Racism, threats and home invasions: candidates face abuse on New Zealand’s campaign trail

[Social Media]

 

One of New Zealand’s youngest political candidates, 21-year-old Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, has experienced more politically targeted abuse in the past week than many senior politicians have experienced in their entire careers.

The candidate for minor party Te Pāti Māori, has had her home broken into twice, her belongings and rubbish bins rifled through, a threatening letter left in her mailbox and a man turn up to her house in the early hours of the morning yelling racial slurs while trying to break down her fence.

In the same week, Labour candidate Angela Roberts was confronted by a member of the public who, she said, grabbed her shoulders, shook her and then slapped her face with both his hands.

Two weeks earlier, Labour’s MP for Northland, Willow-Jean Prime, said she experienced the worst racism of her career, after a crowd shouted and jeered at her for using Māori words during a candidate debate.

“When I said Aotearoa, the crowd shouted ‘it’s New Zealand’,” Prime said in a media conference, adding she was told to stop speaking “that language”.

“That is racism … and that is unacceptable,” she said, adding “what is really worrying is that they feel so emboldened that they can come out and say these things publicly.”

New Zealand enjoys relatively open access to its politicians, and historically election campaigns have been fairly safe. But abuse, threats and attacks have been ramping up as the 14 October election draws near, with women and Māori candidates being especially targeted.

Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, told the Guardian the party was no stranger to hate speech and online threats, but that the attacks directed towards their candidate, Maipi-Clarke, had crossed a line.

 

FULL STORY

[Tug]

To bad I used to think of this country as magical looks like that’s not the case it’s my hope they can work through this without violence.I am curious as to why one of our more prolific posters always full of vitriol and advice about other countries politics hasent chimed in on this seeing how he’s supposed to be a citizen of this magical place…?…..?

[Danderman123]

13 minutes ago, Tug said:

To bad I used to think of this country as magical looks like that’s not the case it’s my hope they can work through this without violence.I am curious as to why one of our more prolific posters always full of vitriol and advice about other countries politics hasent chimed in on this seeing how he’s supposed to be a citizen of this magical place…?…..?

Maybe he's too busy slapping candidates.

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, Tug said:

To bad I used to think of this country as magical looks like that’s not the case it’s my hope they can work through this without violence.I am curious as to why one of our more prolific posters always full of vitriol and advice about other countries politics hasent chimed in on this seeing how he’s supposed to be a citizen of this magical place…?…..?

Because of the time difference he's most likely long asleep.

Edited October 3, 2023 by stevenl

[Tug]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Because of the time difference he's most likely long asleep.

The threads be up for over 12 hours,just surprised he hasent been all over this.hey done a bit of diving myself but all work related stay safe I’ve seen it go bad unfortunately 

[thaibeachlovers]

Four replies and all insults about a certain poster. Do you guys have nothing better to do than post pathetic insults?

 

Perhaps you could say something about the topic.

[thaibeachlovers]

Notice that all the problems have occurred about the labour party and it's ally.

 

The labour party has become very unpopular in the past few years, and the days when it was brilliant under David Lange have long past.

 

I don't know anyone that supports it any more, and the fervent desire is that it gets well and truly routed in the coming election.

 

If it loses, there will be cheering throughout the country. If it was still first past the post election the outcome would be a foregone conclusion, but under the current MMP system that is unfortunately not guaranteed.

[Haveasay]

Last post thanks for expanding the article content to understand.

[Kiwiken]

20 hours ago, Social Media said:

 

One of New Zealand’s youngest political candidates, 21-year-old Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, has experienced more politically targeted abuse in the past week than many senior politicians have experienced in their entire careers.

The candidate for minor party Te Pāti Māori, has had her home broken into twice, her belongings and rubbish bins rifled through, a threatening letter left in her mailbox and a man turn up to her house in the early hours of the morning yelling racial slurs while trying to break down her fence.

In the same week, Labour candidate Angela Roberts was confronted by a member of the public who, she said, grabbed her shoulders, shook her and then slapped her face with both his hands.

Two weeks earlier, Labour’s MP for Northland, Willow-Jean Prime, said she experienced the worst racism of her career, after a crowd shouted and jeered at her for using Māori words during a candidate debate.

“When I said Aotearoa, the crowd shouted ‘it’s New Zealand’,” Prime said in a media conference, adding she was told to stop speaking “that language”.

