“Totalitarianism: form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state.”
– Encyclopaedia Britannica
Under Jacinda Ardern’s stewardship, New Zealand is becoming a totalitarian state.
Another giant leap down that path was announced last week in the form of a Cabinet paper outlining plans to criminalise free speech. But before we examine the detail, let’s remind ourselves of two other significant expansions of State authority that are already underway.
The first involves State control of the entire economy under the guise of ‘climate change’.
As a result of the Prime Minister imposing the harshest carbon restrictions in the world onto New Zealand, the Climate Commission is foreshadowing the need for central planning on a grand scale, if the country is to meet our obligations under the United Nations Paris Agreement.
But the question is, why is our Prime Minister sacrificing our economy and living standards, when most other countries are doing nothing? Surely it can’t just be to look good when standing before the United Nations – or can it?
Shouldn’t the PM be held accountable, not to the UN, but to New Zealanders, for the economic damage she is inflicting onto our country?
The second area of totalitarian control involves the undermining of democracy itself. The Ardern Government has already abolished our democratic right to prevent local councils from introducing Maori wards. Now they are replacing democracy with separatist rule.
According to their He Puapua report, the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be enacted by 2040. To achieve that goal, our constitution will be replaced with one that elevates the Treaty of Waitangi into supreme law, Maori tikanga will replace the common law, and the country will be governed through a 50:50 Crown-Maori ‘partnership’. Under what will, in effect, be a tribal dictatorship, democracy will cease to exist.
It’s time to say “No”! To defend democracy and equal rights we have launched a “Declaration of Equality” – to find out more, please click HERE.
The Prime Minister is now embarking on an even more threatening assault on our freedom – this time on our freedom of speech.
New Zealanders’ right to free speech is enshrined in section 14 of the 1990 Bill of Rights Act: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.”
That freedom is limited by the 1993 Human Rights Act. Section 61 makes it a civil offence to express “threatening, abusive, or insulting” opinions that are likely “to excite hostility against or bring into contempt any group of persons… on the ground of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins.”
Under Section 131 intentionally inciting hostility is a criminal offence that can result in imprisonment of up to three months or a fine of up to $7,000. However, as a public safeguard, such prosecutions need the approval of the Attorney-General.
According to the Human Rights Commission New Zealanders’ right to make controversial or offensive remarks is not undermined by these laws – they only restrict those who are inciting serious ethnic tension or unrest: “Only where there is the potential for significant detriment to society can the right to freedom of expression be limited.”
While prosecutions have been rare, many other constraints on free speech also exist.
The regulators dealing with complaints about published material are the Broadcasting Standards Authority, the Advertising Standards Authority, and the New Zealand Press Council.
The Harmful Digital Communications Act covers complaints about texts, emails, social media, and website content, with offenders facing up to two years in prison or fines of up to $50,000.
Threats of physical violence or harm are covered by the Crimes Act. Section 307A stipulates that threats made against people or property that cause “significant disruption of the activities of the civilian population” are an offence with a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
In 2019, following the Christchurch tragedy, then Minister of Justice Andrew Little announced a review “to examine whether our laws properly balance the issues of freedom of speech and hate speech. The process should not be rushed, and I expect a report for public comment towards the end of the year… Protecting our crucially important right to freedom of speech, while testing whether the balance is right regarding ‘hate speech’, needs a robust public discussion from all quarters. This way we will ensure that all of our citizens’ rights are protected, and every person can express their humanity without fear.”
The promised public consultation never eventuated. Instead of an open and transparent process, secret discussions were held with groups campaigning for harsher laws.
The Ministry of Justice chief executive Andrew Kibblewhite claimed hate speech was a “tricky thing” to navigate. They wanted to keep discussions “away from the political fray”, to prevent them being “derailed” and to “avoid protests”.
In the end, New Zealand First refused to support any restrictions of New Zealanders’ right to free speech. As a result, Labour promised a law change in their 2020 election manifesto: “Labour will extend legal protections for groups that experience hate speech, including for reasons of religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation, by ensuring that we prohibit speech that is likely to incite others to feel hostility or contempt towards these groups under the Human Rights Act.”
Their plan was to use the Human Rights Act to provide statutory protection to groups based not only on ‘race’, but on religion, gender, disability and sexual orientation as well.
Just after the election, the Royal Commission into the Christchurch shootings released its report including proposals to strengthen hate speech laws.
They recommended criminalising anyone deliberately inciting hostility by inserting section 131 of the Human Rights Act into the Crimes Act, increasing the penalties from three months in jail to at least two years, including ‘religion’ as a protected characteristic alongside ‘race’, and broadening the scope of ‘hate speech’ from an intent to ‘incite’ hostility to an intent to ‘stir’ it up.
But this week’s NZCPR Guest Contributor political commentator Chris Trotter is questioning the Government’s plan to enact Royal Commission recommendations to restrict our freedom, when nothing could have stopped the ‘lone wolf’ attack:
“Though bitterly contested by those firmly convinced that the Christchurch Mosque Shootings represent something more than the crime of a Lone Wolf terrorist, the Royal Commission’s finding that no state agency could have prevented Tarrant from carrying out his deadly intent – except by chance – is correct. He understood that, for his ‘mission’ to succeed, he must do nothing to draw the attention of the authorities – and, God help us all, he didn’t.
“Against such careful and pitiless premeditation, all the laws on our statute books are powerless. The state can punish Lone Wolves, but it cannot stop them. In attempting to minimise the terrorist threat, however, the state can eliminate our freedoms.”
Chris warns: “When Governments extend the state’s power to monitor their citizens’ ideas and activities, we should all be on our guard. Even when such extensions are introduced in response to a terrorist atrocity, we need to ask ourselves: would these new powers have prevented it?”
And that’s precisely what should be in our mind as we examine the proposed restrictions on free speech outlined by the new Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi in his Cabinet paper.
First of all, he wants all free speech breaches criminalised – not just the deliberate calls to incite hostility recommended by the Royal Commission, but the unintentional ones as well.
Second, he wants to adopt the Royal Commission’s proposal for the law to be widened to include an intent to “stir up” hatred.
Third, he wants the penalties strengthened from three months in jail to three years – even though the Royal Commission recommended two years – with fines increased from $7,000 to $50,000.
Fourth, while the Royal Commission recommended increasing the legal protection from groups based on ‘race’ to include ‘religion’ as well, the Minister wants it expanded to include “all groups listed under the prohibited grounds of discrimination in section 21 of the Human Rights Act”.
That means that under Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government, you will not only have to mind your Ps and Qs when it comes to discussing race and religion, but also sex, marital status, ethical belief, disability, age, political opinion, employment status, family status, and sexual orientation as well.
In fact, it seems the only group that will not be protected by Minister Faafoi’s new law will be white able-bodied working age males!
But it gets worse.
It appears the Ardern Government is planning on using these law changes to massively expand the concept of ‘incitement to discriminate’. The Minister explained his intention as follows: “Examples of inciting discrimination of a group include encouraging their exclusion or unfavourable treatment in the provision of goods and services, rental housing, or employment. In my view, as it is unlawful to discriminate against population groups, it should also be unlawful to incite others to discriminate against these groups.”
Landlords and employers should beware – if someone alleges unfavourable treatment it appears the Police may well come knocking!
Many other changes are proposed by Minister Faafoi, including some that are being withheld from the public. One in particular deals with the complaints process – paragraph 51 of the Cabinet paper ends with, “Groups spoken with also expressed their desire to address discrimination and hate speech in society more broadly than just through the incitement process”; but how that is to be put into effect in paragraph 52, is fully redacted.
With the chilling effect these proposed changes would have on society plain to see, and George Orwell’s warning, “If you control the language, you control the mind” ringing out loud and clear, is paragraph 52 proposing a new department of Thought Police?
