Govt Would Rather Debate Sport Than Human Rights

"The Government has shamefully ignored the plight of white South African farmers who will be forced off their land by their government, choosing instead to debate the Olympics", says ACT Leader David Seymour.

Seymour objected to a snap debate to congratulate Olympians after Labour and New Zealand First said they would veto Seymour’s proposed motion condemning the South African legislation to expropriate white people’s land.

The South African National Assembly has passed a motion to have the Constitution amended in order to intensify the expropriation of land without compensation. The role of a Parliament should be to uphold property rights, but the South African Government is expropriating them. They risk inciting violence and a Zimbabwe-style total collapse into total poverty, and a flood of refugees to New Zealand.

“I’m proud of our Olympians, but our Parliament needs to get its priorities straight.

"New Zealand has strong cultural ties with South Africa. The country is our fifth largest source of immigrants. 80,000 South Africans live here.

“New Zealand could potentially see a wave of refugee claims from white farmers facing persecution by the South African state.

“The fact that the Government doesn’t want to acknowledge this is bizarre.

“I don’t mind the Parliament doing the feel good stuff as long as they are also prepared to take on the hard issues”, says Mr Seymour.

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