National avers to reverse freedom of speech amendments

The National Party will reverse any and all decisions of the current Labour government led by Jacinda Ardern relating to freedom of speech and expression if elected to govern at the next general election due in 2023, Leader Judith Collins has said.

In a statement issued this morning (June 27, 2021), Ms Collins, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, said that she will oppose ‘any attempts that Jacinda Ardern’s government makes to criminalise speech beyond the threshold of ‘inciting violence.’ This is an opportunistic grab at one of our most fundamental rights and New Zealanders can be assured that we will fight this on their behalf,” she said.

Changes to Human Rights Act

On June 25, 2021, the government issued a public consultation document seeking to amend some of the provisions of the Human Rights Act, following the Christchurch massacre of March 15, 2019 in which 51 Muslim men, women and children were killed and the subsequent incidents of hate speeches and incitement of violence.

Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan said that the government wants to ensure that Aotearoa is a place where everyone feels safe, valued, heard, has a strong sense of belonging, and is able to participate fully in society.

“The government has announced a public consultation on the latest programme of work on proposed changes to the Human Rights Act 1993 to strengthen protections against speech that incites hatred and discrimination; and seeking New Zealanders’ views about how they would make Aotearoa New Zealand more socially cohesive. Our diversity extends across ethnicity, culture, gender identities and expressions, religion, values and beliefs, ages, disabilities, sexual orientation, and the structure of our families,” she said.

‘Disingenuous move’

“There is no evidence to support the idea that ‘hate speech’ laws would have prevented the massacre. The National Party condemns vile speech that is intended to insult, but there is a big leap from condemning it to criminalising it. This is about control. It is about ensuring that only approved opinions are allowed and making questioning those opinions criminal. The matter of who decides what opinions are acceptable is unclear,” she said.

Ms Collins accused Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of ‘delegating the task of imposing the new laws on New Zealanders to a Minister (Kris Faafoi) who does not understand how the laws will work himself.

“He cannot tell us what ‘hatred’ looks like nor what the threshold for punishment is. I am calling on Jacinda Ardern to front these proposed ‘hate speech’ laws herself. If she is going to erode our democracy and control our speech she needs to own it. New Zealanders are entitled to hear from their Prime Minister as to why it is she thinks she is entitled to control even our most core rights,” she said.

“It is too important; preserving our democracy is too important. I will be going directly to the Prime Minister to get answers for New Zealanders. I certainly hope that she has better answers than Minister Faafoi,” she said.

“Building social cohesion, inclusion and valuing diversity can also be a powerful means of countering the actions of those who seek to spread or entrench discrimination and hatred,” he said.