Part of a pamphlet from campaign group Better Wellington, which contains claims about wasteful council spending. Photo: RNZ / Supplied
- Claims Wellington Council wants mosques to broadcast the Islamic Call To Prayer are being labelled "malicious misinformation"
- Wellington posties refused to deliver 80,000 pamphlets containing the claim
- A Wellington business owner says the flyer "regurgitates" what has been widely reported in the media
- ACT leader David Seymour says it is not up to postal staff to censor deliveries
- But Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says she is proud of posties for taking a stand
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) says a pamphlet by campaign group Better Wellington is "malicious misinformation".
But a supporter of the group says they are only saying what has been reported about Wellington City Council in the media.
Eighty thousand copies of a flyer by Better Wellington were to be delivered to Wellington homes this week.
It made claims of wasteful council spending, city-wide speed limits, and asserted that "the council wants the city's six mosques to broadcast the Islamic Call to Prayer across the city".
Abdur Razzaq Photo: Supplied
FIANZ's Abdur Razzaq said Better Wellington's statement was so far from the truth when he first heard about it he thought he was being pranked.
"I had to pinch myself - I thought it was a joke - but when I read it, it's not just misinformation, it's malicious misinformation," Razzaq said
He said the local Islamic Association had approached the council over the possibility of broadcasting the adhān, or call to prayer, on 15 March in remembrance of the 51 people who were murdered in the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.
There was no desire to do it more often than this.
He said Better Wellington's statement reinforced anti-Islamist sentiment and risked provoking others into action.
"This is not free speech. Coming out and telling this kind of lie and trying to incite hatred against a community. It's wrong, plain and simple. They should actually apologise," Razzaq said.
But a supporter of the group, Back Bencher bar owner Alistair Boyce said the pamphlet was only stating what had already been reported in the press and he rejected the notion that presenting the statement in an abbreviated format risked dog whistling anti-Islamic sentiment.
"From our end that's how it was reported in the press, we're just regurgitating what's already out there," Boyce said.
He said the message of the group was being undermined by "left wing" councillors to distract from the other issues.
Alistair Boyce (left). Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman
"It's directed towards the council who are investigating doing that. It could be an Anglican faith having hallelujah doing the same thing. We're a secular organisation and a secular country. We take no position in regard to Islam or any religion or faith. All we are doing is pointing out things that the council are doing. It's pointing out facts and people can make up their own minds as to whether that's a good use of ratepayer money," he said.
On Tuesday morning national co-president of the Postal Workers Union, John Maynard told RNZ posties had refused to deliver the pamphlet.
"We considered that New Zealand Post has an obligation under the State Owned Enterprises Act to exhibit a sense of social responsibility in regard to the interests of the community and we think they're doing exactly the opposite in wanting this leaflet to be distributed," Maynard said.
"They wanted it out today and posties in Wellington have said they're not distributing this."
Maynard said leaflets did not go into boxes with no circular delivery notices unless they were from a government authority and yet posties were being asked to deliver the flyer into every box on their round.
At Parliament, ACT Party leader David Seymour said he did not think it was the role of the Postal Union to decide what items they wanted to deliver or not.
"People have a right to express themselves and the post office and its employees should be working to uphold that right. It is absolutely not the right of any union to tell the public what they can and can't hear," Seymour said.
But Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau told RNZ she was proud of the Postal Union members who refused to deliver the pamphlets.
"It's pretty disappointing and gross to purposefully put out incorrect information to basically inflame harmful ideals. People are hurting and may feel vulnerable and they're more susceptible for this misinformation and I'm concerned about that," Whanau said.
Wellingtonians should be prepared for more statements misrepresenting the council in the lead-up to local body elections, she said.
She said she would be seeking advice from the disinformation project about how best to deal with the growing problem.
