Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
16 AUGUST 2016
Speaking Out, Thanks to the Freedom NZ Has to Offer
Chinese New Zealanders slamming a countryman for giving his opinion on immigration are sadly ignoring the fact that this
country allows freedom of speech, says New Zealand First.
“They condemn the writer for his thoughts and tell him to go home, but he has a right to express his opinion just as
everyone does,” says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“While lambasting the writer, who believes Auckland has become overwhelmed with Chinese, they also claim the article was
written by New Zealand First.
“We can categorically inform the NZ China Council’s Arthur Loo, who said it comes out of a ‘black ops department of NZ
First’, that no such department exists. His suggestion that it ‘came from the publicity department of NZ First’ is also
incorrect. We received an email from the writer and later the article, which he sent to the NZ Herald.
“David Soh, Mandarin Pages editor, doubts the writer is Chinese or a migrant. From our knowledge he is Chinese, and we
take him on his word that he has worked in Auckland as a real estate agent.
“It’s disappointing that New Zealand Chinese are so riled because someone dares question the level of Chinese
immigration and the quality. They would be wise to use a clear head, consider his views and reflect if things could be
done better.
“It is dreadfully unfair in an open and free society like New Zealand that the writer is labelled a ‘coward’. On the
contrary, society should value a person who is brave enough to go public with sentiments and attitudes that too
frequently are hidden for fear that anyone who speaks out will be ostracised.”
ENDS