ELLIOT IKILEI: We cannot let the bullies win
- Administrator
- Aug 15
- 2 min read
Our entire billboard campaign has been shut down - not by debate, not by democracy, but by intimidation.
Last week, we had our first Māori Wards billboard up for only a short time before the activist machine kicked into gear. Despite pulling that particular billboard down immediately upon hearing the pictured individual was upset, Te Pāti Māori and their allies swamped LUMO, the company hosting our billboards, with abuse. They posted the personal phone numbers of LUMO staff online, inviting their supporters to “make contact.” The result? Threats, harassment, and fear.
It didn’t stop there. Activists began contacting LUMO’s other clients, publicly posted the addresses of the company's directors, and threatened violence and damage to property, making it impossible for LUMO to continue running the campaign. Faced with this onslaught, and very real risk to their staff's safety, they pulled out entirely.
That’s not healthy debate. That’s not free speech. That's bullying.
This is the strategy Te Pāti Māori and their activists employ. They scare businesses away from dealing with anyone who dares oppose them. They cannot make the case as to why we should keep Māori Wards, so they use fear and violence to stop anyone from even discussing why they may not be needed anymore.
But no one, not political parties, not activists, not media commentators, gets to decide how you vote. That’s your decision, in the privacy of the ballot box or post box.
That is why we are calling for New Zealanders to use their vote to take a stand even if they can’t voice their true feelings. We can send a message to the Government and to those who want to tear us apart: New Zealanders don’t want to be divided on race.
The silent majority just needs to show up and vote.
We can’t rely on the media to tell our story. We can’t rely on the billboard companies to withstand the threats. That’s why we need you, our supporters, to take the campaign into your own hands, into your communities, and onto your voting papers. Every conversation is a vote of confidence in democracy itself. The bullies cannot shut down thousands of New Zealanders who decide to stand tall.
Right now, we’re putting the pieces in place for the next phase of this campaign. It can’t be shut down by a handful of threats or social media pile-ons. It’s going to take time, planning and resources, but when it’s ready, it will give every New Zealander the means to push back.
We know we can’t rely on the media to carry our message, and now we’ve seen what happens when billboard companies fold under pressure. That’s why we’re asking you, to help keep this campaign moving forward and our message out there.
If you want to send a clear message to the bullies that they won’t silence the “No” vote, the most effective thing you can do right now is help us build this next stage. Chip in now and help us fight back
We are regrouping, redesigning, and we will keep this campaign going. But make no mistake, they will throw everything at us to shut it down.
He iwi tahi tātou / We are one people,
Elliot Ikilei is spokesperson for Hobson's Pledge
“The silent majority just needs to show up and vote.”
Recall that Wayne Brown’s election to the Auckland mayoralty came as a ‘surprise’ in the media.
Chip in a bit to HP if you can, but it’s the vote that will have the most impact.
It's taking too long for our politicians to catch on that this behavior is ignored or encouraged by left wing media, that the media is the enemy of democracy and is quietly being overtaken by other means of advertising which cannot be influenced by thuggery and intimidation. When I was growing up this behavior was regarded by the police as a crime and investigated, so who owns the police now?
The time of placation and playing by the rules for civilized conservatives is well and truly at an end now.
We are up against a collective of self entitled racist bitter and hate filled thugs who refuse to engage and debate. Instead they resort to strong arming and vicious threats against those who they disagree with.
If that's good enough for them the brave amongst us will respond accordingly so. No more mr nice whitey, and no more mr nice guy patriot.
If these stone age barbarians want a fight...then they've just got one. I won't stand by anymore and put up with this attack on people who are physically threatened, their children targeted, by these braindead oafish lumpen thugs…
This crap would not be possible in a country run on policies of honesty, openness and fair trade for all.
But you know that.... don't you.
These people you condone, they believe they have been wronged.... a portion of them are now sticking it up the systems noses, not so much as to what happened yesterday, it is because of the continuation with a failing economic system not socially fitting in with many of those promises made from yesterday.
Racially promoted....? Probably. But remember they never previously had to cow tow to the dollar or to the evil way bastards within the system now control it
Mind, there is nothing wrong with the dollar or how its earned.... But there…
The 'iwi greedy' have done a lot of damage in the way they have (or haven't) used the billions. For a long time many have noticed ordinary Māori are not receiving assistance from the payouts. As more and more billions have been paid out, more and more Māori have been falling further and further behind: chronic health problems, illiteracy, substandard housing, lifetimes on benefits, obesity, addiction, etc. I don’t know how much is cause and how much is coincidence.
But – it does mean that the Te Pāti Māori seeming insistence that ‘Real Māori’ are violent, cruel, childish, has fallen on fertile ground. Add to that the well-off people who will associate themselves with anything for the benefits of being…