suppression of free speech law. Our Marxist Government has no intention of keeping to Voltaires quote which most know and is — ; I disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it ; — just a part of democracy which is slowly but surely being eroded here and around the Western world. | Alan |
| I happened to find a religious site on Facebook. I posted that the Bible is not the Word of God. I received an instant warning about hate speech etc from Facebook. Not long after that my email stopped working and I was unable to access the Internet. The email is still off but the Net came back on after a day. | K |
| Proposed legislation to make offending someone a gaolable offence is not just ignorance but insanity. It is an impossibility to say anything that will not offend someone.. Better start building more gaols! | Mitch |
| Its time for the silent majority in New Zealand to stand up and protect the nation from a place [quote] “where race determines our future – and those claiming Maori heritage are given superior rights over everyone else.” | Alan |
| Who in government is the current holder of the government al brain cell | Gareth |
| Hateful, divisive, and creating a denigrating and offensive attack on major groups of New Zealanders. | Lionel |
| One only has to look at how the blasphemy laws in some Muslim countries are abused to understand how hate speech could be used to blackmail dissenters into toeing the ‘party line’. | Ken |
| Vicious woke lunacy | Brian |
| This will be another 99.9% yes vote .Just another example of how arrogant Comunistic and dumb this government is led by a an intellectually bereft and stupid women which only the losers of this Country acknowledge as a competent Prime Minister. Thank god for Covid which prevents Ardern and our disgusting Foreign Minister from travelling overseas to embarrass our Country further | Don |
| It is causing hate | Evan |
| That the promoters cannot define what they mean by hate speech nor explain how it would be applied in practice, tells me that it is no more than an implement to curtail the freedom to hold an opinion that does not align with the State. Democracy relies on free speech and calling out things, actions and rhetoric for what it is. I suppose calling the Prime Minister a clown is hate speech! | Roger |
| Are we a free society able to express our ideas and opinions? We would not be if the governments proposals are put into law. | Brian |
| This is part of Marxinders grand plan to stifle free thought and expressions of those thoughts thus facilitating the advancement of her He PuaPua template for the future governence of New Zealand. | Chris |
| This is an attack on free thinkers and science. It seems that any narrative apart from the govt’s will now be illegal. Our gallant WW soldiers must be turning in their graves | Shannon |
| Free speech is a bedrock of functional societies. To remove it diminishes us all and is the harbinger of totalitarian rule. This is our actual “nuclear” moment, NOT the lie of global warming. | Tracy |
| the Government should start listening to the majority of the people about 86% and not just a small few that want,want, want, and take, take, take. We are all NZ KIWI. We are NOT all Maori and we DON’T want to be so why do we all have to have everything Maori pushed down our throats every day, since the election this Government has gone 95% Maori to 5% everyone else, WHAT THE HELL ? The real kiwis are having a real guts full of this bullshit and its about time Jacinda Ardern and co really need to start pulling there heads in or they will be gone as the people have had enough. FREE SPEECH, WATER, AUCKLAND HARBOUR CYCLE WAY, MAORI HEALTH,MAORI EDUCATION,MAORI PUSHED DOWN OUR THROUTS ON OUR TV EVERY DAY, MONEY GIVEN TO MOTOR BIKE GANGS, ETC,ETC,ETC THE LIST JUST GOES ON AND ON AND ON, WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH. | COLIN |
| Hate speech, which is inherently difficult to define, will silence rigorous debate and freedom of expression. Will create an atmosphere of suspicion and fear and is likely to cause division and rifts within families and workplaces with the likelihood of people %u2018snitching%u2019 on others as happened in Nazi German when brave people tried to help the Jews who were viciously persecuted. New Zealand will become a police state and false labelling of something as ‘hate speech’ is likely to lead to false accusations and costly, damaging court action to defend oneself against charges of hate speech. Where will the line be drawn to determine what is hate speech? NZ will become a society full of fear, tension, social division, suspicious and the loss the democratic right to have difference of opinion. This proposed hate legislation is hateful and must be stopped. I have absolutely no respect for the government in even considering going down this highly contentious path. “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) – American writer, philosopher, scientist, inventor, statesman. | Virginia |
| Who determines what or who it is who has spoken or even inferred hate speech? I suggest even those who attempt to ‘introduce’ hate speech legislation have a problem, in that open debate on ANY subject does not suit their narrative so ‘offenders’ must be shut down! Isn’t this tantamount to being locked up in solitary confinement? What about ones call for help against an abuser who has political acceptance status? What will happen to political leaders’ often promoted OPEN DEBATE? Will it be “Goodbye New Zealand?” | Stuart |
| Totally unnecessary impediment to free speech | Graham |
| Educate to understand and respect | Johanna |
