Massey ‘scheming’ shocks
Don Brash has questioned whether Massey University vicechancellor Jan Thomas should stay in the job after emails revealed a push to ban him from speaking speaking on the Palmerston North campus.
Brash, a former National Party leader, was supposed to speak at a Massey University Politics Society event in August, but cancelled the venue booking.
Thomas publicly cited security concerns at the time, but internal emails obtained under the Official Information Act by blogger David Farrar show Thomas didn’t want ‘‘a Te-tiriti led university be seen to be endorsing racist behaviours’’.
In an email to university staff, Thomas said Brash’s leadership of Hobson’s Pledge, an organisation whose views she characterised as ‘‘close to hate speech’’, was also an issue for ‘‘a Tiriti o Waitangi-led organisation’’.
Emails were exchanged between Thomas and university staffers a month before the event. As early as July 9, she wrote: ‘‘Would be good if we can cut off at the pass some how.’’
Brash said he was surprised by the length of time Thomas was ‘‘scheming’’, trying to prevent him from speaking.
‘‘It is astonishing she was preoccupied for weeks and weeks.
‘‘Whether it’s a shocking look for the university depends on what the [Massey] council does now,’’ he said. ‘‘The vicechancellor made her position almost untenable and has been shown to be grossly misleading.’’
The university has maintained its stance that a security threat led to cancelling Brash’s visit. Massey spokesman James Gardiner said the emails showed the vice-chancellor was first advised of the event several weeks beforehand.
‘‘It was when a security threat was raised that professor Thomas made the decision to cancel the booking. Despite what others have claimed, the concern about the threat was genuine.
Brash has been invited back by the politics society to speak on October 17, and he has already paid for his air fares. ‘‘If I’m banned again I will be thoroughly p ..... off.’’
The original speech was to be about his career in politics, and was part of the student club’s series of speakers on the past, present, and future of New Zealand’s main political parties.
‘‘They asked me to speak about my time in politics but inevitably someone will ask me about about this ban or Hobson’s Pledge."
The event was cancelled a day before Brash was due to speak.
A letter from Palmerston North activist Karl Pearce included the line ‘‘this kind of free speech is not free of consequences’’ – which the university claimed was a veiled threat. Thomas started discussing Brash’s speech with colleagues on July 9 where she asked about options to not allow Brash to speak on campus and mentioned what she described as the ‘‘racist behaviour of Brash..
On July 10, Thomas sent another email saying the subject was on her mind. ‘‘I would like to know what are our options re [regarding] not allowing politics clubs to hold event on campus – free to hold any event but not with any inference of support by university,’’ she said.
On July 11, a Massey University staff member said there weren’t grounds to say no to Brash speaking on campus and noted to Thomas that declining him ‘‘would present a very real risk of us being accused of restricting free speech etc.’’.
The vice-chancellor then replied, saying she was still ‘‘deeply concerned’’ about the matter, asking if there was any
‘‘Our ultimate responsibility is for the safety and wellbeing of students, staff and members of the public on our campuses and under those circumstances cancelling the booking is the right thing to do.’’ Jan Thomas
mechanism the university could use to stop the event.
Then on July 13, an email from Thomas included the sentence: ‘‘So I sum, I really want to find a way to indicate that Brash is not welcome on campus unless he agrees to abide by our values and the laws against hate speech.’’
Further, she writes: ‘‘My strong preference is that we stop it occurring. Students can hold it off campus.’’
Massey University Politics Society treasurer and spokesman Michael Curtis said the society was ‘‘shocked and surprised’’ by the emails.