More than ever before, race is being centred in every conversation the Labour Government has about policy and legislation. No minister seems to be able to resist the pull to racialise whatever bill or policy they are championing.

It is divisive and toxic, making it harder and harder for New Zealanders to come together, despite our differences, to discuss matters that have significant impact on our lives.

Speaking on The Hui yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins attacked those opposing the Three Waters legislation as being perpetrators of “dog whistle racism”.

You can watch the interview here. I recommend taking a few deep breaths first!

Hipkins goes on to reiterate his contempt for the vast numbers of New Zealanders who object to Three Waters, suggesting any criticism is about ignorance or bigotry, rather than poor legislation.

“When you talk to many people about [Three Waters] they don’t really understand what the water infrastructure changes that we’re proposing are, they’ve just heard the sort of dog whistle racism that’s associated with it.”

With alarming frequency this Government avoids criticism of its poor legislation and bad policy by employing the tactic of accusing their opponents of racism. Ironically, by doing this they are perpetuating race-based division of New Zealanders. 

This agenda strengthened by a deliberate distortion of our nation’s history which, despite extensive criticism from highly-respected academics, has now become part of our children’s national education curriculum. Concerns about the fantastical and revisionist content have been steadfastly ignored.

This separating of New Zealanders into categories of victims and oppressors that we see in our schools has already spread into society via our universities.

Last week, Newsroom published a book review that discussed this topic before straying into criticism of Dr Don Brash and Hobson’s Pledge.

Read the review here. Again, take a few deep breaths before you read it!

The article confirmed (quite unintentionally) many of our concerns about the distortion of New Zealand’s history and the author appeared to be suffering some cognitive dissonance when he wrote: “historical literacy and awareness is the enemy of ill-informed bigotry.”

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly (depending on how cynical you are), despite the personal criticism of Dr Don Brash in the article, he has been denied a right of reply by Newsroom editor Jonathan Milne who stated:

“It’s a book review. Book reviews are meant to be opinionated. If we start getting into tit-for-tats over views expressed in book reviews, and theatres reviews, and restaurant reviews, then I don’t think we’ll be serving anyone well.”

The article’s author totally misrepresents our purpose which is simply to defend equality of citizenship and oppose racism in all its forms.

Well, Don decided to write a response anyway and we’re sharing it with you at the end of this email. It is essential reading at a time when our Government is so determined to accuse their critics of racism in an attempt to avoid the real issues with its bad legislation and policy.

Jim, your support in pushing back against racism is vitally important. We are continuing to work on our campaign against racial attacks against New Zealanders, despite mainstream media blocking our print advertisements, to build awareness of repeated failures by ministers to treat New Zealanders equally and to condemn racism in all its forms.

We have not been defeated by the underhanded tactics of those in power and hope we can count on your continued support as we demand an equal standard of citizenship for all.

Casey Costello, Trustee, Hobson’s Pledge