Democracy must not be taken for granted.
Being free to challenge ideas and debate issues so that we can be informed, is critical to our democracy.
As we head towards the New Zealand First Convention 2025, I am reminded of why it is so important that our voice is woven into the political fabric of our wonderful country.
In recent weeks we have seen a coordinated attack on the employees of a company that provides marketing services, in order to prevent a campaign to build public awareness.
Hobson's Pledge, as is their right, advertised a message regarding Maori Wards in the local body elections. In response, Te Pati Maori posted details of the employees of the marketing company providing the billboards, calling on their supporters to make "direct contact".
And make contact they did - abusive and threatening contact, to the extent that the marketing company had no choice, for the protection of their staff, but to withdraw services.
Let that sink in for a moment. Any message or issue that a political minority does not agree with can be silenced through preventing the engagement of marketing services.
We know that the crowd power of veto has been deployed many times to silence others away from their right to free speech. This has involved not just protests, but threats to venue operators and employees, over important issues such as standing up for women, university debates, and international commentators coming to New Zealand.
There can be no doubt that we have two choices when it comes to protecting our democracy; we either cower from any controversial topics, or we stand tall and debate the issues.
As Winston Peters and Shane Jones have packed halls throughout New Zealand leading up to convention week, there have been many attempts to veto our message. But New Zealand First never shies away from the debate, in fact we encourage it!
There are critically important issues that we need to resolve as a country, and that means we must be informed and aware. That is what New Zealand First is committed to, and what we will demonstrate at our convention.
We must protect our democracy, our right to be heard and never shy away from the challenging issues.
New Zealand First will ignore the chants, the clanging bells and the air horns, and make sure the grown-ups remain in charge.
Our biggest risk is not the crowd who seek to silence ideas, but our own complacency.
Democracy is a precious right that New Zealand First will defend.