| no amount of legislation will ever control rogue persons from delivering their hate -I would suggest there is sufficient laws already in place | Les W |
| It would be unworkable and we have laws which deal with this Now. This Govt is far too controlling; their policies smell of communism. | Graeme |
| Overt communism now | Gillian |
| Absolutely | David |
| Yes, just more control from the communist government. All part of her plan to divide & conquer us. She’s extremely evil & the sooner we, as a good principled people, stand up & say enough is enough, the sooner we may improve New Zealand which is currently sliding down the gurgler at an alarming rate! | Rex |
| The inevitable consequence will be to suppress free speech and freedom of thought – a fundamental principle of democracy will be denied | Julian |
| We’ve been over this before, we already have laws in place to cope with slander excetra. Labour and the Greens have simply dug themselves a hole with this proposed law or are being devious using it as a citizen control method. | Owen |
| Undemocratic. Muzzling free speech. | Geoff |
| Freedom of speech and my right to be offended are paramount to me. I believe we have ample laws already to cover the perceived issues that the law changes are proposed to fix. | Dave |
| It will turn even more people off them. Next govt can campaign to repel. | Richard |
| The Bill of Rights already covers this. | jill |
| Absolutely, No Question! They can’t even decide what the proposed Law Change covers!! It doesn’t need changing. We have the Bill of Rights. | Robyn |
| Absolutely. This is really an attack on freedom of speech. I think that if this becomes law, we will not be able the object to anything Maori i.e. Treaty mis-interruption as partnership etc. | Martyn |
| The train wreck is gathering speed under the cloak of Covid. Will 2 farmers from West Otago be the catalyst for exposing this government for what they really are. The ability to debate issues and have alternative points of view are vital for a functioning democracy. I think the woke left have already won that battle (with the assistance of MSM) and enshrining it in legislation is a mere formality. Unfortunately people have given up their rights without a fight it seems. Time will tell though, perhaps those West Otago farmers have a few more tricks in their bag. | Alan |
| Jacinda’s dictatorship ends here | bud |
| Yes ,an unqualified yes.Yet an other bit of looney left mumbo jumbo.Poorly conceived and you can be assured it would be ridiculous in its execution. | gale |
| God help us all if she gets her way on this. Come on NZ stop this now. | Alan |
| Absolutely..we need democracy. | Christine |
| I was a teacher of Physical Education for 45 years and in that time I taught my subject along the idea that PE was a skills based subject. Towards the end of my career I was forced to adopt a useless Hauora curriculum that had little to do with skills. I was forced to adopt this approach. When are we going to start thinking that the Maori way is not the best way and accept that colonialism has improved their way of life. Did they play rugby which they have now accepted as their national sport. Goodness me we have to have on the TV the announcer saying that Lisa Carrington is a Maori. I thought she was a New Zealander as all our athletes are | Andrew |
| Definitely however this is a Government that listens to no-one and does what it likes – to hell with the consequences. | Glenda |
| Of course, they won’t abandon what is a cornerstone of a communist state. But we can hope that the people of NZ stand up to her. Or are Kiwis too gullible and too lazy? | Jenny |
| i am a christian and the proposed bill would actually mean I would be denying Gods word in the bible | anthony |
| absolutely | Rita |
| Taking away people’s freedoms is similar to what is happening in Russia now | Margaret |
| The Leopard (Ardern) is all about banning negative comments aimed at her or her party “hate speech” has a certain ring to it so she runs her evil little scheme under the umbrella of “HATE SPEECH,” when it’s really all about her not liking any mud being aimed at her. or her faithful followers. | Tony |
| The changes are totalitarian and will destroy democracy. | Trevor |
| I demand my right to free speech . | Pete |
| This whole body of proposed legislation is transparently related to moves by Princess Adern’s Government of Aotearoa NZ (PAGANZ) to change New Zealand via He Puapua vision by framing any discussion triggered by this as hate speech. This represents an absolutely disgraceful abuse of the power to create law. “I’m offended by your speech, you’re offended by mine. Let’s share a prison cell for three years to work it out.” | Tony |
| Our forefathers fought for freedom including speech | Geva |
| They should but I seriously doubt that they will. | Roger |
| Will be like under Hitler, be carful what you say or they take you away. | Gerhard |
| For all the reasons you have stated in your email. Facts that cannot be stated strongly enough. | Brenda |
| The proponents of the changes are hiding their agenda – some have even admitted to having an AGENDA ! | Jack |
| Labour has to go | Warren |
| Definitely, changing the law is ridiculous | Graeme |
| I hate this government and what they are doing to our country | Trev |
| It sounds too much like a hidden agenda to use the absolute tragedy of the mosque shooting to target free speech, it is going to do more arm than good. | Dominic |