In Jacinda Ardern’s totalitarian State, few New Zealanders will speak their mind for fear of a criminal prosecution. It will be a very ominous day for New Zealand when the Police are given the power to become the enforcement unit of politicians and activists against those expressing contrary opinions.
Through the imposition of State authority over the economy using carbon regulations, over democracy through separatist rule, and over free speech using hate speech laws, New Zealand is well on its way to becoming a shadow of the vibrant, free society that we all love.
Let’s be absolutely clear – these changes herald the most dramatic expansion of the influence of government in New Zealand’s history, and it’s happening at an extraordinary pace while Jacinda Ardern’s socialist government has a three year window of unbridled control. It is also happening with very limited scrutiny given the lack of independence in the media and a lack of transparency from the government itself.
While all of these changes are seismic, the threat to the freedom of expression is the most ominous. Free speech is essence of a free society. It is the very oxygen of a democracy and individuality. Free speech is how knowledge is developed and shared, and it remains the most effective bulwark against tyranny.
As the former Minister of Justice Andrew Little explained, “Protecting freedom of speech is vital to hold those in authority to account, challenge the socially and culturally dominant, and enable society to progress. Freedom of speech can give force to new ideas, but also cause discomfort and offence. It is usually the first right to be lost under oppressive regimes, and among the first to be restored, at least in name, after revolutionary change.”
With these proposals having been approved by Cabinet, it is clear that under Jacinda Ardern’s controlling regime, she is planning to not only take away our right to criticise others, but also our right to criticise her and her Party. Including ‘political opinion’ as a protected characteristic in hate speech laws puts New Zealand on a course to become the North Korea of Oceania.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you support Jacinda Ardern’s plan to criminalise free speech?
Note: Please feel free to use the poll comments to share your views on any of the issues raised in this week’s newsletter.
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| we seem to be learning a lot from China, Russia and North Korea | John |
| She and her party are out of control. | Ray |
| This is part of their plan run by the UN | Mike |
| Free speech is a hallmark of a free society. The only conceivable reason Jacinda would want to remove, restrict, or control free speech is to remove, control, or restrict the free people of New Zealand. She is dangerous and destructive. We need to fight these changes or lose what we have in NZ. | John |
| This is a silly question because we know that whatever Labour chooses they will do, I mean Cindy. The question to us all is, will we peacefully stand up for our rights? Further to this, will we persevere until we get our rights (which were taken in the recent year) back? Who will lead this? Is NZCPR proposing to do this? Or is the site just to “inform”? Dr Newman, have you and NZCPR considered adding a History page to this site so people can actually inform themselves not only of historic examples of civic peaceful demonstrations which led to freedom in other countries? If the issue is as important as we all lament it to be – them surely there must be very much more action than just a poll. So what are we doing? Just stating the facts will not fix this. Na mihi | Sarah |
| ANOTHER QUESTION. DO THESE ‘LAWS’ WORK BOTH WAYS OR IS PRIVILEGE INVOLVED | RUSS |
| Not at all. She must be stopped somehow. Because then this comment could well be illegal | Ken |
| Definitely NOT!! Police can’t even investigate burglaries and other criminal offences as it is so how are they going to impose these new hate speech laws. | Janet |
| Any curbs on our current freedoms are un democratic and reek of socialism | Ray |
| I support Democracy | Ross |
| We have just commemorated Anzac when the key word used throughout the country was “freedom”. | Catherine |
| This is just another of her socialist tricks to give more power to take control of people’s lives. | Peter |
| My forebears fought to retain freedom in 1940’s before Ardern was conceived. This included freedom of speech (The right to express an opinion) The stealth antics supported by sections of the media are a disgrace to the honour of the men and women who died or were maimed to give us this freedom. Shame on any soul that would conceive to take that away. That soul does not represent me. New Zealand needs to wake up and see what is happening to their liberties and their Country before it’s too late. | Wayne |
| She is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. | Warren |
| Comrade Ardern is guilty of treason. Send her to the gulag. | Igor |
| It has been said that the only thing required for evil to triumph is that good folk do nothing. Now is the time for all good folk to rise up. We must take a stand against the evil being foisted upon us by our incompetent government before it is too late. | Kerry |
| How can “Free Speech” be criminal in a democratic ‘free’ country? Just look at any country which apposes ‘free’ speech. Dictatorship and autocratic structures for their own benefit. | Stuart |
| Whilst the Adern Government will move to silence us through removing freedom of speech in order to cover up the true state of the Socialist economy %u2013 the opposition will eventually reveal the truth%u2026 The socialist labour government will be lucky to last the distance to three years. They have won an election with an economy in a state of collapse being held together with a billion dollars of money being printed every week. The election was won on the basis of a political structured crisis built on fear. It is sad that so little of society has faith and the ability to rationalise. The pain being felt in society is not reflected by media coverage as most of the media are receiving income from an ongoing Covid-19 crisis vigorously reported daily. Covid-19 will be with us for an indefinite future due to the power it gives governments. Particularly, the Socialist-Labour in government in New Zealand. A significant challenge will be the NZ Parliament%u2019s ability to govern supply because the reserve bank is independent. Thus giving the government virtually an unlimited supply. A challenge to supply will have to be made during this term of government as the debt through money printing will get larger, progressively, until the implications of a prolonged depression will be so profound even the most self-interested politician will shake at the knees. Is it Utopia here we come%u2026.? Or %u201CA Nation that cannot see the Wood for the Trees will likely Lose the Wood and the Trees%u2026!%u201D | Frederick |
| Free speech is the right for every human being. I know it can be used to incite, but it has to be allowed to further the human psyche. | Gary |
| Where is the robust intellect? Their knowledge of history is pitiful – likewise their understanding of cause & effect. | Douglas |
| Isn’t the definition of democracy: “I may not agree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”? | Jane |
| Freedom of speech is the hallmark of democracy | Mark |
| Very definitely NOT. Is NZ being used to take away our freedom and rights from us? It is being done with stealth. Is the rest of the world to follow this example?. Are we the showcase? | Robina |
| I would not trust any plan that Miss Ardern and her cronies would try to foist upon our Nation of New Zealand. .Least of all would be the criminalisation of speech which for sure will ultimately be used to to further divide and subjugate the Country. Almost every one of her “Plans” has seen the removal of democratic rights and the enhancement of co-governance with those claiming allegiance only to their Maori heritage. If her plan comes to fruition (and she probably believes it will because she has call upon the majority of parliamentary seats and can drive anything she wishes through to law despite the opinions of the Country’s citizens) the transformation of New Zealand into a Communist AOTEAROA and my thoughts will be considered criminal for “inciting” and offence against Maori and the Labour/Green/Maori coalition. | Michael |
| Never, in the entire history of humanity, has the restriction of free speech EVER produced a positive result. You would conclude, therefore, that this present government is not seeking a good and right outcome in pursuing this legislation. | Tom |
| The desired end result of this policy is a Nobel Prize for Jacindarella. That is her sole aim, certainly not the peace and good order of New Zealand society! | TOBY |
| We need coordinated acts of civil disobedience to have our voice heard. | Alan |
