Self-Deceit On A Grand Scale

Racism Alive and Well in New Zealand

The National President of the Tertiary Education Union [TEU] has put out a statement which reveals how that particular organization propagates racism on a grand scale.  The grand irony of their "hate-speech" is that its position employs racial discrimination at the very centre of their thinking and speech.  

On the recent debacle which unfolded at Massey University, the TEU has this to say:

To all TEU members at Massey University for information

Kia ora koutou,

My criticism of the Vice-Chancellor is about how she handled the cancellation of a recent politics club event. Clearly, it could have been handled a great deal better than what has been revealed in recently published emails.

For starters, the Vice-Chancellor should have spoken to those involved, including students, and worked collectively to find a solution to what is a complicated issue, one that evidently played on her conscience. She also should not have floated the idea of withholding funds from student bodies as a way of exerting influence. Such steps are not be acceptable in any circumstances.

What’s most regrettable though, is that the Vice-Chancellor did not just come out and say that anyone failing to respect the values of Massey University, particularly its obligations as a Te Tiriti led organisation, is not welcome to share those views on campus. Yes, they are free to speak their mind elsewhere, but not at any public institution that prides itself on rejecting the sort of loathsome, race-based views propagated by Hobson’s Pledge. Had she done that, she would have had my backing.

That is because the Tertiary Education Union Te Hautū Kahurangi is also a Te Tiriti led organisation. We take our obligations extremely seriously and, as national president, I am constantly looking at ways to improve the way our organisation is run in order to uphold the values expressed in Te Tiriti. Should meetings or events be organised that are not compatible with these values, then I would have every right to say they should not happen under the banner of the TEU. This would not be in violation of free speech, because the organisers of said event would be entitled to air their views elsewhere. Instead, it would be a strong statement of what our organisation stands for.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi promotes a set of values that must become an integral part of how we behave as New Zealanders, and how our public institutions are run. We must continue working for a future where these values are upheld and strengthened by our right to free speech – and a future where showing leadership by putting the values of a public organisation ahead of the out-dated, contemptible views of one person, is seen as the right thing to do.

With that in mind, let’s start focusing on how good it is to see the seriousness with which the Vice-Chancellor takes the responsibilities that result from actively acknowledging Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation for the relationship between Māori and the Crown. I only wish she could have stuck to this position publicly at the time this debacle first surfaced.

The views the Vice-Chancellor was seeking to keep off campus have no place in Aotearoa New Zealand. They should not be encouraged, respected, nor accepted, especially not under the banner of free speech. All public institutions should take the advice of the Human Rights Commission and give nothing to racism.

Sandra Grey
National President

So, let's get this straight: Public Enemy No 1--Dr Don Brash--is alleged to be a flagrant racist for insisting that race should have nothing to do with citizenship and voting.  The view of the TEU, however,  is that race and racial distinctions must be at the heart of what Massey University stands for.

When a trade union becomes so perverted in mind, evil stalks the Public Square.  And it's not Dr Brash who is the culprit.  The TEU is manifestly promoting racism--and institutionalised racism at that.  It is guilty of the kind of Orwellian double-speak that would endorse their particular racist views as a "greater good".

And since the NZ Human Rights Commission has declared we should "give nothing to racism", we urge the Commission to follow its own advice and haul Sandra Grey and the TEU into the dock for their racist, "contemptible views".  What is sauce for the goose . . . and all that.