| Absolutely…but they won’t, because the public submissions process is a complete farce under this government. The issue is already a done deal before seeking public opinion. Only public protests seem to work. Jacinda hates those because it shows how out of touch she is with public opinion. | Derek |
| Everyone has the right to be offended. | Mark |
| The current law is all we need. Insulting someone should not be a reason for the Police to arrest you. Jacinda sounds eels like a dictator in a totalitarian state. | Graham |
| Unnecessary tinkering with the law. What will it achieve if it goes ahead? A deeply divided nation IMHO. | John |
| the proposed changes will be ineffective against radical actions yet risks suppression of healthy free speech and political opinion | Dave |
| You cannot stop people telling the truth | Mike |
| A good range of commentaries. Makes more problems than it solves | Doug |
| Jacinda either doesn’t understand the implications of what she is proposing or she blatantly wants to Muzzle NZers to further her own Causes Dangerous legislation mooted by those who wish to control | phillip |
| I believe the sooner this government leaves the better. They need to stop these changes | Kerin |
| Trying to dumb the population down is counter productive the average Joe Blow must be able to point out the obvious mistakes and rubbish this government and left wingers are promoting. Moving in a communistic direction is brainless. This country is based on democracy and must prevail. | Warren |
| most definitely | Mark |
| If these people in Govt were decent folks , they would not even think about it. BUT — as it so happens , they are not. All these developments are happening in unison all over the Western world and are not national affairs anymore. UN agendas are now determining political agendas everywhere and democracy is deteriorating at a frightening pace. As far as this Maori science issue is concerned : That is just part and parcel of a greater plan under the guise of so called ‘ indigenous rights’ to destroy everything what made and makes Western culture and all that it entails so great. Culture , technology. science ,history, all creative arts to name a few examples. National culture and heritage, religion and an individuals identification with such important values, are main targets for these ungodly neo marxists/ communists. How on earth they equal Maori values with Western science is a mystery to me , but here you have it. The Maori language is simple proof for that. To name an example: there are no words in their language for say bolt, torsion bar, aircraft, steam turbine, type writer, push bike, book , ink pen, violin , trumpet, cell phone, computer chip, and so the list can go on endlessly. But they are very happy to benefit from all this Western technology and science and technology. How about calling this ‘ cultural aprobriation, of which white people are constantly accused of. Look folks.— all this will not end well. It will come crashing down on us big time. People only learn from suffering. We had it too good for too long. | Michael |
| Not required, totally unnecessary, just another weapon this government wants to criminalise free speech | Lawrie |
| Absolutely. The right to free speech is essential in any Democracy. The Marxist idiots who want to suppress this are only doing this for their own political agenda, to exert control over the population. True hate speech would go underground so it will be much, much harder to deal with any issues arising from that. | Folkert |
| Of course the hate speech laws should be dumped. As for Freshwater of Auckland University, she should go and be replaced by some fresh blood with some fresh thinking | Peter |
| This is aimed at trying to penalize ordinary Kiwis who will start speaking out against the dramatic changes being afforded maori. | Darryl |
| It is wrong and removes more of our democracy | Ray |
| Totally undemocratic,I liken this government to a bulldozer rumbling down my street with a 5yr old at the controls. But i do think we are getting to the tipping point, it is getting harder to find people who will admit to have voted for these dummies. . | Paul |
| Who decides what hate is? They are total idiots! The sooner this lot of woke drongos is voted out the better. | Laurie |
| Free speech is a must | Peter |
| Freedom of speech is a prerequisite for a democratic society. Without it we cannot call NZ a democracy. | Schalk |
| There is no place for restricting freedom of speech and expression of opinion. To do so is to oppose and even ban truth, or the search for truth. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights of the UN guarantees certain freedoms, including freedom of speech and opinion. A healthy society must guarantee these freedoms. Criticising something you do not agree with is not hate speech. In fact, it should be questioned and criticised. Nor is defending your own position against opposing belief or opinion. We must reject all authoritarian nazi-like legislation that attempts to restrict or ban rights based on fundamental freedoms. Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 18 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. | Jack |
| Totally – just another stupid idealistic idea that has been dreamt up by the loopy left which will have the complete opposite effect on society than they are hoping for!!! | Matt |
| We have sufficient laws covering hate speech. The proposed law changes will serve only to protect the socialist idealism of the current Government and their “Woke” supporters. | Gary |
| Jacinda and her crew piss me off. As an aged person I demand she be sent to jail. Now. | RICHard |
