Nathan Smith: You Don't Need To Defend Frivolous Speech

Come on, guys. We have to get smarter at this.

Complaining about the end of free speech every time someone gets a visit from the police for writing a few words online is childish. Just because you have to say something doesn’t mean you have something to say. And just because you have something to say doesn’t mean you know how to say it. Simply offering a blanket defence of free speech makes everyone dumber. Quality over quantity, every time.

Rodney Hide: One law for Tamaki, another for the party of October 7

"Bash the Jews. Cut their heads off."

A man shouted that at a pro-Palestinian protest in Auckland in July 2014. It's on video. Dr David Cumin and historian Paul Moon reported to the Herald that the Human Rights Commission didn't think it worth investigating, let alone prosecuting. Its reasoning, as they reported it: no violence followed, so it didn't incite anything.

Remember that reasoning. It's about to become very selective.

Roger Partridge: Harmed by harm - How a word is swallowing freedom

Last month, ten organisations representing New Zealand’s ethnic, faith and multicultural communities delivered what they called an election message to the political parties: commit to new hate speech laws before New Zealanders vote. The Green Party committed to implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, including extending the incitement provisions and the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act to cover religion. Labour said it was considering “legislative settings” and would announce its position “in due course.” ACT, the smaller party in the governing coalition, said the existing law was adequate. National, the senior party in that coalition, said it did not support legislating against hate speech, pointing instead to its Peace and Harmony Accord with community leaders.

David Harvey: What Should We Do About Bad Arguments

A Reply to Simon Wilson

I thought when Simon Wilson stopped writing his weekly column for the Herald on Tuesdays that he might fade from my consciousness. Not so. He now writes a fortnightly column for the Listener and ironically his articles feature on the page opposite mine. Even more ironically, his page is often positioned to the right of the fold, mine to the left. Go figure.

David Farrar: Tamaki crossed the line

Brian Tamaki was reported as saying:

In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, the Destiny Church founder accuses Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of purging Christians in the South Asian nation.

“He [Modi] is currently purging India of all Christians and burning church buildings down,” Tamaki said.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Are the guns really the issue here?

We need to talk about Brian Tamaki having his guns taken off him.

Let me say right at the start: I'm not a fan of Brian Tamaki. He's a troublemaker who doesn't seem intelligent enough to understand what he's doing. But I still feel uncomfortable about the police taking his guns off him.

Simon O'Connor: Bridging inconsistency

It seems some in society are happy to accept inconsistency based on political preference. Got a far left or progressive cause - then all is well. Have a centre or right wing view, to bad for you.

Consistency. Not the most exciting word in the English dictionary, but an attribute I place a high value on. As some of you may know, philosophy is one of my great loves and I think the merit or otherwise of ideas can often be tested by consistency.

Matua Kahurangi: Mass immigration, double standards, and the Auckland Harbour Bridge excuse

I find it strange that NZ Transport Agency has rejected the anti mass immigration march organised by Brian Tamaki for 31 January, claiming that a march across the Auckland Harbour Bridge could cause serious structural damage. It is a flimsy excuse. More than 200,000 vehicles cross that bridge every day. We have also seen large numbers of people cross it during the Toitū Te Tiriti protests without the sky falling in.

Yvonne Van Dongen: Stormy Weather & Supervillains

Living in New Zealand is a lot like living on a mountain top watching the weather roll in miles away, knowing it’s coming for you too. We are so far away from the bulk of humanity but in this globally connected world, we are no longer immune to its effects.

What is irksome is that seeing in advance does not appear to give us the kind of foreknowledge that forestalls disaster. The transactivist movement being a case in point. Far from it.

Ani O'Brien: Brian Tamaki and the Sikh parade confrontation

Facts, fears, and the kimits of protest

The confrontation that occurred during a Sikh religious procession in South Auckland a few days ago has ignited condemnation and raised questions about protest, imported political conflicts, and national identity. While the incident itself was brief and not violent, it has alarmed many who do not want to see the cultural and religious disharmony that is rife overseas playing out in New Zealand. Anxiety over immigration levels and the challenges of multiculturalism have become more pronounced globally and this is creating tensions over public expressions of culture and belief.