| Hell no!! What was a slow, but subtle change in the basic democratic rights of us all, has now become so obvious and in your face that this current regime are now convinced, that a section of our society, including those referred to as “Maori” have all but given in to the belief that this form of governance is the only way forward for NEW ZEALAND. Example: I noticed just this week a statement from The NZ Herald advising that they would remove from social media, any adverse comments on an article regarding the proposed prison reforms outlined by Kelvin Davis. This indicates that the Herald is now run and dictated to by Jacinda’s secret party. How we stop this now before it is to late is going to be very difficult. Will a change of Government in 2023 be enough? I hope so | Barry |
| I wonder how many people will have an attack of common sense at the next election? | hugh |
| Well done Winston, for putting this pack of commies in power. North Korea here we come. | Roy |
| Absolutely not. We are a democratic society not a communist dictatorship ! | Craig |
| It’s a terrifying prospect to be deemed a criminal because of speaking out an opinion. | Miriama |
| Its anti democratic | Wayne |
| Dear Jacinda, your charming smile is losing its impact. More and more people are seeing it as the smile on the face of the tiger. Wake up, New Zealand – the thought police may soon come knocking on your door. | Mitch |
| please send this so called government to a country where there thinking fit in like North Korea | Johan M |
| They are threatening our democracy in a very subversive manner! | john |
| Fascism | John |
| Absolutely no , only a communist would want that as we have already seen. Time she is removed, | Tom |
| NO F***ING WAY WHAT SO EVER. | Bryan |
| considerate speech freedom is my right. All should be free to give their opinions on matters they feel will affect themselves and others they care about. | D E |
| Welcome to New Zimbabwe | Garry |
| History shows that this will be just the first step in what will be an increasing repression of criticism of anything done by the left. Homosexual marriage started with civil unions. | Gerard |
| NZers, are an independent lot and mostly I feel value it! This is exemplified by MP Mohutu declaring NZ’s right to an independent opinion while simultaneously supporting the 5 Eyes Agreement. i.e. We can and do criticize China on a private basis as a trading partner. NOT brashly for the sake of News Space. If our 5 eye partners were as supportive of free trade with us as they expect in subservience to their will, perhaps we could afford to be that stupid. Not being a supporter of her controlling political bent, I do however support her stand on this issue. You do not spit in the eye of a benefactor. After all who led the world in banning the bomb? | Barry D. |
| This is part and parcel of this governments socialist aspiration, keep the people under control and dominate them. | Owen and Janet |
| NO NO NO – This is Stalin/Pol Pot dictatorship. !! The definition of hate speech seems to be if someone “feels insulted” by what someone else has said. So – THREE years in jail for hurting someone’s feelings ? Hitler would have loved this !! | Doug |
| This country is fast becoming a basket case due to the awful people running it. We absolutely must be allowed to speak freely and the current mob ruling us must be tossed out immediately. They are truly awful. Wake up people – I just can’t believe so many cannot, or will not, see what’s happening to our once beautiful country. | Helen |
| “Our punishment for failing to be involved in the political process is that we will be governed by our inferiors”. If there is a time to stand up and be counted people, it is now! What can you do? Get involved in something!!!! | Neil |
| Encourage everyone to listen to Absolute Interference on www.frankspeech.com and listen to the Live interviews There are many fascinating interviews and they’re all relevant for New Zealanders wanting their country back. | Anne |
| We around becoming afraid of our own democracy, least we forget that was forgotten long ago, fire makes steel, steel makes swords, swords can give us freedom. | Sven |
| Is the time for rebellion is fast approaching? | Elizabeth |
| Democracy is unravelling. | Gary |
| This is all about NZ’s Sub-Prime minister trashing the country to avoid personal criticism and for her to gain personal acknowledgment in the UN. A Narcissist to the core like Barry Obama. | Mike |
| Comrade Ardern wants a totalitarian New Zealand | Bob |
| Saying what one thinks is a fundamental right and should we require protection, the courts will adjudicate | tony |
| Communism here we come | Paul |
| This country is getting more stuffed by the minute !! | Mark |
| Definitely not,pretty soon we will hardly be able to open our mouths with this government | Colleen |
| As with many others, I usually add a few comments and like most other contributors, I lament deeply the developing state of our special nation. I also agree completely with most comments, all coming I believe, from average NZ citizens, as most of us are. With any situation like the profound one that we face as a free people, there obviously reaches a point, where more than comments–valid as they are, give way to tangible action. There is one proposal I strongly disagree with–this a personal feeling, not a judgement on those who’ve voiced this sentiment; migrating to Australia or any where else is and never will be an option. If we live here, then this is our Home and our Homeland, as much as any other persons. We have every right and obligation to stand firm on the Democracy that we own; we have every moral and ethical license to defend to the hilt, that same democracy and freedom. It can never be a positive solution, turning backs to this issue; in fact, that’s no doubt what some of the ‘agents-for-change’ would like many to do. But desertion at any level is completely untenable. I would never–absolutely never, surrender what is morally, legally and ethically mine and my families to rightfully own. It’s patently clear, that this disgraceful and distorted Political system, must on no account, gain re-election at 2023; if that happens, then this fabulous nation of ours, will be a hybrid state of Chinese communism! I also agree that the mainline opposition party–National, seem almost powerless at these times. They definitely should be sounding the clarion call to address this creeping menace. Yet, they are and probably will be, encamped in the Political Infirmary, tending to their many wounds, all legitimate, but a distraction none the less. It is immensely sad to me, that 7 months beyond an election and National are still striving with the Party leadership issue. So, what’s left. Here’s an idea for folks to consider; it may be ridiculous, unworkable, too difficult, too demanding or all of these. Is it at least theoretically possible, to amalgamate information, strategies, energies directed, and all available resources and form a unified bond with the Taxpayers Union, while progressively moving toward forming a new, balanced right/centre right political party, to contend the 23 Election? It could be presumed that a coalition with Act would be workable. Two points: no party of any structure or affiliation, will deliver exactly what every citizen hopes for. With the odds high of ‘losing’ NZ, the closest for most of the people, would be enough as far as policy goes. And secondly, the issues of structure, manner of operation, personnel positioning and most importantly Leadership, don’t need to be an impediment at this time. These issues would no doubt resolve and settle out naturally, as the project gained momentum. Muriel has and is doing an immense job on this battlefront and building out and up from her work, seems a natural progression. In all honesty–and I don’t really want to be involved in such a move, but I can’t see any other hope on the horizon. Where the Opposition Party should be standing and shouting loudly, there’s only a silent no mans land. Without doubt, there are some capable and budding individuals out there’ quietly being prepared for this time. One more factor–hope this doesn’t infringe copyright; to any with interest, check out Wake up New Zealand.com | Alan |
| Freedom of speech is a right of all people. All one needs to do is be aware of the law of slander and libel. Apart from that, if you hurt someone’s feelings, should that be a crime. What has happened this week with labour steering reclessly with getting rid of the DHBs,{another democratic process upended} to make way for a separist maori, health authority. because according to Andrew little “The system must work in true partnership with Maori… Maori still suffer, on average, worse health than others.” There will also be a new Maori Health Authority, sitting alongside that, to both set policies for Maori health and to decide and fund those who will deliver services. The new Maori Health Authority will “have the power to directly commission health services for Maori”. Should those reasons justify another separist entity. Next up will be SIPS,,Prisons, Winz,, these all have a high percentages of maori. Why are not the news reporters not asking questions, have they been paid off? If the opposition Parties were for true Democracy, and for all New Zealanders, where are their voices. Are they all to afraid to speak out. While I am slightly off topic, the arrogant and ignorant news media who keep referring to New Zealand as Aotearoa are absolutely unpatriotic to their country., and to anyone who keeps espousing this fabricated word. | steve |
| I can’t find a person who will own up to Voting Jacinda in; I wonder why? NON Maori must unite | Colin |
