Mark Ron: Counter-Terrorism Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Mark Ron: Counter-Terrorism Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:612;Page:9356] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 In the interests of ensuring that history is not rewritten according to people’s foggy memory of what happened in 1981 let me remind Mr Locke and make it clear to the Chair what actually happened. But firstly I want to thank the Minister of Transport for standing up and taking a call; it is unusual under this Government to have a Minister take a call during the Committee stage and I really do appreciate it. Let me remind people that if this bill would catch people who protested against the Springbok tour by wearing helmets carrying shields and wielding batons then that is good—it would do what it needs to do. If this bill would catch a person who threatens to fly an aircraft into a packed grandstand full of people then that is good. That is what this bill is intended to do—to curb threats of terrorism and to curb acts of terrorism. If this bill would stop people from peacefully protesting outside rugby grounds holding their placards chanting their chants and calling for the rugby match to be cancelled then I would not be happy because that is people’s right—to protest demonstrate peacefully and exercise their democratic will. 
We discussed those very problems at length during the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee meetings. I do not share the Green Party’s view that this legislation would curb peaceful protest or peaceful demonstration. But if this bill stops people from hiring the Mongrel Mob to spearhead the front-end of their protest march which sought to knock down fences invade pitches knock people over cancel a game and cause massive economic loss job loss and loss of a day’s pay to ordinary citizens then I am not fazed by that because I do not see any of those actions as being their democratic right. People have a democratic right fought and paid for with the blood of our forebears in places marked on the wall of this Chamber but it is not a right to inflict their will upon people by force of arms. That is what I saw during the Springbok tour. We are all too glib at saying: “Oh these champions these heroes went out there and peacefully demonstrated.” What a load of rubbish! Pull out the videos! 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: I did and I was proud to be on the Springbok march. 
RON MARK 
: Yes there were people who did. That honourable member might have been one of those people who demonstrated peacefully but there were people in the front ranks—it can be seen on the replay videos on the old films if members want to pull them out of the archives and look at them—who were gang members. They might well have been exercising a democratic right but some of us believe that they were there for the punch-up the destruction the mayhem and to inflict anarchy upon normal New Zealanders. Some people in this Committee might find some sort of credit or pride in being associated with people like that; well I do not. If this bill deals with people who will not protest peacefully then that is not necessarily a bad thing. If it deals with people who threaten to fly an aircraft into a packed grandstand so that a game would be called off then that is a good thing. But I remain absolutely assured from the explanations that the select committee had—from the long and lengthy discussion and from the amendments that were made—that it does not seek to curb one’s right to protest and peacefully demonstrate against laws Acts or regulations that the Government may inflict upon us.