Kate Hawkesby: Posie Parker should never have been given all this attention in the first place

What I can't understand about the trans activist coming into the country is how she's been given so much coverage and publicity. She's clearly a hateful woman just touring around spreading vitriol, I have no idea what the point of her is, or why she’s doing it, and I had never heard of her prior to this week - I doubt many of us had.  But the outraged made sure we did hear of her, and in doing so, helped publicize her brand and her message. I think we can all agree it’s just an attention-seeking tour on her part. And I think Chris Hipkins fell right into her trap when he said he’d get Immigration to look at not letting her in – that’s just the sort of headline she was looking for clearly.. and it certainly helped publicize her cause even more, and galvanise her base. So that was naïve bad form on his part. But she seems to have garnered way more publicity than is necessary.  The screaming and yelling about not letting her in has only promoted her presence and her message more. I’m not sure why the media and politicians didn’t just ignore her and give her zero air time. Critics have raised the hypocrisy of the government here, a government hell-bent on attending Rainbow and Pride parades, hell-bent on controlling hate speech, yet not prepared to step in to protect the trans community when the rubber hits the road.  But we are a democracy that upholds and values free speech. How do we suddenly start making up our own rules around who can and can’t come into the country – if they haven’t actually committed any crime.  I mean the threshold for immigration and why she’s coming in is apparently because she meets the criteria set out in the Immigration Act. Apparently their assessment ‘took into account the events in Melbourne.. and decided it does not meet the threshold for ministerial intervention.’   Could Michael Wood have intervened though if he still wanted to? They reviewed all the intel on her, sought advice from others, and ‘concluded that there is no reason to believe that she is, or is likely to be, a threat or risk to the public order or public interest.’  So the Immigration Minister said his hands are effectively tied. I was surprised by that to be honest, I would've thought given the white supremacist types she seems to attract, that that would've been enough of a red flag to stop her coming, but at the end of the day we have to support free speech, in a free country. We have a Bill of Rights for a reason.  So she’s doing rallies in Auckland and Wellington and to be fair to her in the interests of balance, she doesn’t actually tout herself as an anti-trans activist. The media call her that. She calls herself a supporter of women, and someone who opposes trans people using women-only spaces like bathrooms. Why you need to tour around preaching that message at rallies is beyond me.  And there will of course be counter-protests at her appearances, which will potentially outnumber her supporters. But I hope out of all of this brouhaha that those in the trans community who may be feeling scared or intimidated or worried, take encouragement from the outpouring of support and the outpouring of anger around this woman, Posie Parker.  I hope they realize that this is not an attack on them, it’s just an aggrieved person spouting hate, who should never have been given all this attention in the first place.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.