Articles from ‘Free Speech Union (New Zealand)’ in ‘Opinion’

The Free Speech Union says renewed calls for hate speech laws represent a return to a debate New Zealand has already had and one where the evidence, experience, and the public ultimately rejected censorship as the answer. “Chief Executive Jillaine Heather says there is no denying that words can be cruel, hateful or simply offensive. People can be insulted, humiliated, intimidated, and hurt by what others say. · “But acknowledging that reality…

The Free Speech Union has criticised the decision by New Zealand Police and the Firearms Safety Authority to revoke Brian Tamaki's firearms licence following recent public comments. While reiterating its opposition to those comments, the organisation argues that if criminal laws have been broken, the matter should be determined by the courts rather than through administrative action. The Free Speech Union condemns the actions of the NZ Police…

A peer-reviewed paper by a Māori clinical psychologist has been removed from her profession's journal on the grounds that keeping it accessible could harm Māori. It was not retracted for error, fraud or misconduct, which are ordinarily the only reasons for such an action. The Free Speech Union is calling on the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists to explain the decision. · The paper was submitted in 2024, peer reviewed, and published…

The Free Speech Union has welcomed ACT's commitment to stop professional regulators policing the lawful opinions of the people they license, and is calling on every party in Parliament to support the same principle - pointing to new polling that shows strong, cross-party public backing. Professional regulators were set up to ensure consumer protection and competence. Guarding against bad medical practice, dodgy legal advice, dishonesty, and…

This morning the Children's Commissioner and a cross-sector coalition called on the Government to build an independent online-safety regulator. They are too late to ask. The Government is already building one, and it has not waited for a law. Budget 2026 allocated $30.7 million to the Department of Internal Affairs over four years to "develop policy and possible regulatory options to improve children's online safety, subject to future policy…

The Free Speech Union is writing to the Chair of the University of Otago Council this week, asking what steps the Council will take after a recent community email from Vice-Chancellor Hon Grant Robertson took an institutional position on a contested political issue. In an email to the Otago community, the Vice-Chancellor described the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill as "unnecessary and disturbing" at a personal level.…

The Free Speech Union is calling on Parliament to narrow the Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill, warning it hands police open-ended discretion to move people on, and prosecute them, for peaceful conduct in a public place. The Bill lets an officer order anyone aged 14 or over to leave a public place for 24 hours on grounds as vague as “disorderly” or “disruptive” behaviour, or for begging. Whatever you think about begging, the Free…

The Free Speech Union is calling on the Queenstown Lakes District Council to reverse its decision to blacklist Crux Media editor Peter Newport from council media access, warning that the move sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom in New Zealand. Mr Newport has spent a year investigating the sewage discharged from Queenstown's wastewater plant into the Shotover River. Three days before RNZ confirmed E. coli levels almost four times the…

You may have seen the Herald piece this week reporting that the Legal Complaints Review Officer has quashed the disciplinary finding against me and my firm. · !Herald headline · Source: Free Speech Union · I'm not writing to celebrate. · I'm writing because what happened to me is what is now happening, regularly and quietly, to people across New Zealand who don't have the resources to fight back. · A lawyer's letter, fifty years of practice,…

On Sunday's Q+A, Education Minister Erica Stanford confirmed what the Free Speech Union has been warning about for months: universal age verification is coming to New Zealand. That is the only detail the public has been given The Department of Internal Affairs is already recruiting a Programme Implementation Director. Procurement is underway. A July 2027 implementation date has been pencilled in. None of this has been before Parliament. None of…