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September 12, 2023
Green candiate Collins gets death threats
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On September 12, 2023
Download AudioGreen Party Panmure-Otahuhu candidate Fa’anānā Efeso Collins says he received death threats when he announced he was standing.
Mr Collins was also subjected to racial abuse and threats when he stood last year for the Auckland mayoralty.
He says police have identified the origin of the current threats, and are taking action.
“This is unacceptable behaviour. I look at the likes of people like Nanaia Mahuta and what she’s gone through and it’s behaviour that I cannot fathom so we’ve had to work through that. Obviously our eyes are on the kids, my kids are young and still at school so there is a bit of concern,” he says.
Mr Collins says overt racism is something people of colour in public life have to learn to navigate – but he’s proud in this campaign he is using his Samoan title, which he didn’t during the mayoral campaign because of concerns in his team that it would put off some voters.
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