Everybody has a right to speak
Have we become so insecure in our beliefs and social philosophy that we are too frightened to allow those with a different opinion to be heard? The recent furore over a couple of right-wing activists from Canada who were denied access to an Auckland City Council venue to deliver a public address has revealed how easily we are divided on such a fundamental issue. Those who bothered to watch the TVNZ Sunday programme last week may have wondered what all the fuss was about. Disappointingly, the Canadians were not given much air time, but an internet search soon brought up several of their speeches and there was nothing most of us have not heard before and can still hear in pubs and smoko rooms in most parts of the country. Among those who did hear them will be those who agree with them and those who disagree and it is unlikely that many will have changed their minds either way. While much, but not all, of what they espouse is ill-informed and illogical, it is not quite hate speech, about which there has been much emotional over-reaction. New Zealand prohibits hate speech under the Human Rights Act (1993), which makes it unlawful to publish or distribute threatening, abusive, or insulting matter or words likely to excite hostility against or bring anybody into contempt. It is highly likely that the Canadians are too well informed to cross that barrier here, even if they did come close. They will have succeeded only in bringing themselves into contempt. Some of the things they have said, and apparently continue to say, are objectionable to most New Zealanders. And some of it is quite ugly. But other parts are laughable and belong in the Deep South of the United States of the 1960s. In any free society, there must be a place for the dissenting voice and the challenging opinion, regardless of how we may feel about them. If we deny the right of people to be heard and, more importantly, the right of other people to hear them, because some of us don’t agree with their opinions, we put at risk a fundamental right thousands of people have fought and died to protect: the right to hold and give voice to a contentious opinion in public. If we deny that right to some, it must be denied to all. And most of the television evangelists who clutter our Sunday screens would be banned, along with street-corner preachers, fortunetellers and tarot card readers. Take away the right to be different and be heard and are we any different to the community and church leaders of the dark ages who burned books and people for daring to challenge established orthodoxy? Former Reserve Bank governor and National Party leader Don Brash received similar treatment by Massey University when an invitation to speak to students about his political life was cancelled. The former Opposition leader’s opinions on a range of topics, including the role of Ma¯ ori in local government, are well known and not particularly novel or enlightening to many of us. To their credit, authorities at Auckland University offered Brash a platform for his speech. No doubt it was entertaining – he usually is – but the sky did not fall and life carried as before as it always will. The only sure way to get to the truth of any matter is by unconstrained investigation and exploration of all aspects of the issue and all sides to the argument without fear of attack or retribution. People should be free to hear such speakers and make up their own minds, particularly on a university campus where, by long established tradition, robust debate on contentious issues is one of the tools of higher learning. In both cases, the threat or fear of violence from those who object to farright opinions has been cited as the reason for the cancellations. If that is the case, and there is some doubt about that, those who make such threats do their credibility immeasurable harm and unfairly impede the rights of others. If we don’t have the opportunity to hear opinions and explore ideologies which are fundamentally flawed or illfounded, we will have nothing against which to measure and assess those philosophies and concepts which are sound and acceptable to modern civilised society. The wise man and the fool have an equal right to speak. And all of us have the same right to hear them. I deeply resent any attempt to dictate whom I can listen to.
In any free society, there must be a place for the dissenting voice and the challenging opinion, regardless of how we may feel about them. If we deny the right of people to be heard we put at risk a fundamental right thousands of people have fought and died to protect.