Petition for councillor to quit clocks up 1550

More than 1500 people have signed a petition calling for a controversial New Plymouth councillor to resign after he said he was ‘‘ashamed’’ to sing the national anthem in te reo.

The petition calling for Murray Chong to quit was launched Monday afternoon and within 24 hours had gathered 1550 signatures and was steadily climbing.

Chong caused a stir after answering a Facebook post which asked people to ‘‘name a song you are ashamed of singing’’. He replied: ‘‘The te reo version of the NZ national anthem’’, God Defend New Zealand.

When former Taranaki man Michael Riley heard the ensuing row being reported in Australia, where he now lives, he decided to take action.

His petition calls for Chong to either stand down or for New Plymouth residents not to vote for him in this year’s local body election.

‘‘I live in Bathurst now and I was in a cafe in the middle of town,’’ Riley said.

‘‘I actually overheard someone claim that this politician in New Plymouth was going on about the national anthem and he’s caused a bit of an uproar.’’

Riley, who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2016 at age 18, said the reaction from Kiwis living in Australia had been stronger than those in New Plymouth. ‘‘I wanted to show that not all of New Plymouth and not all of New Zealand agree with what he’s saying.’’

Chong did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Chong received 7301 votes at the last local body elections in 2016.