Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says murals should only be painted over if they 'incite hate or are inappropriate for children'. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has directed her council staff not to remove a mural in the city calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Instagram, Whanau said another 'Free Palestine' mural was removed yesterday by council officers from the same area in Waitangi Park.
"As the Creative Capital of Aotearoa, I do not agree with the approach to remove art from dedicated spaces that speaks to the hard, complex and at times abhorrent issues of the day.
"Art helps us digest unimaginable harm and things that we may struggle to comprehend. It can be confronting, uncomfortable, difficult, a call for peace, or a stamp of the heartache of a city."
She said art should be "embraced" for the huge contribution it made to "our collective culture and conscience".
"Murals should only be painted over if they incite hate or are inappropriate for children."
National Party MP Chris Bishop responded to Whanau's post on Instagram.
Atop a screenshot he shared of her statement, he added the comment: "Does anyone seriously think that if this had been a graffiti message calling for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages or condemning the savage brutality on 7/10, that the Mayor would order it to stay up?"
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has previously spoken to Bishop about a strongly-worded email the MP sent about the Gaza conflict, which was widely shared on social media.
Whanau's statement comes a day after the US Consulate and Ministry of Foreign Affairs buildings in Auckland had red paint splashed on them and were tagged with messages calling for a ceasefire.
In June, Wellington City Council voted to become the sister city of Ramallah in Palestine.
Whanau's office has been contacted for comment.
Israel launched its war against Hamas after the Islamist Palestinian group's 7 October rampage into southern Israel. About 1200 people died in that attack and 240 were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israel's tally.
The armed wing of Hamas said it was ready to free up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in exchange for a five-day truce in the war.
Israel, which effectively blockades Gaza, has rejected a ceasefire, arguing that Hamas would simply use it to regroup, but has permitted brief humanitarian "pauses" to allow food and other supplies to flow in and foreigners to flee.
Gaza medical authorities say more than 11,000 people have been confirmed killed in the Israeli bombardment, about 40 percent of them children.
- additional reporting by Reuters