| Already we cannot criticize little “cindy,” she is terrified of leadership but hungry for power while she continues with her fear and obedience campaign. | Monica |
| This country is heading for disaster, with socialist extremists holding all the power. Protests should be loud and widespread. | Patrick |
| Communism on the way. | Bob |
| one of the greatest perpetrators of hate speech was Stephen Colbert. Jacinda used taxpayers money to fund his ( and his family ) visit to NZ. | bruces |
| scandalous | David |
| Live free or die. | bruce |
| communism here we come ! | Donald |
| This is the most dangerous legislation this brazen Government has proposed so far.No one should be complacent. | Richard |
| She is taking NZ into a wicked socialistic and totalitarian state which will end in national slavery – we are in big danger right now !! | russell |
| Free speech is the basis of a democractic form of government. As long as it does not cause violence nor falsely endanger the public ( eg. yelling “fire” in a theater when there is not a fire ) must be allowed. | James |
| Do not support any part of this racist, divisive govt. who cannot read; they think the word partnership is included in the TOW. A petition to the Governor General is required now. Ardern Govt; is not Governing in the best interests of ALL NEW ZEALANDERS. | Sam |
| These crazy marxists need to be stopped – we need to push back to defend our democracy and right to free speech. | Alistair |
| Every day this Government is introducing laws that will place strict control over all New Zealanders and the public at large are so complacent that they seem to accept these changes not realizing that when they become effected the shit will then hit the fan and by then it will be to late or a civil War may be next. | ken |
| The reason the current government of New Zealand is able to implement, basically whatever it desires, is simply because the majority of the voting public do not bother to research the truth & reality of the ‘Party’ that they eventually vote for. It does not take much research to discover that Jacinda Ardern has ALWAYS been an extreme Socialist, with Globalist ambitions. Yet the majority of the votes went to her & her cronies at the last election. Now, shock horror, she is implementing her intentions at record speed, & the public are, or should be, shocked. So thankyou very much New Zealand voters. You are getting exactly what you deserve. The racist minority want to, & are being successful in changing OUR countries name to Aotearoa. Could I suggest we will soon be referring to it as South Pacific Zimbabwe.. | A.G.R. |
| Free speech is important | Diana |
| Once a member of the Communist party the leopard has not changed her spots | Terry |
| The current Labour government is going. undemocratically, far too far down the wrong track. If they like all these wonderful ideas why do they not test them out first by allowing the citizens of this country to say whether their ideas are acceptable? Why ram all these things through with such indecent haste? Clearly since the Labour government is so firmly on this course their popularity will be tested at the next election – and I begin to wonder if and how they can be reined in immediately, before they attempt more harm to New Zealand. | Rob |
| What’s happening to this country? And this country is called New Zealand, by the way. | Patrick |
| Free Speech is a right; and one that is precious. If we don’t have free speech, we have a dictatorship! | Heather |
| Who decides what “hate speech” is? If someone voices an opinion about something that is “politically correct”, will they be accused of “hate speech”? | Jacky |
| Ardern is a very evil person!!!!! | Brian |
| Muriel has said it all. | June |
| Purely evil Marxism | Tim |
| WHAT IS THIS WOMAN DOING TO OUR COUNTRY! The situation is going from bad to worse! | Sylvia |
| Adern /Labour must be sacked now | Mark |
| I don’t support anything this power crazy women does ! Free Speech is about all we have left | Karen |
| I shudder to think what all our deceased Military soldiers are thinking ? Who all gave their lives so we could could have democracy and freedom of speech. This once beautiful country we call New Zealand is fast sliding down the slippery slope tp being a communism state. | Wayne |
| What is National doing about this? | Nigel |
| If I wanted to live in North Korea, China or Russia I would go there. Adern’s idealism is NOT for New Zealand citizens. | Maureen |
| NO way, I and many others fought for a free Democrocy. Not a State control. | Don |
| our toothy dictator has already altered NEW ZEALAND by some of her laws passed at the middle of the night with her socialist ideas, but put the socialist and Nazi theory together and what do you get but a dictator called ardern, may get a knock on the door by her brown shirts shortly as im sure her gestapo are monitoring this site. | Richard |
| no i don’t i actually don’t support much of her socialist rhetoric she and her band of merry idiots just want us all totally controlled you have to be able to speak your mind and every one needs to have an opinion of what’s going on around them, I feel so sad to see new Zealand changing so quickly, this government was voted in to have full control i hope those people are thinking a bit different now, one of the most dangerous governments we have ever had in this country,not sure what’s going to happen in our future,i dont have that many more years left its my children and grand children i worry about and the total brain washing thats happening at such a fast rate | rodger |
| What Jacinda Ardern and her motley collection of moronic Socialists are doing to our once free country is tantamount to treachery and treason. It is interesting to note that the death penalty for these actions was removed some time ago. Would it be possible to have them charged under Section 307A of the Crimes Act for the harm and damage that they are doing to our way of life? | Scott |
| Thank goodness for your updates | Keitj |
| Where’s our media on all this ? | Tony |
| They are proposing a 3 year jail sentence for insulting the political opinions of someone else. It is easy to deny to ourselves what is happening but Muriel is correct | Phil |
| Absolutely not. As I have previously observed, these are more measures from a power crazed, Sycophantic, Marxist control freak.. Utter shame on our weak media for not publicising alternative views | Peter |
| Never | Jan |
| NO,NO,NO, How can we get rid of this dreadful woman? | Athol |
| ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! | Martin |
| Open and transparent? | Robyn |
| Enid probably thinks that Eric Blair was Tony’s uncle. And I thought that Auntie Helen was dangerous! | Philip |
| It is sinister and terrifying. | Gordon |
| Our freedom is at stake. The basis of democracy is argument. Unless we stop them, all will be lost. | Kevan |
| under no circumstances should this ever be entertained.. Get real . | Mark |
| What the Heck is happening in God’s Own | Laurel |
| And now they are taking control of the reserve bank as well which I thought was supposed to be fully independent of any political party…. We’re buggered New Zealand, absolutely buggered!! | Tina |
| Definitely not. | Graeme |
| You need hate speech laws to cover up genocide, silly not to. | Robert |
| the first step to totalitarianism communist control it is the biggest threat to democracy | geoffrey |
| Under Adern marxism is marchimg on without any checks or balances | tony |
| For Gods sake New Zealand, wake up. Lethargy rains supreme in this Country closely followed by Ignorance. Ask some of the 600.000 Kiwis living in Australia, why they are there. It’s because they CAN NOT see a future for themselves, their Children or Grand Children, anymore in New Zealand. | Geoff |
| liberty and Justice | Ian |
| It is time for all those new zealanders who are opposed to this relentless attack on our traditions values and way of life to stand up and support whatever action we can to bring this shambles of a government to its knees . | James |
| I only other political parties come out against this stupidity otherwise our country will be sunk. | Dennis |
| Arderns Socialist agenda is something we need to vigorously oppose. Free speech should be retained at all costs. | colin |
| Marxism brooks no opposition The state is omnipotent until the peasants can take no more | John |
| Adern is dangerous. Her and her comrades need to go. | Darren |
| by voting NO to this, will I be chastised when the govt look back on this after thee law change? I don’t care. Free speech is more important. | mike |
| This is disgusting and if it progresses to fruition will destroy the fabric of NZ and why I have been proud to call myself a NZ’er | Walter |
| of course not. this PM is ruling over the top, get rid of her quick | gerard |
| Still working on the fear control – with a smile. | Maurice |
| this is not nazi germany, but she is taking us down that path! | norman |
| Fulltime communism ,here we come…………unless…………..!!! You know the answer!!! | Martyn |
| We are moving closer and closer toward a revolt , sooner or later people will wake up. However the majority of what is written in NZCPR does not make TVNZ news, so who controls what is obvious news that should be reported by our major news outlet? | Owen |
