“Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s diverse communities will be rallying on Saturday 23rd September from 10AM in the downtown Commercial Bay area at the bottom of Queen Street to reject the far-right anti-Māori racism of Christian fundamentalist Julian Batchelor.” says a spokesperson of Tāmaki Anti-Fascist Action.

Tāmaki Anti-Fascist Action and allied groups will be holding the counter-protest Honour Te Tiriti, Unite Against Racism, which will consist of a peaceful noise demonstration against Bachelor’s march. This will be followed by a rally with speeches criticising Julian Batchelor’s racism and calling for unity against racism and for Te Tiriti justice.

“Throughout 2023 Julian Batchelor has been holding a Stop Co-Governance Tour across Aotearoa. At each of these events, Batchelor has spread disinformation and conspiracy theories about Te Tiriti O Waitangi and co-governance, intensifying anti-Māori racism across Aotearoa in the process.”

“Prior to organising his Stop Co-Governance Tour, Batchelor had been and continues to be in a property dispute with local mana whenua at Rawhiti Road in the eastern Bay of Islands. Batchelor’s refusal to accept the local iwi designating the property and land as wāhi tapu is cited by him as a major reason why he launched the tour in the first place. Such a refusal is grounded in Batchelor’s Christian fundamentalist worldview that is anti-Māori to its core. Batchelor’s Christian fundamentalism is behind his homophobic and transphobic actions, such as him having opposed the gay Hero Parade in Auckland in 2000. Such actions demonstrate Batchelor’s very long history of bigotry against many marginalised communities.”

“The racist rhetoric and disinformation that Batchelor has spread on his Stop Co-Governance Tour has led to multiple incidents of violence at Stop Co-Governance Tour events by Batchelor’s supporters against Māori and Tangata Tiriti counter-protestors, including Batchelor supporter and Welsh white supremacist Lee Williams assaulting counter-protestors at Batchelor’s event in Tākaka.”

“The Stop Co-Governance Tour has had Neo-Nazis such as Kyle Chapman and Chris McCabe as security guards or security coordinators at his Ōtautahi Christchurch and Manawatū Palmerston North. All of this has led to Batchelor’s tour being a major contributor to the rise of the far-right and white supremacy in Aotearoa four years after the Christchurch mosque attacks.”

“Batchelor is finishing his “tour” of the motu with a set of public marches - and he’ll be visiting Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on Saturday 23rd September. He wants to get big numbers behind his divisive, racist and backwards politics right in the middle of Tāmaki Makaurau, a superdiverse city with the largest Māori population in Aotearoa.”

“We will not let Batchelor’s divisive and hateful “tour” happen in Tāmaki Makaurau without opposition. Time and time again, Tāmaki Makaurau has come together to stand against far-right provocateurs who attack the most marginalised among us. We’ve also repeatedly shown that we’re stronger together when Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti unite to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

“Please wear a mask to protect yourself from COVID-19 and from racist harassment. Please also bring earplugs and instruments to make some noise! Further details about meeting location and safety measures will come closer to the counter-protest time! All updates going forward will be posted only on TAFA social media pages, so follow them to find out the latest.”

You can find the Facebook event for the rally here: https://www.facebook.com/events/894049648999697/

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