Co-governance supporters out in force

Two pillars of democracy – freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful protest –got a good workout on Matariki day, when Julian Batchelor’s controversial “Stop CoGovernance” roadshow hit Tākaka.

For the most part, there was peaceful stand-off between the roadshow crew and protestors, but there were isolated flash points that required intervention by the police officers present.

The Christian evangelist’s tour, which kicked off in February in Whangārei, has attracted significant media coverage, most of it highly critical of the preacher’s central claim that co-governance “is code for the takeover of New Zealand by tribal companies and their representatives, the end of democracy, the installation of apartheid and separation into everyday life, leading eventually to full blown government by tribal rule”.

Batchelor’s creed is laid out chapter and verse in his 28-page booklet “Stop CoGovernance: what it is, why it’s wrong, and why it must be stopped”, copies of which were widely distributed to mailboxes around

Golden Bay a few days prior to the Tākaka meeting.

Many of the 50 or so tour events already held around New Zealand have seen sizeable groups of protestors rallying outside the meeting venues, and last Friday’s assembly proved no exception: protestors gathered outside the Tākaka Christian Assembly building on Motupipi Street around an hour before the meeting’s 2pm start time. When asked whether she was hosting the meeting, co-owner of the venue Dot Marshall said: “We are just providing the venue.”

Tasman District councillor Chris Hill, standing with the protestors, attended Batchelor’s earlier event in Hope, and was disturbed by what she heard there. “Within two minutes, he used terms like war, arms, grenades…,” said Chris, adding she was “asked to leave” that meeting after 20 minutes. She believes the tour leader is being disingenuous at best. “It’s a Trojan Horse to get people in and talk hate… It’s not about co-governance.”

As the start time approached in Tākaka, Batchelor’s congregation arrived in ones and...

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