Two political meetings held in Wānaka on Thursday evening (June 29) appealed to a similar set of concerns and attracted more attendees than a third meeting in the area with the Labour Party’s Waitaki candidate.

For some locals it was a difficult choice between Julian Batchelor’s ‘Stop Co-governance’ tour at The Venue at 7pm and Matt King’s Democracy NZ political party event at the Presbyterian Church also at 7pm. 

The ‘Stop Co-governance’ tour attracted about 40 attendees as well as 10 peaceful protestors who stood outside with a lone police officer. Interactions between attendees and protestors were respectful. 

Read more: Wānaka next stop for ‘Stop Co-Governance’ tour

Protester Kat Gwilliam told the Wānaka App she had done a “deep dive” on Batchelor’s content, and said whether or not you are for or against co-governance, what concerned her was the “sprinkling of racism”.

“So he'll say things that basically make Māori people sound like … if it wasn't for pakeha Māori would still be living in grass huts.

Locals listen to Julian Batchelor in Wānaka. PHOTO: Supplied

“There's also the talking about there's going to be a civil war. And even just by saying that, that's encouraging his followers to be concerned… He is inciting violence.”

Another protester had turned up “to support the wider community”.

“It seems to be about the fear that we're going to lose our rights as New Zealand citizens when really we stripped them away from [Māori] people a long, long … time ago,” they said. 

“And I think they deserve to be recognised and supported. And I believe [in] unity, we can all just work together for a bit of New Zealand. It doesn't have to be about us or them against and for, why can't we all just work together for a better nation?”

Democracy NZ event

Across town at the Democracy NZ event, only 13 people arrived initially to hear from party leader (and former National Party MP) Matt King and Waimate-based Waitaki candidate Roger Small.

Democracy Party leader Matt King with Waitaki candidate Roger Small. PHOTO: Wānaka App

One attendee was heard saying they had had to decide which of the events to attend; near the end four people arrived from Batchelor’s event.

Matt said it was the smallest meeting so far in the 88 he had held around the country.

He left the National Party because of the vaccine mandates introduced in 2021, and said the basis of his party was implementing a Bill of Rights to protect democracy.

“Democracy is under threat,” he said, adding he believed the population had been lied to by a corrupt government and that the media was a mouthpiece for the government.

His party also “pushes back” on climate change; Matt said while he believes in climate change, he does not believe there is a climate crisis and the government’s climate policies were “virtue signalling not backed up by science”.

“We’ve got crises in every area of government,” Matt said.

The party was rolling out policy, he said, and if it made it above the five percent threshold or won an electorate seat its “bottom lines” in negotiation with National (he ruled out going into partnership with Labour, Greens, and the Māori Party) were: Protecting the Bill of Rights; Taking “race out of everything” and replacing it with ‘need’; protecting private property rights while protecting the environment; believing in evidence over ideology; and “less government intrusion in our lives”.

Some of the language was conspiratorial, including concerns raised by audience members about “the elites” and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Matt referred to the “plandemic”, and advised people to question everything and also consider whether current events could be a distraction for other things happening elsewhere.

Democracy NZ’s manifesto includes opposing ‘indoctrination’ (for example, Matt said he opposed “gender stuff being pushed down people’s throats”), and says as a sovereign nation it won’t be controlled by overseas influence “eg the WEF [World Economic Forum], WHO, and UN [United Nations]”.

The small number of people lent an intimate air to the event and Matt ended with a series of well-received anecdotes about being a former police officer, the Freedom Movement, and his dealings with various political figures.

Matt said he had noticed a lot of “politically homeless” voters at this election, and the Wānaka App spoke to two such voters after the event - two middle-aged former National Party supporters, one of whom said it was the first political party event he had ever attended.