Parade operator quits after Ma¯ori Santa backlash

A new organiser is being sought for the Nelson Santa parade after organisers quit following the Ma¯ori Santa backlash. Nelson councillor Gaile Noonan said a new organiser would be announced this week following the resignation of the Nelson Santa Parade Trust. Councillor Brian McGurk asked if the trust’s decision to resign was due to ‘‘fallout from the incidents last year’’ and Noonan said councillors could ‘‘come to that conclusion’’. ‘‘If you were running it and you had the flak that they had to undertake . . . Well, I’d be doing exactly the same thing,’’ she said. In the 2018 parade, Santa’s red and white garb was replaced with a red korowai (cloak).