| Ill conceived nonsense and a waste of valuable time. Just more socialist control. Shuts down freedom of speech. | Steve |
| What do expect from this P M and her commo government and brown rule ? ! | graeme |
| I demand my right of free speech , because thats what makes life better : our ability to be heard for change . | Pete |
| Current law is quite adequate | John |
| Absolutely we already have laws in place . We do not need to change them | Denise |
| It is a blatant attack on democracy and freedom of speech. | Richard |
| The current law is robust. No new law is necessary. | Marion |
| Current laws are working and adequate. | Martin |
| Too much undebated legislation is undemocratic and wrong | John |
| Existing laws are completely adequate, and additional hate speech laws are simply an attempt to stifle legitimate opinion. Robust debate allows differences of opinion to be aired and resolved, whereas stifling such debate will lead to violence. | Rod |
| leave the law as it is | colin |
| It has nothing to do with hate speech, it is about preventing any attack on He Puapua and the separatist agenda. | Peter |
| So much wrong with the proposed law changes – but we will not be silenced | Deanne |
| Beware the unforeseen consequences, Jacinda – or is this really part of your life’s endeavour? | Paul |
| They should never have been instigated in the first place! | Ron |
| Maori on the band wagon again | Jimmy |
| Just another of this present Marxist Government tool to divide and control the nation. It should be abandoned to protect free speech. | David |
| Maori spirituality must be spoken freely against. | Kevin |
| Those communists are completely out of touch with reality. They need to grow up and get a real life. People are just getting pissed off with being pushed around and lied to. All wind and no substance. | Terry |
| An imperative!! | Richard |
| Absolute nonsense – like everything else these muppets do | Dave |
| What’s the problem they are trying to address? Ans: there is no problem. | Gavin |
| stop this attack on our lives..it feels claustrophobic | mark |
| Yes, absolutely!! The whole exercise has been nothing but farcical with the potential to cause untold and unnecessary misery & harm. | Tony |
| But they wont abandon it. It’s the way they intend to control this country. What happened to democracy? The current political party want to move this country back into the dark ages where no one can say anything about anything. They will use this law to stop people criticizing the He puapua plan and the embedding of a stoneage culture into our daily activities. But look out if we dare step outside the boundaries….why does communism come to mind as I write this? | Kristene |
| Adern’s usual virtue-signaling garbage to the UN so that she can earn a plumb job in New York. Unfortunately she has fooled a lot of simple minded people. | Charles |
| There is enough legislation in place to manage free speech. The tech companies need to be regarded as newspapers rather than simply platforms. | John |
| Communist laws | Greg |
| Hate speech laws are themselves hateful for they are hateful of freethinkers and free speech and freedom. | Bruce |
| Politicians in high ranks are not usually motivated by virtues, but by power, ideally unrivalled power. That is most obvious in the current political regime managing our nation. This is merely a disguised campaign to silence all opponents to the totalitarian regime unfolding before our eyes. Those who oppose the hate speech reforms will be the most hated, despised and dealt with harshly and swiftly to drown out other voices and to silence Democracy once and for all. Pray sincerely against this toxic agenda masquerading as kindness. | Hannah |
| An utter nonsense any which way it’s looked at. | Jim |
| Am I allowed to say that this government is clearly many sandwiches short of a picnic? This country is no longer New Zealand or the land of the long white cloud – il is CLOUD COOKOO LAND. Get rid of the idiots at the helm. | Patrick |
| Jacinda Adern should retire before she goes completely mad | Phil |
| I live in the UK and we have seen the recent passage of similar sinister legislation in Scotland. Calling such legislation naive lets legislators off the hook. And once in place such laws will be very difficult to unravel. | Graeme |
| This lot are idiots Trying to ram through personal communist agendas.. | Murray |
| No need for it. If it does become law we are on slippery slope to civil war and dictatorship | TR |
| Under Labour and socialist condy Its become so bad and n NEW ZEALAND (not aotearoa because that’s not what maoris called it before the British), that I can no longer live in NZ. If I did I’d be too angry with the deception of New Zealander’s and I don’t want to live my life that way | Trevor |
| Absolutely! There are already far too many restrictions on the freedom of speech – we do NOT need more! | Ivan |
| MZ is already over-regulated. Leave us alone, PM! | Harry |
| For goodness sake – Kiwis don’t need hate speech legislation. The whole thing is ridiculous. Jacinda Ardern just wants to outlaw political criticism so she can have anyone who speaks out against her regime arrested. It is appalling. | Colin |
| Yes, yes, yes! Stop interfering in our lives. Just leave us alone. Take your totalitarian restrictions away! | Jenny |
| Hate speech laws are not necessary. Many groups who want them introduced, see it as a political strategy – they will get themselves protected, so they can attack others knowing no-one can retaliate. It is a recipe for social unrest and would represent dreadful law making. They should back off before it backfires on them. | Andrew |