Now please let me clarify from the outset – we campaign on a lot of things, but we don’t endorse vandalism. No matter how much we may agree or disagree with the protestors, our strategy has always been to inform, and to protest through official channels and promoting good legislation, and educating and empowering parents. That’s where we’re at. You may agree or disagree with that.
So let me tell you about 4 recent acts of vandalism. Three were sort of acceptable and one was even lauded by some politicians, but one was very very very bad. Yet they were all four acts of vandalism. See if you can figure out which was very very very bad.
1. TE PAPA
According to 1News report 2 weeks before Christmas,
You’ll note there that the police were present and only one section of the treaty was painted over – but in the end all three were. So they continued doing it even while the police were there. You’ll also notice that there were 4 directly involved in the damage.
Yes – broad daylight. 3 of the offenders were on bail at the time (that bail thing seems to be working well eh?)
Police arrested 12 people. 2 were charged with the damage – just two – even tho the footage explicitly shows at least 3 damaging it, 2 were charged for breaching their bail and the other 8 were escorted out into the warm sunshine of a summer’s day and released without charge. How nice.
The museum display shows English and te reo Māori versions of the Treaty, with the information panels highlighting the differences.
The Te Papa co-leaders said
“The purpose of this exhibition is to provide space for conversations about the Treaty, and it needs to change to meet the needs of today.” They noted that to do this work properly, which would include having conversations with various communities, would take time. Dr Hakiwai acknowledged the message that had been conveyed through the protest action. “We have heard the message of this protest action, and we have heard the many and varied responses to it.”
The Green party was very warm and affirming about what the protesters had done. They even had a group photo in front of it. Marama Davidson on the left (I’m just wondering if it was cis white males who did this act of violence) and Chloe Swarbrick on the right. In fact, Chloe was very positive about the vandalism because of the sanitisation of protests and movements. “They’ve tried to express themselves”…
“They simply tried to express themselves”…
2. SMILEY FACE
According to Stuff
A roundabout in
So a lovely story. No police presence and paddy wagons. No arrests. No comments about it being “embarrassing” by Chloe Swarbrick. No live crosses from 1News or Newshub.
But you know what. We must stand up against hate! People who smile are welcome in Mt Maunganui! I have children who smile. I smile. Ignorance & hateful views do not give people an excuse to erase our smiles. Let people be who they are in peace! Please smile to the person next to you. It matters.
3. THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
According to Radio NZ
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s electorate office has been vandalised for the third time in less than six months. Footage taken in east Auckland’s Botany on Friday shows the words “grant the visas” painted on the walls of Luxon’s office in black. An image of Luxon had also been targeted with a moustache and hair drawn on. A spokesperson for Luxon said they were aware of the damage and it was a matter for police. It was not the first time Luxon’s office had been targeted, with red paint splashed on the walls in November
and again in February, where the words “free Palestine” could be seen.
A pro-Palestinian group Tamaki for Palestine said it “applauds” vandals who attacked a number of National politician’s offices and the US embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade office in Auckland. John Minto, national chair of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, said it was an effective way to get a point across. It’s just a minor inconvenience.
No police presence and paddy wagons. No comments about it being “embarrassing” by Chloe Swarbrick. No live crosses from 1News or Newshub.
4. RAINBOW CROSSING IN GISBORNE & K ROAD
The rainbow crossing, which has been on Gladstone Rd in Gisborne since 2021, was allegedly painted white in protest of a drag queen story time event at the local library on Monday.
The next day hordes of police turned up to guard the crossing – with a paddy wagon. Apparently there was no other crime in Gisborne that day. This crossing was serious criminal business. (Have you called the police recently regarding a theft or vandalism? How was the response? I know a business that has been waiting 7 days and they even have video surveillance of the crime!)
And then the next day, the crossing in K Road was painted over. This led to a massive police hunt the next day, and dramatic coverage of a crime. Listen to the report – it sounds like the Queen had died or the President had been shot. This was serious news reporting.
Listen to how dramatic the report is
So how did Chloe respond. Did she say “we’ve sanitised their protests and movements. They’ve tried to express themselves”… Ha ha yeah right
Auckland Central MP and Green party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has hit out at whoever vandalised the rainbow pride crossing on Karangahape Rd overnight, saying it’s “frankly embarrassing” and urging them to “just stop it”.
She also said “”All I can really see here is a sad, bizarre and petty use of energy.”
So protests are ok – but only if Chloe and the Greens agree with it.
Police have been investigating the incident as a hate crime.
According to the NZ Herald,
three of the Gisborne protestors have been charged with “graffiti vandalism”. Police Area Commander, Danny Kirk, of the Gisborne constabulary intoned (RNZ, 29 March 2024):
“We consider that, on the face of it, the alleged offending is consistent with a hate crime, and we will seek to establish that as fact during the ongoing investigations and court proceedings. This incident has caused concern for many people in our diverse community and acts like this have no place here. Freedom of speech and the right to protest are fundamental principles of a free and democratic society under the rule of law. Sadly, a line has been crossed on this occasion.”
