John Minto at the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Protesting could be banned from some parts of Christchurch, if one city councillor gets his way.
The council will vote on Wednesday on a request staff investigate councillor Aaron Keown’s proposal to create protest-free zones at what he calls “sensitive sites”, including the Bridge of Remembrance, the Earthquake Memorial and places of worship and cemeteries
One of the city’s best-known protesters John Minto is alarmed, along with Amnesty International, which said the right to protest was fundamental.
Keown said the proposed notice of motion stemmed from complaints he had received about protests at the Bridge of Remembrance, singling out Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) chair John Minto.
The group has held more than 125 marches departing from the bridge, since the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began in 2023.
“As a city leader, it’s embarrassing having these people at the Bridge of Remembrance, which is a war memorial site, arguing over wars all around the world that don’t necessarily affect New Zealand, and a lot of the ones in the Middle East don’t necessarily affect New Zealand,” Keown said.
The heritage-listed bridge over the Avon River was built in 1923 to commemorate Canterbury soldiers who fought in World War I.
PSNA chair John Minto said the site was eminently appropriate to host the protests, given it included the commemoration of New Zealanders who fought and died to liberate Palestine from the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
“There are 23 New Zealand soldiers who are buried in the Gaza War Cemetery, they died fighting to liberate Palestine from the Turks. This is the most appropriate place for us to hold protests calling for the liberation of Palestine today.”
Minto said despite his long history in activism, he had never seen anything like the consistency and longevity of the pro-Palestinian movement.
“I’ve never experienced a protest movement like this where people have been consistently coming out week after week right around the country. I’m proud of New Zealanders for doing that. We’ve done it in the past and we’ll continue to do it.”
The Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Keown said he supported free speech, but not anytime or anywhere.
“I think there’s a time and place for protests, and I don’t think it’s down there [at the Bridge of Remembrance].
“A number of businesses have talked about the disruption from the great unwashed, turning up week after week to… they just change the flag usually, and it’s another protest.
“The climate change people, the Palestine people, they’re all the same usually.”
The bylaw would also apply to other protests, such as the School Strike for Climate Change or last year’s hikoi, he said
Keown said he was not aware of specific protests in cemeteries, but planned to include them.
Minto said he had attended a cemetery protest before.
“It was a protest at the Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland where somebody had spray painted swastikas over the Jewish graves. So I was there along with a whole pile of other people to show solidarity with the Jewish community of New Zealand against an anti-Semitic attack. So protests can can happen anywhere and it’s appropriate for them to happen wherever – there should be no restrictions.”
Mandating approved protest zones was contrary to New Zealander’s sense of democracy, Minto said.
Keown said he had not kept track of how many complaints he had received.
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said it had received 12 complaints relating to protest activity at the Bridge of Remembrance over the past year, which included concerns about Destiny Church activity during the Pride Parade.
It had also received one complaint about a protest in New Brighton, another was received by noise control about a protest at the Commodore Airport Hotel, and four others about protests with no specific location.
No complaints were identified relating specifically to cemeteries, places of worship, or the Earthquake Memorial, the spokesperson said.
In the report accompanying the notice of motion, council staff warned “protest-free sites” could be considered an unlawful restriction on peoples’ rights, and said it would advise whether the concept could be in contravention of the Bill of Rights.
Amnesty International director of advocacy and movement building Lisa Woods said the right to protest was fundamental, and was a right that could help protect other rights.
“It’s a really important part of our society that’s used to expose injustice, demand accountability, push for change.
“Between elections there are quite limited opportunities for a meaningful say, protest is a key way we communicate to decision-makers and others in the community about what’s important and needed.”
The default position for decision makers should be to avoid restrictions and focus on facilitating protest, she said.
Limitations could be imposed, but they needed to be very specific, justified and limited – people not liking the look of a protest, or a protest disrupting business was not sufficient, Woods said.
“Protest is by its nature disruptive – that’s the point. It might cause some disruption to society’s daily functioning but only serious disruption can justify restrictions. Because it’s not a good look would not meet the test to enable a justified restriction.”
New Zealand had a proud tradition of protest, Woods said.
“We stand on the shoulders of people who have, through protest, fought for important human rights and change that we all enjoy today.
“And that continues – we want to, as a society, continue getting better, and protest is a fundamental way of that being achieved, and of achieving change in the future.”
“In our political system, there aren’t always opportunities for meaningful engagement on a regular basis in-between elections, but protest is one of the key spaces where community claims its power and tells decision makers what is important.”
Keown said police told him months ago that they needed powers like the proposed move-on orders, which he believed would help disperse protesters.
Councillor Keown welcomed the newly announced move-on powers, which he believed would “absolutely help” disperse protesters, something Woods said was of grave concern to Amnesty International.
Woods said the move-on orders were “chilling policy”.
“We are worried that it’s going to impact people protesting and how in practice such a law could be used to limit people’s rights across a range of scenarios.”
Minto said civil liberties and protest groups were concerned about misuse of the proposed powers.
“We’ll be watching very carefully how this legislation develops because there are numerous examples of legislation that’s been passed for one particular purpose but then used for another, and we’ve seen that used against the protest movement, for example trespass orders, used against the protesters quite inappropriately by the police.
“Any restriction on the right to protest peacefully in a public place, we have to resist absolutely.”
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