Matua Kahurangi: One rule for hikoi, another for Brian Tamaki

You know what I find genuinely strange in this country? When the hikoi stormed across the Harbour Bridge to protest David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, there didn’t seem to be any consultation, any endless list of hoops to jump through, any talk of “strict criteria”. The organisers basically said, we’re marching across the bridge, the rest of you can get whūkd if you don’t like it. Just like magic, it happened. No bond demanded at the eleventh hour. No threats. No “very high threshold” rhetoric. No police spokesperson clutching their balls about public safety and risk to infrastructure. Just straight on, off you go, kia kaha, block SH1 if you must!

Yvonne Van Dongen: On Netsafe and Pronouns

Who are they protecting?

Netsafe is billed as an independent non-profit organisation promoting safe and responsible use of online technology. The charity earns almost $7m providing goods and services to government departments such as Education and Justice and employs 32 full-time employees and two part-time.

Matua Kahurangi: One rule for some protesters, another for the rest

Authorities shut down the March for New Zealand protest

It seems in New Zealand these days, it’s perfectly fine to protest, so long as your cause is one that officials and the media approve of. If you’re waving a Palestinian flag, blocking streets, or storming through university campuses, you’ll likely be praised for your passion and your right to be heard. But if your protest happens to be about mass immigration, government overreach, or anything that challenges the political narrative, suddenly it’s a problem.

Matua Kahurangi: Brian Tamaki calls out mass immigration and multiculturalism

In a fiery interview on The Platform with Sean Plunket, Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki delivered a no-holds-barred critique of New Zealand's immigration and multicultural policies, arguing that the country is losing its identity, values, and cohesion under a wave of unregulated mass immigration and imported ideologies.

DTNZ: Tamaki blasts Chippie in fiery X post over ‘Real Men’

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki has launched a scathing attack on former Prime Minister Chris ‘Chippie’ Hipkins on X, ridiculing him over comments about masculinity and leadership.

Tamaki’s remarks come after Hipkins criticised church members for protesting transgender events. The former PM later appeared at the Pride Parade in Auckland, prompting Tamaki to mock him for “waving a rainbow flag” while attempting to “lecture” him on what defines a man.

Brian Tamaki: Te Pāti Māori’s Gravy Train Exposed – And They’re Spitting Tacks

We are one people, one vote, one law and one flag.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says I’m playing “revolting politics”, but let’s be real – what’s truly revolting is how Te Pāti Māori has exploited Manurewa Marae to further their corrupt political agenda. If anyone should be apologising, it’s Te Pāti Māori, but they’re too arrogant to admit their wrongdoing.

Te Pāti Māori are spitting hate at me because I was one of the first to expose their corruption at Manurewa Marae. They know I’m not afraid to call them out, and the truth stings.

Brian Tamaki: Oranga Tamariki Cutbacks

This is a massive abuse of taxpayer money like we’ve never seen. Reminds me of the cartel.

It’s culling time!

Did you notice MP Karen Chhour, and Oranga Tamariki’s choice of words this week as they explained the 330 service contracts axed and $139 million in funding cuts...

This is their tempered language publicly...

Suze: This Shows Some Disturbing Ignorance

Like oil and water, religion and politics do not coalesce nicely

It used to be a prerequisite of good behaviour not to discuss religion and politics in polite company, certainly not in the same sentence, so imagine my surprise when I received an email from a church leader titled “March and Protest”.

Professing to join 40,000 other like-minded nature lovers marching down Queen Street, this man of the cloth spoke about the high value of our conservation estate and our access to the great outdoors, naturally the work of the Creator.

Waitangi Opinion Piece from Brian Tamaki

Māori are a powder keg ready to explode, and Willie Jackson & Labour, Te Pāti Māori and the Kingitanga are holding the lit fuse ready to blow the place up.

They are inciting the gangs, and young militant radical Māori to begin a Civil War in New Zealand. They are using fighting words designed to incite violence.

Ananish Chaudhuri: Legitimate Grievances Must Be Heard

We shun protesters at our peril

I am not a fan of Brian Tamaki. But one does not need to admire or respect Mr Tamaki to concede that many of those gathered under his banner have legitimate grievances. It is folly to write them off as misguided, racist, homophobic, transphobic or antisemitic. Of course, some of them are. But then all political parties harbour such elements within their ranks.

In many ways, the support for Mr Tamaki mirrors the support for Donald Trump in the United States and this is driven by similar motivations.

Commentators have tended to write this off as a clash of cultures; right-wing values espousing entrenchment of the traditional patriarchy against progressive values arguing for greater inclusivity.

Yes, there is a clash of cultures here, but it is not what most commentators think.