New Zealand: Journalists undermined and abused while pro-Palestinian and indigenous rights protesters arrested

The state of civic space in New Zealand is rated as ‘open’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Civil society groups are able to form and operate without restrictions, freedom of expression is respected and protected and there are rarely restrictions on protests. However, there have been some incidents of arrest and prosecution of protesters.

In October 2023, the conservative opposition National Party, led by Christopher Luxon, won the general election in New Zealand with 38.95% of the vote. The Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, was second with 26.90%. The rising cost of living dominated campaigning, with voters ending six years of Labour Party rule.

After more than a month of negotiations the centre-right National Party announced on 23rd November 2023 that the party had struck an alliance with the conservative ACT and populist New Zealand First parties, giving them enough seats to govern.

The coalition government has said it will review the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which upholds Māori rights, including the right to autonomy. It has announced that at least a dozen policies that provide for Māori will be repealed or reviewed. This includes rolling back initiatives designed to improve Māori health outcomes, stopping “race-based” policies, and minimising Māori language use in the public service. Opposition parties are against such changes.

In recent months, the new government has been accused of undermining press freedom while a new study showed that journalists faced a barrage of abuse in 2023. Police arrested protesters around actions related to Palestine and in support of indigenous rights. A police oversight body found cases where police used excessive force during a 2022 protest.

Expression

Deputy PM’s comments threaten press freedom

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), just after taking office in December 2023, the newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, Winston Peters, declared in an interview that he was "at war" with the media - a statement that he accompanied on several occasions with accusations of corruption among media professionals.

He also portrayed a journalism support fund set up by the previous administration as a "55 million dollar bribe". The politician also questioned the independence of the public broadcasters Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director said: "By making irresponsible comments about journalists in a context of growing mistrust of the New Zealand public towards the media, Deputy Prime Minister Peters is sending out a worrying signal about the newly-appointed government’s attitude towards the press.”

Journalists faced a barrage of abuse in 2023

High incidents of abuse and threats directed at journalists in NZ puts the country at risk of “mob censorship” – citizen vigilantism that seeks to discipline journalism. A study published in November 2023 documents newsworkers’ experiences of abuse and violence at New Zealand’s largest news organisation, Stuff.

The research revealed how widespread online and physical abuse towards journalists has become – and how this is changing the news and who is covering it. All 128 journalists and visual journalists surveyed faced abuse, threats or violence related to their job, most commonly delivered via work email on a daily or weekly basis. One respondent described her inbox as a “festering heap of toxicity”.

Women journalists bear the brunt of online abuse, primarily related to their gender or ethnicity (53%) and physical appearance (32%) compared with 20% of men. Attempts to discredit them were also reported by 45% of women as opposed to 34% of men. All threats of sexual violence captured in the survey were made towards women.

Overall, men tended to experience more “offline” threats and actual physical violence. Nearly 40% of all those experiencing physical violence were visual journalists, showing up to photograph emotionally-charged events such as accidents and protests.

When further analysed by ethnicity, the study showed that it was a small subset of Māori women who reported the very highest rates of offline threats and actual violence. These journalists represented the intersection of both gender and ethnicity – increasing their likelihood of being a target of abuse.

Peaceful Assembly

Police arrest six pro-Palestine protesters blocking entrance to port

In November 2023, dozens of pro-Palestine protesters blocked an entrance to the Port of Auckland (POAL). The protest was against the importing of Israeli goods.

About 12 police cars and vans were at the scene of the protest which leads to the port in downtown Auckland. According to the police, the group made a collective decision to block the roadway, entrance and exit to the port and allegedly refused to move. Police made six arrests, five for obstruction and one for disorderly behaviour. Pepper spray was also deployed and the police claimed a police officer was assaulted.

Protest against regressive indigenous policies proposed by new government

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in New Zealand on 5th December 2023 to express opposition to the new government’s policies towards Indigenous people.

Protesters gathered in front of the parliament and on motorways after the minor Te Pati Maori party called for nationwide demonstrations against the newly elected right-leaning government.

The protests coincided with the opening session of New Zealand’s 54th parliament, following elections in October 2023. In a breach of protocol, Te Pati Maori, which holds six seats in parliament, swore oaths of allegiance to the upcoming generation and the Treaty of Waitangi, a colonial-era founding document between the British and the Maori people, before pledging allegiance to King Charles.

The new National Party-led coalition has pledged to review positive discrimination policies, change the names of some departments from the Maori language to English and strip legislation of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Police said two people involved in the demonstrations were arrested and there had been disruption to traffic in a number of cities, including in Auckland.

Twelve arrests after protesters deface Treaty of Waitangi exhibition

Twelve people were arrested in protests on 12th December 2023 at Wellington’s national museum Te Papa after a man abseiled from the roof of the museum and defaced the Treaty of Waitangi exhibition using a power tool and spray paint. He was one of several people arrested for vandalising the Treaty exhibition inside the museum.

The protesters are part of a group called Te Waka Hourua, which has previously called for Te Papa to take down the English version of the Treaty of Waitangi which hangs across from Te Tiriti O Waitangi on level 4 of Te Papa.

A police spokesman said a 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with intentional damage, obstructing police and breach of bail. A 53-year-old woman was charged with intentional damage.

Haimana Hirini, a spokesperson for the group, said the English version “misleads visitors” by making them think it is a translation of Te Tiriti. “While Te Tiriti affirms Māori sovereignty, the English document says it was ceded,” said Hirini.

Police oversight body finds six cases where police used excessive force during 2022 Parliament protest

In December 2023, the police watchdog found there were six cases in which police officers used excessive force during the anti-vaccination mandate protest outside Parliament in February and March 2022.

It comes after the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released "The Review: Policing of the Protest and Occupation at Parliament 2022" report in April that outlined 1,905 complaints received relating to the protest.

Of those, the IPCA determined that 21 complaints required either a specific investigation or further enquiries to determine what further action should be taken.

In three of the six matters, the IPCA found the police use of force was justified, while in two cases the police watchdog ruled the use of force was excessive. These include one case where a male officer pressed down on a woman's head. Another example was of an officer spraying a fire extinguisher at protesters for over 30 seconds. In one case it couldn't make a finding.