More than 40,000 other New Zealanders signed ACT’s petition against hate speech laws, and now I can confirm some fantastic news.
The Minister of Justice has now instructed the Law Commission to halt its work on hate speech laws.
After the backlash against the previous government’s hate speech proposals, Labour gave the Commission the task of drafting up new rules. A paywalled report in The Post confirms that process has now been stopped.
ACT believes the first role of the state is to protect people from tangible attacks on their person or property. The planned hate speech laws sought to go far further by protecting people from unpleasant opinions.
The best response to those sharing hateful opinions is condemnation and counter-argument – not to create new government powers that could be turned against peaceful citizens.
As in many areas, the Government is not going as far as ACT would like, but it is going further than it would without ACT. We will continue to advocate for stronger action to defend freedom of expression, such as abolishing the anti-speech Human Rights Commission [let’s hope that happens —Eds]
We’re proud to have played a principled role in defending freedom of expression in New Zealand, and I’d like to thank you for your support so far.
Regards,
 |  Todd Stephenson ACT List MP and Justice spokesman |
Jacinda’s suggestion that questioning climate change was hate speech should have been the biggest red flag ever.