| That’s crazy! | Kate |
| Beware the control over free speech. | Graham |
| There are already legal safeguards against the abuse of free speech. | Barend |
| A resounding NO! The urgency to enact wholly unnecessary hate crime laws will enable Vision 2040 to be pushed with all opposition to the unwanted Maorification of NEW ZEALAND being labelled racist and liable to prosecution. | David |
| How far from reality have these people really traveled | Richard |
| we arw becoming a communist country . No wonder Jacinda is as rd as hey come. More totalatarion then Stalin was in his days | John |
| Absolutely not | William |
| Those criticising colonisation as a source of sickness, underprivilegedness, reason for poorness amongst groups is in itself, inciting a backlash . | Pete |
| I suspect we’re a minority, and this will pass… Most are sleepwalking through busy lives and can’t see whats actually happening to our country. | Steve |
| Read (or re-read) Orwell’s 1984 & see how important the control of speech is to gain power & control. Many people don’t even realize what is happening – & therein lies the danger! Those same people will be the first to look around & say “how did that happen?” It’s so frustrating. | Heather |
| No, Definitely No | Ian |
| My parents fought for democracy and we should also. | Chris |
| It is so easy for a particular narrative to become the accepted one, and all dissenting views therefore to be dangerous .. and condemned in no uncertain. manner. This could affect way more subjects than those mentioned by the government. ..at this moment, including those who do not agree with Lock-downs or most masking, or any suggestion of a vaccine passport for travel and more. | Rochelle |
| Appalling. How do we stop this? | Trevor |
| the sooner we are rid of this Government the better we will be. | Lorrie |
| No, definitely not | Trevor |
| Definitely do not support, BUT, why are the opposition parties not making more noise | kabe |
| Demonstrably, Ardern hasn’t the faintest idea as to her duty and her responsibility. She should be charged and prosecuted for deeds akin to crimes against the State. | Jim |
| Pretty little Communist | Les |
| Communism is alive and well in NZ | gary |
| No this restriction on criticism of free speech is already being set in motion. Those of us who do not wish to have our news broadcasts and weather forecasts on National Radio overwhelmed with Maori language dotted into every second sentence are already effectively silenced by the Broadcasting Complaints Authority’s refusal to hear complaints from those of us who don’t wish to have this foreign language, which we do not understand or wish to hear, making the meaning of news items unintelligible. This but a simple example of the restrictions to be placed on the general public. | Chris. |
| Worst PM ever rules on the hoof | Steve |
| This is the worst government I have encountered in my 60yr life and that includes governments of both ‘stripes’. My heart sinks and I fear for NZ. | Annette |
| The water in the frog pot is getting very warm. | Ronmac |
| Geoff McDonald tried hard to warn us this impending and imminent transition to Socialism/Communism in his three books written in the early 1980’s; Shadows over New Zealand, Kiwi’s at the Crossroads, and Kiwi’s Fight Back. At the time Geoff was an ex Communist and Australian Engineers Union Leader who was shocked when visiting our peaceful and prosperous shores at how far NZ already was down the track of embracing and instilling Communism. He could see the signs, because he new and could discern the language used, the double speak, the use of divide and conquer tactics and the break down of society by inciting cultural and racial division and confusion. Oh, and now we are 4 decades on from his warnings and we see it all coming true around us, everything crumbling and falling, to be replaced with what? Something better, more equitable and freedom enhancing? No, not at all. It is the Communist utopia, pie in the sky dream that we see the Chinese people suffering under, particularly the Uyghurs, Christian Chinese, and the Falun Gong and now also the people of Hong Kong, especially those who spoke up against the Chinese Regimes takeover. America is crumbling under the same burden and attack from within and without. We must keep our voices speaking loudly against this nonsense and stand firm, boldly and not just maintain a defensive position, but also attack the lies and deception that is used to gain totalitarian control by these usurpers and traitors. | Brian |
| This government is the most dangerous ever to the Kiwi way of life | David |
| Please start a campaign now to stop this from being rolled out. | Colin |
| FASCIZIM | COLIN |
| I’m sure she reads1948 morning noon & night so watch out for what she latches onto next. | sheryl |
| Definitely not, doesn%u2019t sound like we would be able to have an opinion on anything without the fear of being put in prison. | Rosanne |
| Undemocratic and draconian North Korea type control | Tom |
| It is no more than Stuff rejecting any comment not agreeing with their well paid opinions, luckily I won’t be around to see it in 2040 | Owen |
| Free speech and hate speech laws cannot exist together. Become a proud free speech absolutist | Matt |
| Free speech is the essence of our democracy. This Country is sliding towards Communism every day. | Betty |
| get rid of her !!!!!! | graeme |
| She is an out of control nut job pandering to the do-gooder brigades and lining up her points tally with the UN after the apocalypse she is creating screws New Zealand once and for all into a third world standard of livjng. The piper is yet to come calling for her debt monster. But he will come. This message is intended to invoke civil unrest. | Mike |
| Dangerous dangerous dangerous | Bev |
| Teaching resilience, the ability to think critically and debate issues would go a long way to address issues this proposed law pretends to address. This is a thinly disguised intent to limit debate and oppose government actions which citizens have a right to do. I am deeply concerned about the Rights of Indigenous People proposals – we are becoming a racially divided nation, rather than ‘one people’. Being able to oppose this and other incursions on our rights is the reason the ‘hate speech’ law must not be put in place. | Natalie |
| Here we to again with another total takeover by the Labour led government. She wants to go down in history and she surely will. Time to leave NZ I think as there seems to be no opposition to anything that Labour proposes and then enacts. Where is our opposition? Asleep at the wheel? Sad times ahead for us all. | Fraser |
| We seem to be rapidly approaching a point of decision. Whether NZ aligns with the USA, Uk, Europe, or with China…..It is becoming a binary choice in which there is NO middle ground, and the opinions of the people are all the more important as a result. | Lionel |
| It’s really amazing that National is so dysfunctional, and the press so weak that all this is happening when ordinary Kiwis are oblivious to this disaster in the making | Hilary |
| 2020 I said Herr Goebels would have been proud. 2021 Mao would too. My ‘opinions’ but that could have me in deep water. | Dick |
| When NZ becomes a Communist country where can we escape to? | Evelyn |
| Ardern should be had up for treason! | bill |
| Where the hell are our centre-right opposition parties on these issues. National in particular have been completely ineffective and largely silent. | Derek |
| this law is the biggest crime . | beryl |
| Orwellian | David |
| We are one of the few countries with perfect democracy and it must not be changed. | Richard |
| A redictulous Move. | Richard |
| she is the criminal,and must be forced out before she communises all of us,we spent our lives building up our country for our whanau ,she is the worst leader weve ever had and the most incompetent colleges | tony |
| Jacinda has to GOOOO real soon !! | william |
| Send Jacinda and her Gov. to China, with a one way ticket and see how they survive there | Robert |
| typical left wing bullshit | allan |
| She is turning into a proper nut case. she is one dangerous and non thinking so called leader of a very unhinged party a seperatist party at that | Barry |
| Once again an idiotic move | John |
| No no no She has to go | Gary |
| Look what happened in Fiji . Do you want a n army, in this case a Facist army running the country? | john |
| What else is there to say. Creeping (galloping), subversive laws are being dumped on New Zealanders at every turn. From farmers having their property rights massively restricted to property owners of all categories being penalized with proposals for Capital Value Rating to imposition of ridiculous building inspector whims and fancies, imposing their own rules on landscaping, to what words we can use in conversation. If people want to be offended, they will be, so let us say whatever we want to say and let the perpetually offended be perpetually offended. After all, if we are too loose with what we say, we do risk being friendless, so it’s self sustaining in a social sense. The thing that is causing all these nitpicking laws, is the desire of the political left to give themselves unfettered power and control. That’s the real meaning of PC … Power and Control. | Dianna |
