August 09, 2018
Brash speaking relic of the past
The speech was free and it was coming from all directions as former National Party leader Don Brash tried to argue his case at Auckland University last night.
About 600 people packed into a lecture theatre for a debate on the motion that politically correct culture was limiting freedom of speech, with speakers facing heckling from both sides.
Dr Brash was booed when he entered, and then drowned out when he started to speak.
Student Kat Bissink says the atmosphere was electric, as people made clear their opposition to the Hobson’s Pledge founder’s positions on Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi.
"We believe universities are institutions of the future. They produce the thinkers of the future, the workers of the future, the people of the future, and the views that Don Brash holds are those of the past, they’re views of colonisation and New Zealand’s past, and that’s why we’re protesting Don Brash," he says.
Dr Brash claimed the protest proved his point about the threat to free speech, but a member of the opposing team, journalist Fran O’Sullivan, said a PC culture made society more welcoming to all groups.
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