Auckland Mayor Phil Goff cites chaos 'alt-right' Brit Milo Yiannopoulos caused in Aussie for rejecting Canadian speakers

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says police commanders anticipated problems if two controversial Candian speakers were allowed to speak at a council-owned venue.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff claims police were braced for disorder if two far-right Canadian speakers were given the green light to appear at a council-owned venue.

Earlier this month, Regional Facilities Auckland cancelled Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux's August 3 booking of the Bruce Mason Centre, citing concerns about 'the health and safety of the presenters, staff and patrons'.

Goff says the decision was not his, although he supported the cancellation, tweeting: 'Views that divide rather than unite are repugnant and I have made my views on this very clear'.

Meanwhile, the Free Speech Coalition, which is supported by figures across the political spectrum, has raised $90,000 for a potential judicial review of the cancellation.

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Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus would not comment on the speaker ban matter.

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But Goff on Tuesday doubled-down on his stance and added senior police figures were on his side.

Canadian speakers Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern were barred from an Auckland Council venue.

'When the decision was made to cancel I met with a couple of the district commanders at another function I was at,' he said.

'They said: 'Thank God you did that, because we would've had to have been out there in strength, we wouldn't have known what to anticipate, but we would have anticipated problems'.'

Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus said she could not comment on the canned event.

'Police make operational decisions which may see extra resources utilised to cover particular events for any number of factors,' she said.

'Each event is different and any operational decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.'

Goff cited two grounds on which a booking could be cancelled. The first was if danger of injury or property damage existed.

'I'd looked at what happened in Australia last December, with Milo Yiannopoulos, and there were big issues there – there were five police officers injured,' Goff said.

Last year, Melbourne police accused protesters of 'Kardashian-style politics' after two men were arrested and several police officers injured as violent clashes erupted outside an event hosting Yiannopoulos, a controversial British commentator, who is closely aligned with the 'alt-right'.

Organisers had yet to pay the $50,000 bill for extra police resources, The Age reported on Monday.

'Basically, this category of people come across [to] shock and awe [and] it's to deliberately be provocative,' Goff said.

'So you get some people that might be extreme on the other side coming in and the next thing you know you've got a major public security issue.'

An Auckland Council agency could also cancel a booking if it had the potential to bring the council's reputation into disrepute.

'I think it would've harmed our reputation, because, while it's not for us to decide whether people have the right of free speech, does that encompass hate speech? That's a huge debate across New Zealand and there are different views on that,' Goff said.

'But we also have out reputation to consider.'

The council's reputation, Goff said, was that it believed it needed to be inclusive.

'We should not be aiding and abetting people that insult, abuse and provoke racial and religious minorities.'