| The Commissar is also a qualified dominatrix and needs to be stamped on. The other day she went back to her day job – serving fish! She managed to carry that out wuite well. Perhaps it is time we sent her back to that day job. She is totally useless – a terrible danger to our nation – in her current one. Yes – this is hate speech – I loath and detest the woman. | Ron |
| Ardern is very dangerous | neil |
| Absolutely not !!! Ahdern and her followers are living in a world of self administered delusion, which is what the rest of the population have been aware of since the bewildered voted them in to power. The latest being their support of China in preference to 5 Eyes agreement, which provides a convincing demonstration of their support for communist ideology in this country. We are witnessing this on a daily basis, orchestrated by the NZ labour party. Until the country returns to a truthful and open Govt we will have to endure this commie style until then. | David |
| Where is the National Party. They should promising to throw all this stuff out. | John |
| getting more like a Marxist communist state everyday | Francis |
| She wasn’t president of the international socialist youth league ten or so years ago for the fun of it.Communist dictator in the making. | malcolm |
| I am so concerned for our country and all new zealanders- – as we ‘knew it – fought for it and embraced it – What overall good for the country and good for all will come from this separtist and restrictive e totalarian path we have been launched on !! – Is emigrating an optrion to retain freedoms — | john |
| Without freespeech we will totally lose our democracy The plan of the government is just another power grab by the political elites and the conversion of this country into a communist paradise which history has or should have taught us in TOTALLY impossible Communism can only be implimented by force and as such only the worst of society get to the top. Ardern and her cohorts must be stopped at once before it is too late | Rob |
| This will allow any opinion not compliant with propaganda of the Orwellian ” Ministry of Truth” to be supressed and punished. | John |
| Certainly not! More Socialist propaganda to divide and conquer us! | Robyn |
| The combined push towards communism and apartheid happening now means NZ cannot afford 2 1/2 more years of this government. | Phil |
| How can we eliminate this traitor of a govt.How stupid are people to even elect place them in the first . | Ross |
| Poor NZ’rs, Poor NZ! | Helen |
| There is sufficient framework to deal with factully incorrect and malicious free speech under the vilifications legislation and the the tort of defamation. If you want to go that far then we should remove parliamentary priviliege to say what you like in the House of Reps, and politicians face the same criminal proceedings. | Alistair |
| This will allow any opinion not compliant with propaganda of the Orwellian ” Ministry of Truth” to be supressed and punished. | John |
| Absolutely appalling. Our forebears fought to prevent this. | Gavin |
| Certainly not! We all speak – who is to monitor everybody’s words? – or – is it that certain people are exempt from this and can say what they please? -but not the rest of us? Sounds like Hitler! | Patricia |
| This is a looming disaster for N Z ! | David |
| Cindy and her puppets are determined to make New Zealand a Socialist and Racial State. This must stop, and the Citizens must rise up against this abomination!!!!! | Roy |
| I find it very telling that there appears to be very little push back from the National party regarding any of the changes this present Govt is making. It is almost as if they are colluding. Unless this push back starts very soon we will have this same mob for at least the next five years. That would spell complete disaster for this great little country of ours. | Rod |
| “hate speech” just seems to be anything the government disagrees with at this point. | Lee |
| Reflect on this quote (can’t remember who by but it is the essence of democracy and free speech) ” I might disagree totally with what you say but I will defend to the utmost your right to say it” or words to that effect. Any reduction in that concept is the slippery slope to totalitarianism. Also well said Chris Trotter. | Kevin |
| Outrageous sweeping changes to be imposed on the five million is wrong in the extreme. Even political freedom has gone! How do we get rid of a Labour government who has complete utter power over the people. Hmmm ‘be kind’ was JA’s mantra! | Cecilie |
| We are fast becoming a C.C.P. country. Get rid of the lot of them. | dona |
| Completely unnecessary and over the top. This would make NZ the laughing stock of the democratic world. Ardern’s political history seems to be coming to the surface. | Bruce |
| we have legislation in place already. Our forefather fought two world was for our freedom of speech | gary |
| NZ is doomed. These communist swamp creatures have destroyed this once great nation. And a lot worse to come yet. | Derejk |
| absolutely not | Kevin |
| No, No, NO. | Bruce |
| People went to war and died in their thousands to give us free speech we should not forget this sacrifice. | Digby |
| No way! | Kerin |
| Free speech and the free exchange of ideas is the bedrock of a free and democratic society. | Naomi |
| Uk has just proved that there is power by the people (football) wake up New Zealand Jacenda surname is PUTIN | bill |
| History repeats itself. Marxism got a foothold at the beginning of the 20th century using the same techniques and now this same monstrous and discredited ideology is once again manifesting itself. Jacinda and her cohorts will happily throw the NZ people under a bus to get absolute power and acclaim. | Lee |
| totalitarianism and communist state expansion have no place in a democracy like NZ is/was we must stop the is insiduous creep on our human rights. | Wayne |
| A government rapidly heading out of control. | pdm |
| Our current legislation is adequate to deal with the matters the government now appears to want restrict absolutely, thereby really discriminating against everyone’s views if they don’t align with what is deemed correct at anyone time. | Pieter |
| Never in a million years ! This just the first step in plans to totally subjugate citizens. Other actions will be taken to further the aims of the present government. Coupled with the Maori actions to gain control of NZ and all its resources, we are in for a bleak future if nothing is done to stop it all. When all firearms are banned we will know then that 1984 has indeed arrived. The new laws will also see the demise of NZCPR and similar blogs. | Ray s |
| Definitely NO!!! Free speech is the bottom line – when it’s gone we’re finished. MAKE SPEECH FREE AGAIN | Don |
| this govt must be removed. | chris |
| Ardern is the personification of evil. | Chris |
| it is appalling | graham |
| Current laws against socially damaging or hate speech are sufficient but are not applied evenly. Clementine Ford was allowed to come and talk publicly in NZ without being prosecuted for repeatedly encouraging women to ‘kill all men’. The S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) hate-filled manifesto is readily available here and indeed is taught in our educational institutions without any of those spouting its violent, divisive diatribe ever being prosecuted under current available laws. The term ‘toxic masculinity’ is allowed to be used without consequence but applying the same term to fundamental defining characteristics of any other group (e.g. ‘toxic Maoriness’, ‘toxic Islam’, ‘toxic homosexuality’) would be quickly condemned, shut down and perhaps prosecuted by the various standards organizations, Human Rights Commission and/or government ministers. Academically corrupt ‘critical race theory’ that stereotypes ‘whiteness’ as specially flawed and evil is now taught in our education system yet none of its vocal proponents have been challenged under current available law. Maori activists, some in government, have not been prosecuted for inciting contempt against ‘colonists’ and pakeha generally. We can be sure that the draconian censorship laws intended by this government will be applied just as unevenly. Hate speech against males and white people will continue to be ok. The Labour Party’s election manifesto talked about protecting certain “groups that experience hate speech” through a plan to “prohibit speech that is likely to incite others to feel hostility or contempt towards these groups”. Andrew Little claimed that freedom of speech is “vital…to challenge the socially and culturally dominant”. These statements show the true intent of the current government, to weaponize the law for use by specific favoured groups. For example, this government will be anticipating the resentment that will build against Maori as they are allowed to restrict our access to coastline, to block off public roads against anyone they don’t prefer, to seize privately owned land, to ‘own’ and charge us for our water and in future the air we breathe, and to govern over us in undemocratic ‘partnership’ regimes. The so-called ‘hate speech’ laws will be designed to illegalize the anticipated resentment and to prevent debate and criticism concerning all this intended racism. | Johan |
