More than 15,000 Kiwis have submitted to the Ministry of Justice against the proposed “hate speech” laws and endorsed Free Speech Union’s submission via its submission tool website www.FreeSpeechSubmission.com.

 In addition, nearly 40,000 Kiwis signed a seperate “Save Free Speech” petition calling for the Government’s proposals to be dropped, says Jonathan Ayling, Campaign Manager for the Free Speech Union.

“There is clearly strong opposition to these changes, and the Government needs to throw them out. As far as we can tell, no other public consultation has ever had such a large response. The Free Speech Union’s supporters alone have filed more submissions than the total number received by the Climate Change Commission in its recent consultation.

“Our submission - now endorsed by more than 15,000 Kiwis, carefully outlines the dangers associated with changes of this kind, and why the proposals are not in the public good. The submission is available at http://www.fsu.nz/submission.

“Our broad coalition of individuals, minority groups, and organisations shows that free speech is not a left-right political issue. It’s a human rights issue that Kiwis want to defend. The best path for social cohesion is through an unswerving dedication to civil liberties which these "hate speech" proposals undermine.

"The New Zealand public has categorically rejected these proposals, and this overwhelming response gives no choice to the Government. The Prime Minister and Minister Faafoi must accept the public response to this consultation and maintain free speech in New Zealand by dropping these proposed changes."

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