“That is racism … and that is unacceptable,” she said, adding “what is really worrying is that they feel so emboldened that they can come out and say these things publicly.”

New Zealand enjoys relatively open access to its politicians, and historically election campaigns have been fairly safe. But abuse, threats and attacks have been ramping up as the 14 October election draws near, with women and Māori candidates being especially targeted.

Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, told the Guardian the party was no stranger to hate speech and online threats, but that the attacks directed towards their candidate, Maipi-Clarke, had crossed a line.

 

FULL STORY

Sadly over the past few years there has been an ever increasing amount of skewed comments about proposed co Governance in NZ. By the extremist on the right they talk of dual parliaments when in fact it goes back to the heart of the treaty in which settlers agreed to consult Maori on development and use of natural resources. Not a dual Government. NZ First has talked up anti Maori and Foreign threats . National and Act also bash so called Maori privilege. using groups such as "Hobsons Choice" to skew a racist view. of course those with a chip on their shoulder will use it to physically threaten those whose views they do not agree with. it is sad to see this kind of thing happening in New Zealand we are not immune. I am not afraid of co Governance but i fear that there is a possibility New Zealand will have the most right wing Government in its history. Sadly One a party who had a candidate who was a member of the Chinese communist party, And One who has courted the red necks among the Gun owners of new Zealand. Both very much anti worker . Look possibly for a "For Sale sign" on new Zealand following the election. In 1991 a national Government passed labor laws (Employment contracts Act) which destroyed workers rights and set us back 50 years. Only in the past 2 years like in the USA have workers begun to recover some. Now we face a worse possibility so the next 3 years could see the greatest fragmentation of New Zealand in its history. Just My view.

[thaibeachlovers]

28 minutes ago, Kiwiken said:

Sadly over the past few years there has been an ever increasing amount of skewed comments about proposed co Governance in NZ. By the extremist on the right they talk of dual parliaments when in fact it goes back to the heart of the treaty in which settlers agreed to consult Maori on development and use of natural resources. Not a dual Government. NZ First has talked up anti Maori and Foreign threats . National and Act also bash so called Maori privilege. using groups such as "Hobsons Choice" to skew a racist view. of course those with a chip on their shoulder will use it to physically threaten those whose views they do not agree with. it is sad to see this kind of thing happening in New Zealand we are not immune. I am not afraid of co Governance but i fear that there is a possibility New Zealand will have the most right wing Government in its history. Sadly One a party who had a candidate who was a member of the Chinese communist party, And One who has courted the red necks among the Gun owners of new Zealand. Both very much anti worker . Look possibly for a "For Sale sign" on new Zealand following the election. In 1991 a national Government passed labor laws (Employment contracts Act) which destroyed workers rights and set us back 50 years. Only in the past 2 years like in the USA have workers begun to recover some. Now we face a worse possibility so the next 3 years could see the greatest fragmentation of New Zealand in its history. Just My view.

To reply to some of those complaints.

 

I'm not going to get into racial comments on here, but everyone  I know wants a New Zealand for all citizens without special privileges based on race.

 

The National party is hardly extreme right wing and is quite moderate in comparison to those on the left of politics in NZ.

If they get into power it will be as a reaction to and rejection of the policies espoused by labour and it's allies, not because they offer a better future.

 

And One who has courted the red necks among the Gun owners of new Zealand.

In that case all gun owners in NZ are red necks

 

Look possibly for a "For Sale sign" on new Zealand following the election.

LOL. NZ was sold off many years ago by both parties. How many major banks are NZ owned?

 

In 1991 a national Government passed labor laws (Employment contracts Act) which destroyed workers rights and set us back 50 years.

No dispute there. Some National governments were really, really bad, for everyone, not just for the workers, but it's not 1991 now, is it?

 

Now we face a worse possibility so the next 3 years could see the greatest fragmentation of New Zealand in its history. Just My view.

My view is that NZ has been fragmented beyond repair already and no one is putting it together again. Damage done and will only get worse.

 

IMO the farmers elected the present government by foolishly thinking it would keep the greens out of government, but they won't be making that mistake again.

IMO every farmer in the country will be cheering if labour is out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RichardColeman]

Sounds like the Orc and Uruk-Hai representatives are not getting on with the dwarfs, elves  and Human contingents !

[stewart479]

Sadly; I am resident in NZ; where; like Thailand; we are saddled with a MMP system that ensures

we get a government that nobody wants. Both ACT and NZ First are anti co governance.

