Too Right A regular column by John Black The Black Sheep Blog Rightminds In the great works of dystopic fiction, 1984, Brave New World, and Robo Cop 3: He’s Back To Lay Down The Law, the state looms large as the enemy of liberty. It is not mere coincidence
I recently reported that the appointment of Australian academic Professor Dawn Freshwater as Auckland University vice-chancellor promised to be a rare breath of fresh air for New Zealand higher education. Where other Kiwi universities, especially those headed by Aussie academics, are clamping on intellectual freedom, Professor Freshwater was at
‘Bro-zzie’ Matthew Tukaki has slammed David Seymour for defending freedom of speech calling his views ” irrelevant”. Tukaki has an impressive Australian resume and was nominated in 2016 for Australian of the year but, as executive director of the Maori Council, he clearly still considers himself a spokesperson for Maori
Free Speech Coalition member Dr David Cumin interviews Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist. Mr Norquist discusses the fundamental need for free speech in political movements, the difference between the United States approach to free speech and New Zealand’s approach, and the role that media plays in information
There is currently only one party in parliament fighting to defend our free speech, and that is the ACT party. If National do not stand up and back most of the ACT party’s bill, I will wash my hands of them in complete disgust. “A new member’s bill
Free Speech Coalition co-founder Jordan Williams interviews Reynold Macpherson and Dr Don Brash. Reynold Macpherson is a Rotorua mayoral candidate who was accused of hate speech for responding to councillor Tania Tapsell’s encouragement for young people to stand for council by stating “beware of the charismatic pitch of
In 2006 satirical show The Chaser landed themselves in very hot water. Their crime? Supposedly making fun of terminally-ill children. The sketch in question depicted the “Make-A-Realistic-Wish foundation” telling sick kids they couldn’t meet Zach Efron, but they could have a stick. Champagne comedy? Hardly.
Nothing perhaps better illustrates the sorry decline of free speech and intellectual freedom on university campuses than the starkly different receptions given to two flamboyant superstars of conservative politics, 42 years apart. In 1974, John Wayne accepted an invitation to speak at Harvard. Never one to do things by half,
David Cumin Free Speech Coalition Is calling a politician the name of a fairy tale character worthy of Police action? Over the weekend, the head of a Rotorua ratepayers’ association was accused of “age, gender, and race-based hate speech” after he published a Facebook post stating: “Beware the charismatic
Free Speech Coalition An opinion piece by journalist John Drinnan. John Drinnan says “There is a tendency to accept that people with unorthodox views in the current milieu must be policed and punished. It goes against the notion of objectivity and balance that some of us still expect from media.
Stephen Franks of the NZ Free Speech Coalition speaks to Sean Plunket on Magic Talk Radio (last week) about the Human Rights Commission deeming a t-shirt unacceptable. I missed the start of the intro.
Dr David Cumin of the NZ Free Speech Coalition speaks to Sean Plunket on Magic Talk Radio.
Chris Bowen played no small part in Labor’s devastating election loss, but he is also one of the few Labor politicians who seem capable of taking a long, hard look that the party’s lurch to the far-left. Labor’s policy platform was Corbynism-lite, tax’n’spend,
Beth Houlbrooke ACT Deputy Leader / Vice President FREE SPEECH The number of people losing their minds left, right and centre this week about David’s free speech comments has shown precisely why trying to define hate speech is completely subjective, impossible to define, and impractical to enforce. Any attempt to
