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| Racist National MP Hamish Walker |
So it’s no surprise that Muller, after initially appointing an all white shadow cabinet that was clearly not chosen on merit alone, failed to discipline National Party MP Hamish Walker for a blatantly racist press release he made last Thursday.
On Thursday, Stuff reported:
National MP Hamish Walker defends remarks dubbed 'racist' by Labour
First-term National MP Hamish Walker has been called racist for a press release claiming that up to 11,000 people from “India, Pakistan and Korea” could be heading to Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown for quarantine.
Walker did not single out arrivals from other countries.
Housing Minister Megan Woods called the press release racist.
“I think it’s disgraceful and reprehensible. It’s scaremongering and frankly it’s racist,” Woods said.
“I don’t think stirring up this kind of sentiment has any place in modern New Zealand.”
I couldn’t agree more.
But Walker defended the remarks, saying they weren't racist – and that his claims could be substantiated.
“Calling me a racist is Labour’s default tactic when they are unable to defend their blatant failures. It’s not about race,” Walker said.
“This is about the live cases in NZ and what countries they come from.”
Except Walker’s claims cannot be substantiated. The fact remains that there are more Kiwis returning from predominantly European nations with higher rates of COVID-19 than those mentioned in Walker’s racist statement. For him to single out and fear-monger over only Asian countries is a clear sign of racism!
Here’s the National Party’s racist propaganda:
It looks like Hamish Walker, as well as being a blatant racist, also has a bad case of NIMBYism just like his fellow National Party MP Todd McClay. There is in fact no evidence that Dunedin, Invercargill or Queenstown are unable to isolate returning Kiwis effectively or that proper PPE isn't available in any of these centres.
So you've really got to wonder what National’s tactic is here?
As well as being strategies to keep the National Party in the news, it’s pretty obvious that the MAGA hat on display in Muller’s office and the upside down Tino Rangatiratanga flag, while being subtle enough devices to not offend the majority of National’s party faithful, were both designed as signals to right wing racists that the National Party deserves their support.
However the overtly racist press release by Hamish Walker cannot be as easily explained away. The problem Muller now has is trying to convince the general voting public that the National Party isn’t explicitly racist…and the only way to effectively do that is to dismiss Hamish Walker.
But instead of doing the right thing, Muller has weakly slapped the racist with a wet bus ticket.
Yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:
National leader Todd Muller disappointed in Hamish Walker's 'racist' statement
Muller today said he'd spoken to Walker about the statement.
"I've expressed my disappointment and I certainly don't condone what he said."
Muller refused to answer questions about whether he thought the statement was racist and what his concerns were.
Walker defended his statement last night after Cabinet Minister Megan Woods called it racist.
It’s pretty obvious that Walker isn’t being held to account for his racism because Muller shares similar beliefs. His claim of disappointment in Walker is only because the racism wasn’t subtle enough, and the discriminatory aspect of the press release cannot as easily be explained away.
Walker’s racism and Muller’s inaction looks even worse now that the Prime Minister has removed candidate Kurt Taogaga from Labour’s list for his anti-Islamic tweets. So while Jacinda Ardern has shown strong leadership and ensured support from all non-racist Kiwis, Muller has lost the support of ethnic minorities with his acceptance of Walker’s statement, racist views that he remains entirely unapologetic for.
Only one of these strategies will be a winner in New Zealand, which has one of the most diverse and culturally aware societies in the entire world. For Muller to risk the election by accepting such low standards from his fellow caucus members clearly shows that the National Party's racism isn’t just skin deep...in fact it goes right to the very top of what is principally a political party run for and by racists!
