Buzz from the Beehive
Yet again, the statement we were looking for could not be found on the Beehive website. Nor was it on the Scoop or Green Party websites.
But – come to think of it – we are probably wasting our time by searching.
Our quest is for the public apology from Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson – who is paid a ministerial salary to work for us as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence – after she demonstrated a feeble grasp of crime statistics and a lamentable lack of a sense of propriety when she said, “it is white cis men who cause violence in the world”.
Davidson has apologised to the PM for this inflammatory fabrication, but not to the white cis men she maligned, the victims of violence, or the public generally.
This tells us a great deal about her moral compass.
What we did find on the Beehive website was –
Amendments to mass arrivals legislation
The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended.
Progress on public service pay adjustment
The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today.
News about Marama Davidson’s apology to the PM has been reported (among others) by the NZ Herald.
Davidson made the offending comment while being videoed shortly after she had been hit by a motorcycle as she was leaving an Auckland counter-protest to British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (aka Posie Parker) on Saturday.
Davidson said she and fellow Green MP Jan Logie were there to “reject the violence and hate of transphobia”.
But not – it turns out – to reject or condemn the violence and hate of the people who assaulted Keen-Minshull and bullied the women who had hoped to hear what she had to say.
Bizarrely, bearing in mind the ugly events that have been headlined around the world, Davidson said:
“We are here to raise love for our trans people and community above hate and I am so proud of the mobilising of people from across so many communities to stand in strong solidarity because trans people are terrific.
“Trans people are a taonga… and trans people are tired of being oppressed and discriminated.
“I am a prevention violence minister, and I know what causes violence in this world and it’s white cis men.”
There is no mistaking what those racist and sexist words mean.
Davidson presumably was feeling the political heat that inevitably was generated by them when she ”clarified” her comments – but she made no public apology.
The Herald’s account of how the PM regarded her remark says:
However, Hipkins – who had said it was a “regrettable situation” – told reporters he had had a conversation with Davidson this morning, during which the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence regretted how the situation had unfolded.
“She’s apologised for the comments she’s made, she’d already issued a correcting statement on that yesterday,” Hipkins said.
“As I indicated, given the circumstances, I think people make mistakes in those circumstances.”
Hipkins said Davidson “clearly regrets” the language she used and he didn’t feel it necessary to request her resignation.
“I’m not going to ask for a resignation every time someone makes a mistake or says something that turns out to be incorrect or was made in the heat of the moment.
“I think Marama has owned the mistake and I think that’s appropriate.”
Hipkins described Davidson’s incident involving the motorcycle as a “horrific experience” that she was still recovering from.
“I think she’s holding up okay, I think the physical pain as a result of the bruising has started, which she indicated she didn’t feel initially because I guess when the adrenaline’s pumping, you don’t necessarily feel that.
“I hope that if she needs to, she takes a bit of time to recuperate.”
Earlier in the day, Hipkins agreed the “physical confrontation” that took place at the chaotic Posie Parker rally at the weekend was “repellent”.
In its report of what he said, Newshub preferred to label Parker pejoratively in the language used by her critics rather than “women’s right activist”, which is how she describes herself. It said:
Anti-transgender activist Parker, whose real name is Kelly-Jay Keen-Minshul, was sent packing from an Auckland park at the weekend after a large counter-protest that resulted in scuffles. One counter-protesters also threw red liquid over Parker, who was subsequently escorted out of Albert Park by security guards and the police.
Author JK Rowling is among those to come swinging against the counter-protest in defence of Parker, saying they were “repellent scenes… in which a mob assaulted women speaking up for their rights”.
Asked by AM host Melissa Chan-Green what he made of those comments, Hipkins agreed to an extent.
“I want us to live in a country where we can have disagreements with each other peacefully – one of the components of that is we should be able to protest against views and even people that we disagree with,” he said, but, “I think people getting into [a] physical confrontation – whether that’s throwing things or other forms of violence in a protest – is repellent regardless of which side of the debate you sit on.”
Before politics, Davidson’s career included a decade at the Human Rights Commission.
It turns out she champions some people’s rights – depending on their ideology.
While she is paid to prevent family violence in her ministerial portfolio, she shows an egregious lack of concern when soup, juice or whatever is poured over a woman who expresses opinions contrary to her own.
Rachel Smalley, on Today FM, neatly sums things up in a column today which follows her attempt to interview one of the Green Party leaders yesterday morning.
Both declined.
James Shaw and Marama Davidson said no. They’ve been vocal for days on their own social channels, but they won’t be challenged or face questions from media who don’t agree with them.
Remember this date – Saturday, 25th of March. It’s the day the Greens stepped up and publicly applauded the intimidation and silencing of women.
Point of Order 
Davidson’s moral compass is stuck firmly somewhere up her backside. Hipkins showed he is a coward by refusing to sack her from HIS government. He will rue the day.
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