Readers of this blog who live in or near Wellington may be interested to know that the Free Speech Union, of which I’m a member, is hosting an event in the city next Thursday evening.
I’m the speaker, but please don’t let that put you off attending. I can’t recall a time when the defence of free speech – a cause that cuts across the usual dividing lines between Left and Right – was more urgent.
The event will be held in Lecture Theatre 2 at the Pipitea
campus of Victoria University (aka Rutherford House, the high-rise building immediately
adjacent to the bus shelters near the railway station). I understand the doors
will open at 5.45 for a 6pm start and it should all be over shortly after 7pm.
Admission is gratis.
18 comments:
What are the chances that the uni will shut the meeting down before it gets started?
Will we feel safe?!!!
Perhaps you'll be cancelled. If not can we read your speech on your blog later?
I have no reason to doubt the event will go ahead.
Lucky you, who get to talk freely, and listened to freely, on what I seriously think is the most important factor in our human world : freedom of speech for everybody - and freedom to hear freely all that is spoken.
For us little creatures it is practically impossible to "plan" any political action for the future. We are forced to react politically to all that happens, as and when it happens.
For us to do that with any chance of success, we need total freedom of speech - and total freedom to listen. And then free discussion!
Look forward to being there. Hope it fares better than this..
AUT - Auckland University of Technology is a key alliance partner and a true friend to the Trust & wider LGBT+ community. We commend them for leading the way on equality & respect, and calling out homophobia & transphobia when it raises its ugly head. Free Speech Union had planned a TERF event on campus but AUT have made the right decision to ban the event. AUT spokesperson & Trust board member JESSIE LEWTHWAITE said “AUT will not allow hate speech masquerading as free speech to be platformed on any of our campuses. The rights of trans people are not up for debate & whether trans women should be allowed to exist should never even be a topic for discussion. To allow this hate speech & bigotry to take place somewhere we have all worked so hard to make safe & supportive for our rainbow communities is unacceptable. AUT will not allow TERF groups or gender-critical types to use any of our resources to further their anti-trans propaganda.”
AUT we salute you – for this decision, and for your genuine long-term support of rainbow rights and human rights. The Trust is proud of your reputation & values around rainbow support, which is strong & well known within our wider community.
This is what the cancelled AUT meeting was about: "Join us for a discussion about free speech in the context of often polarising transgender-gender-critical feminism debate.
Daphna was the plaintiff in Whitmore v Palmerston North City Council, which saw the Palmerston North library forced to honour a booking for the feminist group Speak Up For Women. Speak Up For Women booked the library for a public meeting to discuss their concerns about amendments to the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act. After initially accepting the booking, the library later cancelled, saying it would only host a debate where ‘all views could be heard’. Speak up For Women applied for interim relief, which was granted, forcing the library to honour the booking. Justice Gerald Nation held that the Council’s decision to cancel the event ‘involved a serious failure to recognise the BORA rights of Speak Up For Women and its members.’
So, what lessons can we learn from this episode? Is it ever appropriate to limit free speech in public venues? "
I trust Karl et al have read the latest memo from the FSU about the cancellation of the 'open' meeting at Vic Uni. The dangerous, some might say tragic, irony is that as a Union, the FSU cannot be banned from holding a meeting under the Employment etc Act, but interested members of the public can be excluded or expelled. This could get interesting.
Some of the comments from extreme fringe element(s) are distressing to read. There are some seriously sick people out there.
hughvane - I can understand that the University has the right not to admit members of the public - but can they also bar members of the Free Speech Union from attending their own meeting??
hughvane,
The cancelled meeting you refer to was at the Auckland University of Technology. However it seems pretty clear from the social media chatter cited in yesterday's email from the FSU that there will be an attempt to prevent/disrupt Thursdays meeting.
I agree with you about the tone of the comments, which illustrate exactly what we're up against. Some of these people sound quite deranged.
@Andy Espersen, that is my point - if the Uni (be it ATU or Vic) is adhering to the law - the FSU cannot be banned from holding a union meeting. Just how many genuine FSU members might attend is the moot point.
As the meeting on 28 April is to be held in Wellington, one might reasonably expect disruptors to a) try and have the meeting cancelled, and/or b} disrupt the meeting itself by rabid means. The hate text is already underway (read ~halfway down the last FSU newsletter page).
@Karl - I fancy I may have morphed the ATU disgrace to next Thursday.
This is probably a looming problem for FSU. If nothing else, the opposition to free speech has a very active hate force behind it (shades of Mao's era in Communist China). How will FSU know that its membership consists only of those who have authentic concerns about the suppression of open forum presentation and debate of ideas?
I had in any event planned to attend next Thursday's FSU event at Vic.
Then Jonathan Ayling's message arrived in my in-box yesterday: I note the comments about Karl, which cemented my resolve to be there.
However. If what happened at AUT also happens at Vic, where does that leave people such as myself? I'm just a member of the general public, not a Vic staffer. I'm a graduate of Vic, though.
How soon will we know what's happening? I'm hoping that we'll be kept informed via e-mail.
D'Esterre,
Thanks for your support. I'm not involved in the organisation of the event, but I'm sure the FSU will keep members informed and I'll post any relevant updates on this blog. I wouldn't want people turning up and finding the event has been canned.
It has just been announced that Elon Musk has succeeded in his bid to buy Twitter. Commenting on his purchase Musk said, "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."
If Musk proceeds to make Twitter's algorithm public as he has undertaken to do, this will reveal how Twitter has silenced or diminished conservative voices on the Twitter site. The news that Musk has bought Twitter will drive the Left wing opponents of free speech even more feral.
Thursday Evening: The meeting went well and I was pleased to see a good turnout. The audience was kind to Karl du Fresne. Karl spoke well and covered a short history of recent New Zealand events that were dogged by shutdown and other barriers, including the Molyneux/Southern debacle and what fell out of it. His comments on the complicity of NZ news media, especially online, were appropriate and met with some audience agreement. The Q & A end session was supportive of Karl. Overall, his presentation was parochial, relevant and concise, though it tended to avoid the significance of online free speech issues, marginalizing the huge contribution of social media.
Over eighty citizens came to the meeting on Thursday to hear a good short round up of free speech suppression in New Zealand and defence of the right to free expression. Most people there were middle aged or elderly.The meeting suffered no disruption. None of the Free Speech Union's several online critics chose to attend and voice their concerns.
My thanks to Don and other readers of this blog - you know who you are - who took the trouble to attend.
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