Winston Peters, the head of NZFirst; and Maori has stated that Maori are not indiginous, and should

not get special treatment. He is correct. The Maoriori were here first; and the Maoris slaughterd them.

However; drinking at the trough has become an industry for a select few; and Maori are currently

attempting to rewrite history to be more favourable to their cause; including trying to discredit

Captain Cook; who made the mistake of writing that he had been all around the Pacific; and Maoris

were the stupidist race he cam across. At some point; it will hit the fan.........

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Four replies and all insults about a certain poster. Do you guys have nothing better to do than post pathetic insults?

 

Perhaps you could say something about the topic.

Mine was the 3rd, no insult at all.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

Mine was the 3rd, no insult at all.

Fair enough, it wasn't an insult, but it wasn't on topic though, as other posters are never the topic unless Trump decides to start posting on here.

[thaibeachlovers]

I voted yesterday. Time to dump the junk.

[BritManToo]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:49 PM, Tug said:

To bad I used to think of this country as magical looks like that’s not the case it’s my hope they can work through this without violence.I am curious as to why one of our more prolific posters always full of vitriol and advice about other countries politics hasent chimed in on this seeing how he’s supposed to be a citizen of this magical place…?…..?

My family married into the Maori, the levels of petty crime are unbelievable.

Many are all covered in face tattoos and take serious drugs.

The teen female kids are always running off and involved in prostitution.

Sounds like an awful place.

[JonnyF]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:49 PM, Tug said:

To bad I used to think of this country as magical looks like that’s not the case it’s my hope they can work through this without violence.I am curious as to why one of our more prolific posters always full of vitriol and advice about other countries politics hasent chimed in on this seeing how he’s supposed to be a citizen of this magical place…?…..?

Yeah it was quite a nice country until Jacinda Ardern got into power and went on a massive power trip, turning it into something resembling a George Orwell novel. 

 

 

Hopefully, things are about to change for the better,

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/08/tired-broke-and-eager-for-change-new-zealand-expected-to-shift-right-at-coming-election

 

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Yeah it was quite a nice country until Jacinda Ardern got into power and went on a massive power trip, turning it into something resembling a George Orwell novel. 

 

 

Hopefully, things are about to change for the better,

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/08/tired-broke-and-eager-for-change-new-zealand-expected-to-shift-right-at-coming-election

 

The only reason I wish she was still PM is that she would guarantee a labour/ green  defeat, and I'd love to see her humiliated, but I guess she saw the writing on the wall and jumped before she was pushed.

 

I was also wanting to wear a MAGA hat (Make adhern go away ).

 

3 days to go and there is no guarantee that labour politicians still in parliament will all be able to fit into the clown car.

Even the possibility that they can cobble a coalition to stay in power is a nightmare.

 

Time for the junk to be consigned to the dustbin of history ( and that's from someone that used to support Labour, but that was long ago ). IMO they abandoned the workers  and went for mad ideology over sensible policies after Lange was backstabbed.

[thaibeachlovers]

The day that many of us have been hanging out for has arrived. Fingers crossed the junk gets dumped today.

[gomangosteen]

Change of government

 

The Labour Government has collapsed, plummeting to half its vote from 2020, on the verge of losing some of its safest seats and being behind in most of the Māori seats.

 

At 9.45pm, Labour was on the ropes with National and Act in a strong position to form a government without NZ First.

 

With more than 40 per cent of the vote counted, Labour’s vote was a shade higher than 25 per cent, meaning half of the caucus is out of a job.

 

And an update with 84.6% votes counted:

National 39.6%

Labour 26.5%

Green 10.6%

ACT 9.1%

NZ First 6.4%

Māori 2.5%

 

Former prime minister Sir John Key [National] said: “In 2020, Jacinda delivered a result I didn’t think was possible under MMP. But, they’ve gone from that to losing half their caucus. It’s pretty brutal.”

 

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by gomangosteen

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, gomangosteen said:

Change of government

 

The Labour Government has collapsed, plummeting to half its vote from 2020, on the verge of losing some of its safest seats and being behind in most of the Māori seats.

 

At 9.45pm, Labour was on the ropes with National and Act in a strong position to form a government without NZ First.

 

With more than 40 per cent of the vote counted, Labour’s vote was a shade higher than 25 per cent, meaning half of the caucus is out of a job.

