Thu, 10 Jun 2004

The closures of New Zealand’s manufacturing and clothing industry that the National Front have ‘discovered’ recently has been fought long and hard by activists and trade unionists genuinely interested in workers rights; since Labour in 1984 embarked on the political free trade disaster ride that has cost many New Zealand workers their jobs.

Many people are concerned that the National Front is exploiting the impending job losses in Palmerston North, to further their racist agenda.

The National Front chose the Chinese Embassy because they clearly wanted a target that was Asian. Helen Clark recently signed documents for the free trade agreement with China, and her house was 500 metres down the road. They chose not to demonstrate against the individual who signed the documents for New Zealand. Placing the blame where it is due is not part of their agenda.

There were 40 Wellington activists and members of the public who participated in the demonstration over the two and half hours we were there. Several of the people who directly engaged the skinheads were passersby who took exception to the neo-Nazi regalia and sexist, homophobic, and racist rhetoric spouted by their members.

Many attempts were made by Wellington activists to debate individual members of the National Front demonstration, the response always boiled down to vicious abuse and slogans.

Some people decided to wear masks because of previous attacks on young people in Christchurch, similar to the unprovoked violent assault of a young Wellington man last Saturday by two men wearing National Front t-shirts

ENDS

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