Oh dear Tariana
Stuff reports:
Dame Tariana Turia will support Chris Brown’s visa application.
The former leader of the Maori Party will write a letter of recommendation to go alongside Brown’s long-awaited application for a special direction visa.
The singer, booked to play Vector Arena in December, is technically barred from entering New Zealand, as he has been banned from other countries.
He will need to apply for a special direction in order to enter the country. That application is still to be received.
Dame Tariana, who has worked to reduce domestic violence for decades, believed Brown would speak on his past while in New Zealand , prompting his young fans to think seriously about domestic violence.
Or they may see that you escape consequences for domestic violence, if you are famous.
I’m with Judith Collins – NZ has enough wife beaters already, and doesn’t need any more.
Tainui representative Tukoroirangi Morgan told the NZHerald that the Maori King’s representatives would consider hosting the singer.
But representatives of the King claim told Radio NZ they do not support the invitation.
Maori King Tuheitia Paki is ill at the moment, so Morgan said the King’s son Whatumoana Paki would stand in for Brown’s royal welcome.
“If he’s able to get access into the country we would be seriously interested in hosting him,” he told the NZHerald.
Brown’s conviction of domestic violence against former partner, singer Rihanna, has been atoned for according to Morgan.
“I understand he has been through a major reformation process. He has a child. He has paid for his sins,” Morgan said.
So atoning for domestic violence is having a child?
Promoter spokesperson Jevan Goulter said he had seriously researched Brown and believed him to be truly remorseful.
“We can buy his music online, we can watch him on TV, we can hear him on the radio – why can’t we go down to Vector Arena and watch him perform?”
Because one of them requires him to enter New Zealand, and violent criminals are not allowed to without permission.
To recap Brown:
- Assaulted Rihanna in 2009 with a barrage of punches to her face, bit her ear and strangled her
- Became violent again in 2011 throwing an object at a window because he got asked in an interview about the assault
- Involved in a brawl in 2012
- Used drugs while on community service, breaking its terms
- Ignore the restraining order not to go to the same functions as Rhianna
- Got a neck tattoo that looks like the face of a battered woman
- Punched someone in 2013 over a parking space, and threatened to shoot him
- Arrested in 2013 for felony assault, sentenced to rehab, violated rules there and then prison
So Brown is not someone who made a mistake once. He has a history of violence, and a history of not complying with punishments for those assaults. I see no remorse or learning, and he should not be allowed in.