Rainbow police car blasted as a ‘PR stunt’
"I'm queer 52 weeks of the year." Lexie Matheson
The launch of a rainbow-themed police car has outraged one of the organisers of Auckland’s gay Pride Festival.
New Zealand police unveiled a ‘‘one-of-a-kind’’ rainbow police car on Thursday ahead of the Wellington and Auckland pride festival and parades.
Auckland Pride Festival board co-chair Lexie Matheson said the rainbow police car was merely a ‘‘cynical, two weeks-long PR stunt’’.
‘‘I’m queer 52 weeks of the year, their car is queer for only two weeks of the year; they will take the rainbow off, but I can’t, ‘‘ Matheson said.
The police should put its resources to better use like making a non-public donation to an organisation like Rainbow Youth, extend its school diversity programmes or contribute to the Pride Parade itself, she said.
If the police didn’t want to succumb to tokenism they should establish rainbow cop cars as a permanent fixture of the force, she said.
‘‘That’s my challenge to the police, extend it, make it 24-seven and I’ll be there dancing in front of it once they do that.’’
However, Matheson celebrated the fact the police were able to participate in the Pride Parade, despite an historically contentious relationship between the two communities.
‘‘I love the fact that we have got to the point now they can be part of the parade and can be there in their uniforms.’’
Matheson said she was speaking personally rather than on behalf of the festival.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said the vehicle was a visible representation of the force’s commitment to diversity.
‘‘It’s important to encourage staff to show pride in the communities they represent.’’
He, along with uniformed staff, would accompany the rainbow car at the Auckland parade on February 17 and the Wellington parade on on March 10.
Bush said the rainbow car was not a permanent addition to the police fleet, and the livery was removable.
People Against Prisons Aotearoa (Papa) spokeswoman Emmy Rakete said the car was nothing more than a feeble PR exercise in an attempt to make the police force look more progressive than it was.
‘‘There is nothing easier than just chucking a coat of paint over something without addressing any of the fundamental problems with it,’’ Rakete said.
In 2016 and 2015 Papa, formerly No Pride in Prisons, staged a blockade of the Pride Parade over the Department of Corrections and police’s involvement in the event.
Papa had no plans to boycott the parade this year, she said.
For last year’s Ma¯ ori Language Week, police introduced a themed car with ‘‘pirihimana’’ (police) written on the side with a koru pattern in the usual blue and yellow colours.
The te reo car ignited criticism against the police, with former National MP Tau Henare saying it was the most ‘‘insensitive, barbaric and moronic thing’’ he had ever seen.