| Absolutely not… this communist should be ousted before she has destroyed our country… | Clive |
| Communist plan. | Nigel |
| The carefully constructed wording is designed to criminalize any speech that is counter to the Governments accepted narrative. It is simply designed to suppress/criminalize discussion. | Bruce C |
| The soon voters get rid of this govt the better. New Zealand now needs a totally independent news source, free of inexperienced young “journalist” conned by our government into believing their reported opinions are fact. | Graeme |
| There are existing laws to control free speech. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it… particularly for a political agenda | Robbie |
| Freedom of speech is one of the most important tenets of democracy. What next? | Maurice |
| Of course NO-w govt. is supposed to SUPPORT N.Zealanders NOT take away our freedom,and ARTICLE 3 in the treaty says WE ARE ALL EQUAL ONE LAW FOR EVERY-ONE has no-one the guts to ask jacinda WHERE in the treaty does it say partnership,IT DOES,NT so why is she ignoring 80% of N.Zealanders & giving OUR tax money to iwi when hospitals,schools,ETC NEED FIXING & why has she appointed activist maori to important policies when WE ARE ALL EQUAL.She doesnt have the right to change NZ its ALL races she should be helping.Its WAY OVER TIME MP,s who get TAX PAYER WAGES to FINALLY SHOW SOME GUTS & CHALLENGE HER on race based policies which are NOT DEMOCRATIC & serve ALL N.Zealanders the same. | Cindy |
| Freedom of speech is a right gifted to us by the blood of our forebears, a right we must not allow Jacinda and her team of malicious miscreants to destroy., least we become a vassal CCP protectorate | John |
| I’m beginning to despair. | Jenny |
| Predictable insanity! | Richard |
| It is unconstitutional , undemocratic and down right dangerous. It is time for the public to stand up and be counted. | chris |
| Next thing Jacinda will be promoting will be full blown communism so we can get closer to China. we should be doing all we can to break free from China. As for exporting our prime live beef to China so they will be able to develop in Competition with us in the world market. | Frank |
| Never. Free speech is our basic rule. | Sheila |
| It is stupid | Graham |
| We, New Zealanders should be marching in the streets. Just a comment but it is ominous in my mind that we the public have been disarmed and almost immediately the government starts a war on freedom. If ever one needed proof firearm ownership and freedom were linked and why anti freedom zealots attack firearm ownership so vehemently, there it is. | Tracy |
| Dangerous and controlling | phillip |
| I’m over Ardern and her cronies. For some reason they are out to destroy NZ. The sooner they are gone the better. Where is National on all this?, the only voice is that of the Act party and the left wing media won’t have a bar of them. Why don’t people wake up? | Don |
| Just a crazy Government at work trying to appease the poor and distressed | Garth |
| This is a typical left wing plan. It is similar around the world and they want democracy crushed. The sooner we get rid of this Government and the Greens and their ideas and plans the better. They do not like free speech in any form. | Alan |
| This is unbelievable, there should be a referendum on this, we will become third world Country in no time at all under this Labour Government and it’s mainly being done by Stealth!! Wake up New Zealanders. | Frank |
| We as a thinking, sane, free people, must MUST help ACT and NATIONAL back to run this country in 2 years. Failure to achieve this will have Kiwis leave NZ for Australia in droves | Trevor |
| No its not fair ! | Garry |
| she is ruing NZ as we know it ! | Cynthia |
| This is another step towards socialism and reminds me of what i s happening in Hong Kong. People who speak against the government end up in jail. | Kerry |
| The Govt. needs to listen to the people of NZ, not from Jacinda’s idealistic narrow bands of political specialists. Put out a National referendum and actually then act upon the result! What the hell is this party doing to this country of supposedly ‘Equal Rights’ of all citizens, who also pay the Salaries to those in Govt. to look after our rights? | Ian |
| The communist b$@ch is destroying everything. Boot her out before its too late. | Richard |
| She is a communist and is destroying this country.. I refuse to be part of her reform. | Brooke |
| It’s absolutely unacceptable. This used to be a great country. It is deteriorating at an alarming rate under Labour. Bruce | Bruce |
| Disgusting in what is supposed to be a democracy. | Michele |
| Deluded socialist. | kevin |
| no no the land of the long white cloud is fast becoming the land of the long black cloud, nz? will soon become a polywog third world country headed by a polywogleader. | james |
| The white male is under attack from all sides but so is the rest of society. | Ian |
| NZ down the tube, I need to plan my escape | Bud |
| Our dear old wholesome NZ is turning to a police state. | Paul |
| As always – the road to Hell is paved with good intentions | David |
| This is a breech of our right. As I see it Jacinda Adern is attempting to to take total control of our so called freedom of speech. This would make our New Zealand a land of PUPPETS. | Pamela |
| How ironic that NZ continues to cosy up to the CCP while entrenching apartheid at home. | Geoff |
| I wonder how people who are meant to be intelligent can agree with this. I guess that statement will be hate speech in the future | Martyn |
| All that is needed is for good men to stand back and do nothing. | Shaun |
| this is high treason | richard |
| This Labour Government and Jacinda are becoming very dangerous. And the NZ voter gave her this with the landslide vote for LABOUR. NOT by me they are dangerous | Carl |
| God help us all should this be enacted | Ngaire |
| Free speech is essential to democratic thought and even innovation. It is the clash of ideas that spark new thinking. | John |
| Absolutely NOT- here is a government who will determine what is hate speech- a totalitarian government of the worse kind. No thanks!! | Roger |
| What’s wrong with us even letting her consider this. | Lgf |
| Absolutely NOT! | Carl |
| Hell no…… criminal | Gillian |
| Arderns government has cemented my decision not to return to NZ to retire. I can’t live in NZ being angry every way I turn, with everything I see she’s done to what was a good country. | Trevor |
| No to communism No to separism No to propaganda in our schools. A tipping point is coming, keep up the good work. | Gerald |
| She is a dangerous woman | Pam |
| we are all entitled to an opinion whether you agree or not so the govt can say what they like but we can’t total dictatorship by one stupid lady time she was shipped of to China | Russell |
| Never ever, ever. | Pierre |
| Definitely not. No. No way. Never ever. | David |
| Ardern and her government are dangerous. Her socialist beliefs are eating away at democracy and attacking the economy. | George |
| NO, NO, NO. We are heading into a very dark place under PM Ardern. This needs to be stopped. | Vivienne |
| We must protect and defend free speech. It is disturbing to see world wide trends by other governments along these lines. Free speech is a cornerstone to a free democracy. | Dave |
| Indeed this would be the start of very dark days. It would change us as society, because nobody including friends and family can be trusted not to report you. The system would isolate individuals, making it harder to find likeminded people to form resilience groups. Together with a propaganda of fear over imaginary enemies that are out to kill us all, the perfect manipulation to have total control over the masses. I crew up in communist East Germany. I really do know. | Katie |
| This government seems to forget that New Zealand is a Democracy, not a dictatorship but under Adern’s leadership it is fast becoming one. Stop this madness. | Murray |
| Absolutely chilling | Murray |
| We are not free if we are denied free speech. | ken |
| We are under an absolutely power crazy prime minister. | jeff |
| To criminalise the speech of any opposition is straight out of the Marxist playbook. Australia is looking better and better every day?? | Bryce |
| And what can be done, the Govt have total control. We are like school children locked out of the school. | Peter |
| totally against our democracy | Gregor |
| We don’t have any significant issues with the current law. Informed public opinion will provide all the pressure we need to moderate behaviour. | Clive |
| No! No! No! It is the journey to 1984 | David |
| I think Socialist Cindy’s bedside book is “Mein Kampf”or maybe it’s the Little Red Book. Freedom of speech is the right of all free citizens & she & her radical crony’s need to practice what they preach.She is also a straight out Liar that talks with a forked tongue. She is a failed pretender who has ambitions only for the U.N. where she would fit in well with with the rest of the loony left drop outs. | Allem |
| Not on your Nelly | Mike |
| Absolutely not. | Darryl |
| Absolutely not. | Donald |
| Its the slow end to democracy by controlling and limiting free speech | John |
| It’s ridiculous | Graeme |