So Te Papa isn’t a hate crime, the smiley face isn’t a hate crime, trashing the PM’s office isn’t a hate crime, but painting an LGBT symbol is.
There’s 2 problems with what the police are saying
Let’s look at the definition of a “hate crime” according to the Police website
There are currently no specific offences called ‘hate crime’ in New Zealand law …
- For a hate-motivated crime to have occurred, there are two things that must have happened:a crime must have been committed (for example an assault, damage to property or threatening behaviour) TICK
- a reason the crime was committed is because of hate (bias or prejudice) towards the victim’s race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, age, or any other part of their identity.
Key word – victim. Is the pedestrian crossing a victim. Did it need a hug? And it’s not owned by anyone. It’s virtue signalling by woke councils.
It’s not a hate crime.
According to the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, here’s the gazetted requirements for new crossings from January 2021 onwards, and existing crossings.
What do you notice there. White. Not red or orange or yellow or blue or green or purple. Nope – WHITE!
So the Gisborne and the K Road multi coloured ones are illegal anyway!!
Back in 2019, a rainbow crossing was painted after Wellington City Council signed off on the idea in a quest for the capital to be “more deliberately LGBTQI-friendly”.
NZTA gave formal notification it prohibited the installation of the crossing and that should it proceed, the agency would ask police to prevent the installation and remove the markings. “The agency supports the celebration of LGBT diversity, but not at the expense of road safety.” The draft letter and related emails show NZTA found the crossing to be in breach of Land Transport Rules… The letter outlined how the Rainbow Crossing could be confusing for motorists and pedestrians determining right of way because it looked like a pedestrian crossing. “There is a high risk of confusion and a dazzling and distracting effect.” The letter also said marking the road to celebrate LGBTQI diversity conflicted with another one of the rules, which prohibited markings intended to be used for advertising or other purposes not connected with the use of the road…
The council made minor adjustments but went ahead anyway. In other words, they flouted the law.
Did the police prosecute. Did they call it a hate crime?
Nope. It’s one law for some, and another law for others.
So the police say about the LGBT vandalism – Sadly, a line has been crossed on this occasion.
So no line at Te Papa – let’s have a conversation
No line for damaging National Party and public service offices
Not even interested in the smiley face
But a line is crossed for a rainbow crossing.
None of them were a hate crime – except the rainbow one.
Just one interesting thing to conclude
A couple of years ago in the UK there was a big hoo-haa about these woke crossings.
According to the Daily Mail at the time,
A new Zebra crossing in the colours of the trans flag has been blasted as ‘dangerous’ after safety concerns have been raised about similar colourful crossings in London. Guide dogs and police horses are understood to be confused by the colourful designs, with the latest one in Camden. One man asked whether the council’s desire to ‘flaunt their woke credentials’ was more important than disabled people’s safety.
Here’s some footage of the horses. They really don’t like those crossings, do they. Perhaps that’s why the Police in Gisborne didn’t arrive on horseback.
The rainbow crossing is the new holy grail of our culture. Even though it’s a fake version of the real rainbow.
Sadly, the police will continue to lose respect and credibility when they buy into this cultural issue and apply the law inconsistently – or not even enforce it.
And politicians like Chloe and the Greens show the danger of so-called “hate speech” and “hate crimes”. They’re based on not all so-called “hate speech” but just speech and crimes they hate. Be warned. Chloe’s hypocrisy shown to you in this episode is perfect evidence of just how the left operate with these issues.
Bob McCoskrie is the National Director of Family First New Zealand, he has a Masters of Commerce with Honours from the University of Auckland and a Diploma of Teaching from the Auckland College of Education. He posts regularly on McBlog - Where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Your article is accurate and it is very obvious to any thinking observer that this is a true account.
That said you forgot that the word 'WHITE' is also now a form of hate speech so using that colour in pedestrian crossings is now a real problem for the likes of these types of politicians and their allies.
Bob, it's very very interesting how many times the radical left greenness are popping up and the simple fact they think this is 'good'. Imagine if Chis luxon decided to pose with the kkk's or something of the lefts that had been destroyed , surely that should be deemed acceptable by the left also? If not, why not?
They the left are tredding on very thin ice, we need to make them accountable if they want to spread their hate and destroy things we hold dear. Shame on the police once again, we need the great police force prior to 2017.
Painting a rainbow crossing white is simply demonstrating a basic law of physics. When all the colours of a rainbow are combined that's the colour you get. Not pink, or apricot, or lilac.
Probably way too much far-right, colonial, Western science for your average trans activist there, who sees the world distorted through their own prism.
Good points, Bob. I forgot about Te Papa and the police standing around with their hands in their pockets.
Being pedantic DeeM, combining all the primary paint colors is subtractive mixing and produces a black paint.
Using primary light colour sources is known as additive mixing, and produces white light.
There is a difference.
@DeeM In this case we're talking about mixing pigment, not light. When you mix all of those pigment colours you get a horrid brown.
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