 

And an update with 84.6% votes counted:

National 39.6%

Labour 26.5%

Green 10.6%

ACT 9.1%

NZ First 6.4%

Māori 2.5%

 

Former prime minister Sir John Key [National] said: “In 2020, Jacinda delivered a result I didn’t think was possible under MMP. But, they’ve gone from that to losing half their caucus. It’s pretty brutal.”

 

 

Knowing nothing about NZ politics, does that mean a coalition government has to be formed? If so, would the only option be National + ACT + NZ first?

[JonnyF]

Good to see another country move away from far left wing authoritarian power freaks.

 

Ardern saw this coming and took the cowards way out. Much like Sturgeon, albeit for different reasons.

 

Hopefully Canada will be next.

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Good to see another country move away from far left wing authoritarian power freaks.

 

Ardern saw this coming and took the cowards way out. Much like Sturgeon, albeit for different reasons.

 

Hopefully Canada will be next.

You'd have credibility if you were not using words like 'far 'left' ' authoritarian ' 'power freaks'. 

I'd say this seems to be the normal swing where people want change after one party has been in office for some time.

[JonnyF]

10 minutes ago, stevenl said:

You'd have credibility if you were not using words like 'far 'left' ' authoritarian ' 'power freaks'. 

I'd say this seems to be the normal swing where people want change after one party has been in office for some time.

Maybe check out her behavior during Covid and get back to me.

 

My words are accurate.

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, stevenl said:

Knowing nothing about NZ politics, does that mean a coalition government has to be formed? If so, would the only option be National + ACT + NZ first?

No. National and Act have an absolute majority, short of special votes changing it, but hopefully that will not happen.

NZ first leader  has agreed to support National if needed.

 

My greatest fear was that NZ first would again backstab us and join labour, but that would not give them the majority so highly unlikely. I'll never forgive Peters for inflicting adhern on us.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

You'd have credibility if you were not using words like 'far 'left' ' authoritarian ' 'power freaks'. 

I'd say this seems to be the normal swing where people want change after one party has been in office for some time.

You already said you know nothing about NZ politics so should not assume anything. Words like 'far 'left' ' authoritarian ' 'power freaks' are a good description of adhern's government. 

This was not a "normal swing" at all, it was a rejection of everything the labour party has done in it's last term. They alienated a large part of NZ, and did things I can't discuss on here.

Many people were not just tired of them, they absolutely despised them.

The only thing I'm surprised at is that so many still voted for them.

 

The junk got dumped, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah.

 

Hopefully they were not able to embed things not wanted to the extent that Nat/ Act can't get rid of them. It's going to take a lot of work to get NZ back to a country for ALL. Plenty of barking "green" policies that need to go first, and the farmers need to stop being penalized.

 

My happiest moment last night was seeing a visibly defeated Hipkins making his final speech as PM. It was a moment I've waited for since adhern won with Peters joining her in what had to be the greatest political betrayal of my lifetime in NZ. That wasn't putting NZ first, it was putting Peters first.

[thaibeachlovers]

The junk got dumped. It's like waking up from a nightmare.

I had to check that it was true and not just a dream. Hurrah.

[Tug]

Hope it works out ok!good luck!

[stevenl]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You already said you know nothing about NZ politics so should not assume anything. Words like 'far 'left' ' authoritarian ' 'power freaks' are a good description of adhern's government. 

This was not a "normal swing" at all, it was a rejection of everything the labour party has done in it's last term. They alienated a large part of NZ, and did things I can't discuss on here.

Many people were not just tired of them, they absolutely despised them.

The only thing I'm surprised at is that so many still voted for them.

 

The junk got dumped, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah.

 

Hopefully they were not able to embed things not wanted to the extent that Nat/ Act can't get rid of them. It's going to take a lot of work to get NZ back to a country for ALL. Plenty of barking "green" policies that need to go first, and the farmers need to stop being penalized.

 

My happiest moment last night was seeing a visibly defeated Hipkins making his final speech as PM. It was a moment I've waited for since adhern won with Peters joining her in what had to be the greatest political betrayal of my lifetime in NZ. That wasn't putting NZ first, it was putting Peters first.

With your track record here and that of the person I replied to some independent research seemed appropriate.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-15/nz-election-analysis-labour-loses-support-in-both-directions-/102976938

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

With your track record here and that of the person I replied to some independent research seemed appropriate.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-15/nz-election-analysis-labour-loses-support-in-both-directions-/102976938

and you believe all that, do you? LOL. It's not even an NZ media source.