| I am a 74 year old painter and I will not be dictated to by this ridiculous prime minister as to what I wish to express. Opinion is essential to a healthy society, she is actually trying to dumb us down and think like her. Never! | Claire |
| It is Jacinda who is causing free speech to be a little uglier every day. | Maureen |
| Why are the opposition not responding to the idiot things the labour government are forcing on to us Let’s all stand up to this nonsense before we end up like a few of the African nations | Peter |
| We are living in a version of “1984”. It will not turn out well. | Bryan |
| I do not support this heinous plan and I will support any efforts to undermine this horrendous initiative by the government ! | Walnetta |
| Anybody who has not read Orwell Animal Farm and 1984 should do so. | Frank |
| We are all entitled to our own opinions and should be able to express them. Comrade Jacinda is a wolf in sheep’s clothing | Laurie |
| Remarkable how unaware the average person is of this Soviet style encroachment into our everyday lives. As we well know, the worst excesses of the last century were perpetrated by regimes that accentuated identity politics and repressive policies ultimately flowed from this. | Bernie |
| It is almost impossible to have a letter expressing contrary views published in a newspaper or magazine today. More publicity is needed. Clearly, Labour is intent on political suicide. | Graham |
| One would wonder how any opposition would be able to function under such a law. North Korea is a good comparison. | Jill |
| Getting to the stage where you have to migrate to North Korea for a bit of freedom. | Terry |
| Ardern just needs to keep to the job of being the pm period. She can’t even do this right. We are moving towards a communistic state, that is, if we are not already there. | Peter |
| Ardern should also be indicted for avoiding Parliament voting on payment for Ihumatao. Back to Charles 1. This gobblement must resign or be ejected. The Gov Gen needs to intervene. HM’s Opposition should resign in protest. | Kevin |
| it is the bedrock of democracy | Merv |
| Already afraid to express an opinion. The Ardern Socialist government is dangerous | Russ |
| Provided personal threats are not made, an individual should be able to voice what ever opinion he/she has without fear. | Pete |
| What do you want your readers to do? | bill |
| Are we not one people, i.e. NZers | Cath |
| ” 2-4-6-8 ” sort it out before it’s too late. | Chris |
| Just another ruse for Marxist control | Terry |
| Someone needs to reach out and lead all of us who do not agree with what Ardern is doing. | Alan |
| What I can I say NZ voted for her and her corrupt commie Crew and this is the next step To totalitarian rule Fools | Elaine |
| It’s hard to believe that the people of this country are willing to accept this disastrous decline into the state control of every aspect of our lives. Political apathy on the part of the general public will be the undoing of our nation. | Graham |
| The average working white New Zealander is witnessing disenfranchisement and seems to be asleep to the future change imminent. | Nigel |
| We have to stop Govt control | Colin |
| Labor has no democratic mandate to action recent changes as they have done. Usually under short term notice. Public binding referendum is democracy at work. | mike |
| Everybody in their right mind will refuse that sort of nonsense. But from the moment these grotesque laws are put into place , society will more rapidly deteriorate . We will see a tsunami of court cases flooding the country and cluttering up the court system. That means that true criminal cases cannot be dealt with in a reasonable time span. In short : CHAOS. | Michael |
| A clear path to dictatorship and communism and bankruptcy is now established. The only way to stop this is to stop the flow of money. That means by whatever means you have, don’t pay Tax’s. Even if that means shutting down your business, or quitting your job. Do it and become a Burdon for her dictatorship and bankrupt them. | tony |
| she is going down the communist track at a fast pace , backed by her mentor the failed Clark | Roy |
| It saddens me that so many people are asleep to this corrupt government | Graeme |
| By raising the Fear threshold during lockdown Arderns takeover of my country is underway. | Jill |
| she is doing this so that nobody can criticise her laws that she passes and all that her government does in future. she is terrified of losing her power and losing being Prime minister. she wants to always be in power.. she is the forerunner of the Anti-Christ. she reminds me of Hitler. what she is doing is very scary indeed. | Margaret |
| Do we have an opposition party in New Zealand any more? Where the hell is National? The forth estate is now dead. It must be reversed and these communist agitators kicked out of office, | Charles |
| Communism by stealth.. | Graeme |
| These actions are evil. | Vaughan |
| She’s in a hurry | Jimmy |
| It terrifies me, and even more scary is the fact that the general populace are so disinterested in what is really going on. Wu-flu has been a smoke screen for the totalitatian agenda of Marxist governments the world over – and Adern is the international poster-girl. I’ve said before, this government will go down as the worst in NZ history but it won’t be realised soon enough to prevent the continued destruction of democracy. | Sharen |
| We need less government in our lives. Even less legislation. Educate people the right way. Commonsense may even come back. We are dangerously close to becoming a dictatorship. We must not forget the lessons of the past. This government is juvenile and dangerous | Barras |
| No no no we don’t support this government at all. What’s wrong with people who live in this country are they all blind and illiterate? Cant they see what happening? | Kristene |
| Of course not | Geoffrey |
| Absolutely not!! This is the start of a slippery slope that knells badly for a free society. | Tony |
| I fear my memories of a free and open country as in my childhood days are rapidly disappearing. | Steve |
| Basic assault on democracy | Lindsay |
| Goes against everything our soldiers fought for. Pure evil spewing out. | Janet |
| Helen Clark attempted restricting free speech and was vigorously opposed by the people. It is time again to now put Ardern back into the box. | Max |
| This needs to be front and centre in everyone’s face everyday Are all politicians for this? Yet another mayor change they are trying to sneek in. This will lead to violence unless it is stopped. | Rodger |
| time for direct action. In the form of a National March on Parliament | Frank |
| our rights are melting away every week. We need to stop this NOW | Peter |
| I just despair. What the hell is happening to NZ | Jacque |
| She’s a brainless communist idiot | Murray |
| Communist scum Sad part is NATIONAL will support it | Greg |
| Communist scum | Greg |
| It’s scary. How do we stop it? | Hilary |
| As Churchill said , some people’s idea of free speech is they can say what they want but you are not allowed to respond , or words to that effect | Simon |
| I do not hate anybody but I want to be free to express my opinions on any matter. | Neil |
| Utterly disgusted with the direction of this socialist government. It’s time for Revolution Kiwi’s. | Coral |
| It’s a tragic move for NZ and why aren’t we doing more to stop it? | Brenda |
| Stalinism is here. | David |
| Over my dead body. | Lee |
| This is abhorrent. Criminalizing free speech then calling yourself a democracy is laughable. What the hell is happening to our once proud Nation. Congratulations to all you who voted this out of control madness in. | Carolyn |
| This government gets worse and worse. We are going to have a revolution to sort this lot out | Bev |
| Free speech is the cornerstone of democracy. Socialism eventually fails everywhere it is tried. | Mark |
| NZ Governments have been introducing new laws to control the people and gather more taxes on the coat tails of alternative reasons for years. Criminalising is just furtherance of forcing the people to be nice and be kind ideology. Just like the ideology of Maori being separate and governing NZ as partners is ideology based on the Treaty which is being extended beyond its original purpose that most disagree with on both sides, but despite the disagreement the Government continues to rely on it. | Bill |
| This has gone beyond belief. God help this nation our current crop of ‘progressives’ certainly won’t. | Eric |
| Absolutely not! If Jacinda Ardern goes ahead with her outrageous plan to criminalise free speech we will be well on the way to turning our country into a communist state. What an appalling state of affairs. | Andy |
| Ardern and her cronies are betraying New Zealanders. She promised she would rule for us all. What a joke! | Phillip |
| Hate speech laws do not need to be introduced. There are plenty of laws already and the fact that there have been few criminal convictions show they are not really necessary. This government just wants to silence opposition and their proposed laws will allow them to do it. | Dennis |
| What a dreadful government this is turning out to be. Jacinda Ardern deceived everyone into voting for her. | Jean |
| Free speech is the foundation of a free society. Once it is gone, NZ will turn into a communist state. | Howard |