Bridges shows claws over PC Santa
National Party leader Simon Bridges wants Santa Claus to stay as a man so he can still have ‘‘a few things to believe in’’.
Appearing on the AM Show yesterday morning, the Opposition leader was asked to wade in on the debate about the decision by Farmers to sack their Santa from the Auckland Christmas parade for comments made about St Nicholas’ gender.
But Bridges said that decision was political correctness ‘‘gone too far’’.
Discrimination laws were in place for a reason, he said, but in his mind ‘‘Mary Poppins is a woman and Santa Claus is a man’’.
‘‘You guys this morning are telling me that man didn’t walk on the Moon, now you’re telling me Santa’s a woman – I just want a few things I can believe in.’’
It was unclear what Bridges’ stance was on the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.
Last week, My Santa director Neville Baker told the Herald on Sunday he did not cast any female applicants for the role of Santa for the Queen St parade, but said he cast ‘‘Santa’s Helpers’’ in ‘‘a little skirt and top’’.
He didn’t want children saying ‘‘Santa’s got boobs, mum’’, he added.
The comments led to Farmers sacking Santa from the parade and distancing itself from the company.
The chairman of the Children’s Christmas Parade Trust, Michael Barnett, said it had chosen to use a Santa from a different agency. ‘‘Santa is alive and well,’’ he said. ‘‘What the Santa agency said was ‘you can’t have a Santa with boobs’ and the agency talked about a support crew with little skirts and tops – it was a statement that did not sound like the values of a family parade,’’ Barnett said. ‘‘We chose to use a different agency.’’