The Māori Authority is calling for an investigation after white supremacist pamphlets appeared in Tauranga.
Matthew Tukaki says it would have been distressing for tamariki to find the pamphlets in among household mail. Photo: Supplied
Leaflets that included the slogans "It's alright to be white" and "Save the white race" were delivered to some mailboxes last week.
Māori Authority chairperson Matthew Tukaki wants the Human Rights Commission and the Electoral Commission to investigate actions that, according to him, may have political interests involved.
"It's absolutely unfathomable that that sort of publication is circulating in Tauranga."
Tukaki said such behaviour was not new in Aotearoa. In 2019, brochures with similarly racist content were delivered to mailboxes in the city.
"It is absolutely abhorrent if you think that your mokopuna or your tamariki who might be mixed heritage, a young person of colour, goes and opens his letterbox and find this stuck in there."
Tukaki believed hate speech laws were normally put into the "too hard" basket by the authorities.
"When will the Human Rights Commission actually bring cases and seek to prosecute these individuals and organisations that tend to hide behind social media platforms and profiles?
"This is absolutely interfering in the democratic process. It's racist at best, it's divisionary at worst and it's separatism at its most evil."
He believed freedom of speech, although guaranteed under section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, should be reviewed to avoid racist messages being spread without consequences.
"Those hate speech laws need to pass through Parliament. We need to get the job done and lay a stake in the ground of what is acceptable in terms of free speech and what definitely is hate speech."
White supremacy behaviour had become present in New Zealand's society and an open conversation about what was and what was not hate speech was necessary, he said.
"I don't think anyone in New Zealand would find it acceptable for people to distribute a pamphlet saying that 'You don't need to say sorry because you are nature's finest'.
"What next? Are we going to say it is OK to start using these views to hold the majority of us in fear of speaking out against this sort of authoritarian politicking by these right-wing groups."
When asked about what he believed needed to be done to stop any racist movements, he said the Human Rights Commission needed to begin recommending prosecution of groups that chose to participate in any white supremacist movement.
In a statement, the Human Rights Commission confirmed it had been contacted in relation to the offensive pamphlets and would answer Tukaki once it received his correspondence.
The process was confidential, it said.
"We note that our process is voluntary and requires participation of all parties. If a matter is not resolved through our process, it can proceed to the Human Rights Review Tribunal and a complainant can seek representation from the Director of Human Rights Proceedings when doing so.
"The commission does not have powers of investigation like the police have, in order to determine who printed or delivered these pamphlets. And decisions about prosecution for the Human Rights Act offence of inciting racial disharmony require the Attorney-General's consent."
The statement said Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon had a clear message: The leaflets were not welcome in Tauranga and he "shares the community's disgust and sadness".