Karl du Fresne: A Day of Shame

Protesters marching against the Springbok rugby tour in 1981 used to chant, “The whole world’s watching”.

I doubt that the world was watching what happened in Auckland this morning (it probably wasn’t watching in 1981 either), but anyone who witnessed what happened to Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, aka Posie Parker, saw a mortal blow being delivered to New Zealand’s reputation as a civil, liberal democracy where the rule of law applies.

A violent, angry rabble forced Parker to abandon a public meeting as the police stood by and did nothing. She was drowned out when she tried to speak and had tomato soup and food flung at her.

Karl du Fresne: Hang on - who are the real inciters?

The Greens, displaying their customary enthusiasm for free and robust debate, want a British anti-trans activist barred from speaking in New Zealand. They say her meetings are likely to provoke violence. But who are the real inciters?

RNZ reports that three people were arrested during clashes between supporters and opponents of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, in Melbourne yesterday. That was the cue for Green MPs Ricardo Menendez-March and Elizabeth Kerekere, tireless free speech champions both, to insist that the government deny Keen-Minshull a visa.

Failing that, Kerekere thinks Keen-Minshull should be denied access to speaking venues, as happened to the Canadians Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux in 2018. (Still unsure what hateful ideas the Canadians supposedly intended to disseminate? Me too. We were prevented from hearing them, so couldn’t judge them for ourselves. The protesters made sure of that.)