Manning given permission to apply for a NZ visa
The Herald reports:
US whistleblower and activist Chelsea Manning has been granted permission to apply for a visa to enter New Zealand for two speaking events in September.
Immigration New Zealand has confirmed a special direction had been granted Manning, meaning she could now apply for a specific purpose work visa to enter New Zealand for the events in Auckland on September 8 and Wellington on September 9.
Manning needed a special direction as she was subject to character provisions in section 15 of the Immigration Act.
Manning is a terrible person (read this article from someone who trained with her) but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be able to speak in NZ.
I guarantee you though there will be no violent protests against her, no demands she be banned from speaking on campus – unlike Jordan Peterson whose visit I am sure will spark calls for deplatforming.
Meanwhile a Green MP of course is all in favour of letting Manning (a convicted criminal and traitor) speak in NZ, but seems to want Nigel Farage banned.
It’s not about an unfettered right to speak. It’s about whether the person’s speech poses a risk (maybe read stuff I say first). During & after Farage’s dishonest & callous Bexit campaign hate crimes went up exponentially in the UK, including murder of a pro-diversity MP, Jo Cox.
— Golriz Ghahraman (@golrizghahraman) August 29, 2018
Here she basically argues in favour of banning Nigel Farage (an elected member of the European Parliament) from speaking in NZ, and absolutely terribly links his advocacy of Brexit to the murder of Jo Cox.
It seems very clear that the Greens favour free speech only for people they like.