by Christopher Ruthe

The newly announced Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism is going to be directly answerable to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. It will tell the government what needs to be done to prevent and counter any ideas that it labels “violent extremism” and will promote “social cohesion.”

It bears striking similarities to the infamous Spanish Inquisition of which the user-friendly name The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith covered up cruel attempts to change people’s thinking. It had to root out and punish heresy. It was responsible for safeguarding the doctrine on faith and morals. One can detect echoes with the Jacinda government’s latest agency.

Social cohesion is not defined, just as heresy was not defined in the Spanish Inquisition. However, it is clear from who has been appointed to direct this Orwellian edifice that anyone who disagrees with the Jacinda government and its policies, or who challenges any of the principles of Wokeism are going to be prime targets

Professor Joanna Kidman of Victoria University has been appointed to set the standards of what is considered “social cohesion.” Her expertise is in indigenous sociology and “decolonisation” studies. In giving her first speech upon her appointment she said, “In our own communities we’ve seen the rise of groups that carry messages of hate and destruction”. 

Who does she consider the groups that carry messages of hate and destruction are? Certainly not Black Power or other gangs. Rather she identifies people who think differently from what she considers to be the truth and does not bother with intellectually challenging so-called ‘bad thoughts” Rather she goes for the jugular in what some consider a quite aggressive way. She passed judgement on a leading historian just 2 weeks ago in a social media post as a “bigoted dickhead” [see earlier posts].

Kidman denounced the seven leading scientists who had written in a piece in the NZ Listener suggesting that while indigenous knowledge (Mātauranga Māori) is a taonga of great value, it does not fit within what is universally understood to be science and the scientific method. As a result of the letter of condemnation signed by Kidman and others, the Royal Society charged three of the scientists with disgraceful conduct. It was only because a number of the world’s leading scientists called this an outrage against science the charges were dropped.

The scientists and professors were subject to vitriolic attacks and harassment for months but Kidman clearly does not consider this was because of “messages of hate” just as she does not consider her ‘historian as bigoted dickhead‘ and being criminalised by being made to wear a home imprisonment ankle device as at all hateful.

The Free Speech Union, a think tank concerned with promoting academic freedom and free speech, has already been placed on Professor Kidman’s eradication list with her sending various messages denigrating this group. This new academic research unit will advise the Jacinda government on how to clamp down on free speech and restrict civil liberties by simply identifying those who disagree with government policy as being a destructive force in New Zealand and being an impediment to the undefined “social cohesion” .

Whatever happened to the multicultural pluralistic society NZ was once regarded as?