The Victoria University of Wellington Students Association (VUWSA) recently issued a defamatory press statement to the effect that they were ‘uninviting’ me from their mayoral debate, due to my ‘racist and transphobic views’, while also being concerned about the danger of students being infected with Covid scepticism (or any scepticism, one suspects).
‘The views that Barbara McKenzie brings encroach upon the safety of all of our students and staff here on campus. Her spread of misinformation, disinformation and mal-information around COVID-19 and vaccinations, as well as her racist and transphobic comments, are dangerous and harmful.’
No evidence was provided of ‘racist and transphobic comments’, and VUWSA has not replied to my inquiry for details, but it is apparent that such charges are based solely on my political views, not on any offensive wording.
Clearly the statement from VUWSA, and subsequent attention from the media, will make me the target of hate from ideologues, the disaffected and the bored; in short the world has become a more dangerous place. The issue is therefore relevant to the mayoral campaign. In the interest of transparency:
I confess to the following
I confess to a reluctance to speak on any issue without studying it carefully.
I confess that I adamantly oppose NZ’s abusive school programme, which bullies small children into feeling insecure about their gender (‘Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that your gender has changed‘), seeks to create racial hatred through critical race theory, and lies about the demographic status of polar bears.
I confess that I oppose allowing men who’ve declared that they’re women to ruin women’s sport.
I confess to being disgusted by the spiteful shaming by Wellington City Council of a pro-women’s group, by lighting up in rainbow colours the venue where they were holding a public meeting.
I confess that I oppose WCC’s undemocratic policy of progressing towards co-governance without input from voters.
As someone with knowledge of many languages and who has travelled widely, I confess to being totally mystified by the policy, unique to New Zealand, of promoting the Maori language by consciously and artificially hybridising English.
On 29 March 2020 Ashleigh Bloomfield told a press conference that ‘As we have seen around the world, Covid-19 CAN be a deadly disease – particularly for older people, and those with underlying pre-existing health issues’, a description echoed by Jacinda Ardern and others. I confess to scepticism that such a disease justifies measures that impact severely and in multiple ways on the economy, jobs and businesses, the health system, human rights and children’s welfare, or justifies the ostracism of vaccine refusers.
In 2010 Glaxo Smith Kline pulled its Swine Flu Vaccine after a few month because of the injuries. I confess to agreeing with GSK, many health professionals, and the facts of science, that vaccines are not always safe, effective and justified, and thus are open to scrutiny. I maintain that denial of this fact is anti-intellectual cultism.
I confess to being gobsmacked by the wacky conspiracy theory, developed by Stuff and promoted by other media, that the bunch of women who ruled the Freedom Village at Parliament with a rod of iron and kept it immaculate, are somehow involved in plotting violent revolution.
I confess to opposing NZ and Wellington’s Zero Carbon by 2050 policy, given that: costs for NZ are estimated to exceed $550 billion, and assume huge sacrifices in terms of our economy, environment and quality of life; it will achieve nothing in view of the coal-fired power stations being built in Asia and elsewhere, and global activity generally; and Rod Carr has admitted that the Climate Commission has no convincing evidence that CO2 causes dangerous global warming other than a touching faith in the (debunked) ‘consensus of climate scientists’.
I confess to believing that WCC’s Significant Natural Area policy of expanding the city’s reserves at the expense of private land (regardless of significance) signifies an intention to expand the city’s reserves at the expense of private land.
I confess to be deeply concerned at the division and hatred created by pandering to the demands of the extremist elements of minority groups. While minorities may benefit from measures that favour them, overall it makes the world a less safe place for them. Virtue-signalers love the division; I hate it.
I confess to a suspicion that what VUWSA and other players find dangerous is dissent backed by facts and rational argument.
It will be up to courts, and the voters, to decide whether any of these sins amount to racism or transphobia.
See also:
VUWSA’s statement was smartly picked up Wellington Scoop, where it has attracted much comment. VUWSA excludes mayoral candidate from election debate