[…] while golliwogs were once regarded simply as much-loved and slightly mischievous dolls, they are now portrayed by activists as symbols of abuse that they say humiliate and intimidate black people.

That’s also the view being taken by the Human Rights Commission, which has become a key driver of political correctness in New Zealand. In response to the fracas over the golliwogs in the Waiheke store, a spokeswoman claimed that they are “racist caricatures that dehumanise black people”. She said that New Zealanders who think selling golliwogs is OK “need a wake-up call”.

In spite of what she says, the sale or public display of golliwogs in New Zealand is not against the law. While the Human Rights Act does outlaw ‘inciting racial disharmony’, the threshold is high and selling golliwogs – or golly dolls, as some are now calling them – does not breach the threshold.

The NZ Human Rights Commission, in fact, wades into every single artificially created outrage incident of raaaaaacism. They pronounced sentence on the Waiheke store, they decried the restaurant with the funny menu and…

they have highlighted the latest ” racism” incident of a man flying a confederate flag at Elvis in the park.

The golliwog debacle serves to demonstrate just how politicised and sensitive society has become. Nowadays it appears that everyone feels they have to be extremely careful about what they say or do, lest they offend the sensitivities of others, and are victimised by activists promoting a cause.

To most people, the prospect of attracting unwanted attention from the media or sharp-tongued radicals is so intimidating that what should be a fundamental right to free speech is now severely compromised.

That is why it is so important that we stand up in support of the targets of the thought police. The Waiheke store has sold out of Golliwogs thanks to an outpouring of support and orders coming in from overseas and the restaurant has been packed with supporters. Hopefully, the Elvis on the park guy who has been flying the Confederate flag for years will also stand his ground and will gain not lose business because of it. It gives me hope that New Zealand will not as easily go down the Social Justice Bully route where loud-mouthed activists on social media can create a storm in a tea cup and ruin people’s livelihoods.

This was a point made by this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, Dr Don Brash in a speech to the Liberty Conference late last year. The former leader of the National Party said that in spite of free speech being protected in law, there is now a massive intolerance towards free expression in New Zealand:

“In New Zealand, freedom of speech is enshrined as one of our fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights Act of 1990.  Section 14 of that law, headed ‘Freedom of expression’, notes that ‘everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form’.

“But despite that, there are insidious pressures to discourage the expression of certain opinions…

“You dare not suggest that the Enlightenment civilization brought to New Zealand by the early British settlers was significantly more advanced than the Maori culture of the early nineteenth century, even though early nineteenth century Maori had no written language, had not yet invented the wheel, and were still practising cannibalism.

“It is regarded as racist to suggest that all New Zealanders should have equal political rights, despite that being the clear meaning of Article III of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only basis for a peaceful society in the long-term.”

Dr Brash is right. There are now many issues that people will speak freely about with their family or close friends, but are now regarded as taboo with a wider audience.

It’s even got to the point where some people are afraid to sign their names and addresses on petition forms – if they deem them to be too controversial – just in case there are ‘repercussions’.

This is presently an issue for those living in areas where their local councils have voted unilaterally to create Maori wards.[…]

It now appears that in some local government areas, where the pro-Maori ward lobby has become very aggressive, many who oppose Maori wards feel intimidated and are now too afraid to sign the petitions for a referendum for fear of reprisal.

[…] The decision to introduce Maori wards in each of the areas is now being challenged, with petitions underway to collect signatures from 5 percent of local electors to force the councils to hold referenda on the issue.

The Auckland Council also voted in favour of Maori wards – with nine councillors plus the Mayor in favour and five opposed (six were absent) – but only if the Government changes the law so they don’t lose any existing seats. In other words, they want a Maori ward as long as none of the sitting members loses their seat!

[…] Unfortunately, there are some in our community who want to remove the public’s right of veto over the creation of Maori wards from the Electoral Act.

Leading this attack on local body democracy is the former Mayor of New Plymouth, Andrew Judd […]  rather than accepting that local democracy is about letting people have their say, and respecting their views, he arrogantly called his constituents ‘racists’, stated that half of all local authority councillors should be Maori, and demanded a law change to remove the right of locals to hold a poll.

[..] With Labour and the Greens now in Government, there remains an on-going concern that they might be planning another attempt to try to change the law, despite most New Zealanders not wanting to be defined by race – not even those of Maori descent.

The only people wanting to divide the country by race are a small but vocal minority of tribal activists and their supporters, who will stop at nothing less than Maori sovereignty at all levels of government. It is this racist agenda that we all need to stand against.[…]