Difficult Conversations: Should Posie Parker be allowed in the country?

Friday, 24 March 2023

The Breakfast crew discussed the issues surrounding Posie Parker’s visit to New Zealand and read out feedback sent to them by viewers.

Stuff’s Difficult Conversations is a safe space for Aotearoa to constructively discuss topics which can be polarising but still deserve reasoned debate and dialogue. These are stories that we often don’t open for comments, because of the high volume of posts that breach our rules for participation. We hope that providing a specific platform for a finite period of time will allow for important debate and different points of view, without the open slather of social media and the risk of discussions being hijacked by extreme views.

Friday’s topic is on Posie Parker’s visit to Aotearoa. The comment stream will be open from 12pm to 5pm on Friday, March 24, and will be strictly moderated according to our terms and conditions, so please read them before you start posting. Comments containing personal attacks of any kind will be rejected.

Controversial activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, self dubbed as Posie Parker, is coming to New Zealand.

The Briton is a women’s rights campaigner to some and an anti-trans activist to others. She has speaking engagements in Auckland and Wellington this weekend as part of her Let Women Speak tour.

* Human rights groups seek interim order to stop Posie Parker coming to NZ

* Posie Parker: What do you have to do to get denied a visa?

* Queer activist group plans 'positive' protest near anti-trans gathering

* Immigration minister prefers anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull 'never set foot in NZ'

* Yeah, Nah: Should activist Posie Parker be allowed into New Zealand?

Today’s difficult conversations topic is on Posie Parker.

While purporting to support women’s rights, Keen-Minshull has taken aim at transgender people and migrants. She faces strong opposition to her planned trip to New Zealand as members of the Rainbow community and members of Parliament have spoken out against her.

Even Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has weighed in, saying he condemned people who abused their right to freedom of speech to “create division”.

However, she is allowed to enter Aotearoa. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) confirmed on Wednesday she would be allowed into the country, despite Immigration Minister Michael Wood‘s comments about her “inflammatory, vile and incorrect world views”.

On Thursday, Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōaro, and Auckland Pride said they had filed for a judicial review in the High Court of that decision. They were also seeking an interim order to stop Keen-Minshull from entering the country until the judicial review could take place. However, on Friday a judge ruled that the visit could go ahead.

We want Stuff readers to discuss whether they feel able to express themselves freely in today’s world, or if they think greater measures are needed to prevent hate speech.

What’s your view on freedom of expression? Share your thoughts below in the comments.

The history

Keen-Minshull presents herself as an advocate for women’s rights. Standing for Women fosters “a community in which all women feel empowered to speak. We achieve this through our free speech events”, the website says.
Her activism in the UK has seen her become a key figure in the movement against the UK’s Gender Recognition Act. But it’s also led to her widely being considered as anti-transgender due to her stance and controversial opinions shared on the topic. For example, she opposes many of the laws and policies implemented to support transgender people, such as around bathroom use and gender identification.
Previously, she’s caused controversy over posting tweets that appeared to contain anti-Muslim sentiment, and for appearing on far-right media networks alongside far-right hosts who have promoted conspiracy theories. But her latest controversy comes from just over the ditch where Keen-Minshull marched alongside neo-Nazis who were seen performing Nazi salutes.
At the Australian event, opposition protesters chanted “Posie Parker you can’t hide, you’ve got Nazis on your side.” The Nazi salutes caused an uproar in Australia (and globally) and led to legislators to move towards banning the salute entirely.
Keen-Minshull later denounced neo-nazis as “abhorrent”, but also confirmed links to CPAC Australia which helped her with the Australian speaking events. CPAC Australia is a libertarian organisation that is currently petitioning against an indigenous voice in Australia’s parliament, and aligns itself with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It is linked to the United States’ CPAC, full name Conservative Political Action Conference, which famously supports former US president Donald Trump.
Keen-Minshull herself says she is “a women’s rights campaigner with no political affiliations”.
In 2014, performers Odd Future were barred from entry to New Zealand, based on a report that at a concert they had incited a riot which saw a police officer injured.
In contrast, far right speakers Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern were allowed entry by Immigration NZ, but were ultimately undone by council organisation Auckland Live cancelling their venue for “security” reasons. On this occasion, a council spokesperson said a decision to grant Keen-Minshull a permit to use Albert Park was “a regulatory decision” but didn’t indicate that the council endorsed the event.

The arguments

INZ has confirmed Keen-Minshull is allowed into Aotearoa, as there was no reason to believe Keen-Minshull was a risk to “public order or public interest”.
But NZ LGBTQI+ groups disagree. They say her presence does pose “a significant threat to public order and a risk to public interest”.
Transgender activists say there are concerns around safety and violence and negative well-being impacts if the visit goes ahead.
Gender Minorities Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōaro, and Auckland Pride said they had filed for a judicial review in the High Court. They were also seeking an interim order to stop Keen from entering the country until the judicial review could take place. However, on Friday a judge ruled that the visit could go ahead.
Immigration Minister Michael Wood labelled her views “repugnant” and the groups she was linked to as “vile”. However, a decision on whether to suspend her visa waiver sat with INZ.
Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez-March strongly opposed Keen-Minshull being allowed into Aotearoa. 'Having someone like Posie coming here to spew violence, and attracting the kind of neo-Nazi crowd they had in Australia could actually risk the well-being of rainbow communities and Muslim communities as well.'
The National Party is for letting Keen-Minshull into the country as we have a free and liberal democracy. “Part of that is that we believe in freedom of expression even when we really don't like the views of those that are expressing themselves freely,” National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis told RNZ’s First Up. Willis added that Willis said no-one was free to incite violence, and if similar scenes happened here like Melbourne, the law should be used against them.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said Keen-Minshull’s bigotry was dangerous and disingenuous. “As a country we need to keep our trans community close, and support them through this time.”
On Wednesday, Keen-Minshull said “it's really inappropriate for elected politicians or officials to make such spurious insinuations about a woman who campaigns to keep men out of women's spaces.” She said it was essential that women were granted space in which to exercise their right to free speech.
Queer activist groups are now planning 'positive' protests near the events.