Treaty protest criticised

Press, 25 June 1983, Page 8

Treaty protest criticised

PA Auckland Waitangi Day protesters who infringed the rights of others have been criticised by the Minister of Justice, Mr McLay. He told the Jaycees’ annual northern regional conference at Ellerslie racecourse that he would defend to the death a protester’s right to dissent. “But many of the Waitangi protesters made it clear that they want to go one step further and stop the Treaty celebrations altogether.” At that stage, they began to infringe on the rights of those who wanted to celebrate the Treaty. “Words are not seen as enough,” he said. “Passive

demonstration is not seen as enough. “Such people believe that, if protest had always been kept within the limits of the law, we would not have seen certain worth while political changes. “The difficulty with that, of course, is in deciding what changes are worth while. “I for one cannot overlook the fact that the Brownshirts and Blackshirts — the Fascist thugs in Germany and Italy in the 1920 s and 1930 s — were protesters, and look at the political changes they achieved. “In a free and democratic society where everyone, not just protesters, has rights, there has to be a balance.”