Uni boss ‘has to go’ over new revelation, says Bridges
National leader Simon Bridges is backing calls for Massey University vice-chancellor Jan Thomas to resign and says the Government needs to take action.
The calls have come after former National Party leader Don Brash was barred from speaking at Massey University after Thomas cited security concerns — but documents released under the Official Information Act yesterday revealed a different story.
Brash was due to give a speech to the University’s Politics Society in August, speaking about his life in politics, but after a threat to security, the university canned the talk.
Massey University yesterday continued to insist the reason for the cancellation was a security concern.
But, documents release to rightwing blogger David Farrar under the Official Information Act suggested security was not the main concern, but that Thomas said she didn’t want a “te tiriti led university be seen to be endorsing racist behaviours”.
Bridges told the NZ Herald he thought it was “appalling”.
“I think Jan Thomas has to go,” he said.
“She has been dishonest, and more than that she has tried to tort free speech and that is just not good enough anywhere in New Zealand and certainly not on university campuses.”
Bridges said if the vice-chancellor didn’t stand down, then the Government needed to step in.
“[Education Minister] Chris Hipkins needs to show some leadership on this.
“I have said before and I will say it again, the Government needs to use the tools in its toolbox to nip these issues around free speech in the bud now while they can.
“We don’t want to go down some American style culture war where we see this sort of issue and people shouting down different views to them. He [Hipkins] should stand up and be counted on it as well.
“At the heart of democracy is free speech and if you can’t get up and say sometimes stupid things, sometimes outrageous things, at a university campus — where the hell can you.”
Brash, speaking to the Herald from Beijing yesterday, said Thomas had no alternative but to resign.
“Frankly I don’t think she has got any other alternative. She has been dishonest about the whole thing and clearly hoodwinked many involved, including me,” he said.
“The press statement alludes briefly to security concerns, but then talks about my so-called support for the two right-wing Canadians and talks about at some greater length about Hobson’s Pledge.
“It implies we are engaged in hate speech, it was always a pretext.”
But the university yesterday insisted “genuine” security concerns were the reason for cancelling the speech.
In a statement provided to the Herald a spokesman for Massey University addressed the emails.
“It shows the Vice-Chancellor was first advised of the event several weeks beforehand.
“She held concerns because of the upset that a previous visit by Hobson’s Pledge representatives to campus had caused but had been prepared to let it go ahead under conditions the students had signed up to.”
It was when a security threat was raised that Thomas made the decision to cancel the booking, the spokesman said.
“Despite what others have claimed, the concern about the threat was genuine.”