Massey gets it wrong on Brash
In an alternate reality, a couple of mischievous Canadians with alt-Right views visit this country. There is a little publicity, a few words are spoken in protest but, for the most part, the visit goes ahead, the pair speak to a handful of disgruntled, largely white males pulled briefly from dark lairs and too-bright computer screens. Then they leave.
Little to see here. Time to move on. Unfortunately that is not our reality. Without saying a word in this country, it appears they have achieved what they set out to do: they have lit a touch paper of antagonism and exposed the soft underbelly supporting our notion of free speech. The debate that is the bedrock of our democracy.
If the belly was exposed simply by the threat of what they had to say, and the sometimes ridiculous over-reaction to their perceived message, it was ripped open by Massey University’s ban of Don Brash, who was planning to visit the Palmerston North campus to speak to the students’ politics club.
Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas made that call, based on the possibility that the words of the former politician and current kiwifruit grower might inspire hate and violence.
In doing so, she has played right into the hands of two Canadian malcontents who have received so much more profile and cultural currency than their alt-Right views deserved. They must be overjoyed at an outstanding victory for so little effort. Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern waved the knife; Thomas and others have plunged the blade.
The irony is that Thomas probably believed she was supporting Kiwi values in making that call, and doing her best to protect not only the students under her wing but also the cultural and academic cache of the campus she leads.
However, in denying the opportunity for Brash to speak, she has achieved quite the opposite.
New Zealand has made such great progress in many areas because of its tolerance of debate and the pillar of free speech that supports it. That in turn has created a forum in which most people should feel safe to air views. Even those that may potentially offend others.
Advocates of racial, civil and gender rights have made progress, in part by agitating and offending traditional cultural norms, mores and ideas.
The possibility of offence, the creation of innovation and the path of progress go hand in hand. And universities are so often vital vessels in their transportation. That a university, no less, a venue we so often look to for that cultural, political and academic disruption, would ban a speaker such as Brash, a former Reserve Bank governor and Opposition leader, is of great concern. We hope that other institutions will either distance themselves from such actions or make it clear they disagree.
Brash is used to a bit of mud-slinging. He once infamously tasted a bit of the brown stuff because of his views on race and racial preference. Thomas and Massey University have just thrown some themselves. But in the act of doing so they have covered themselves in more than a little dirt. And besmirched the free speech and academic freedoms they should be promoting.
That a university ... would ban a speaker such as Brash, a former Reserve Bank governor and Opposition leader, is of great concern.