KEY POINTS:
Kyle Chapman's at it again. Although he resigned from his position as leader of the National Front because his kids were being shunned at school, Chapman still retains a strong interest in white supremacist policies.
To such an extent that he is the brains {sic} behind a planned development for whites only in Rangiora.
It would have houses and a school where none of that namby pamby politically correct nonsense would be taught and a training area for sport fighting and on the plus side, a large communal vege garden. Which the residents of the community would probably need given that there wouldn't be much in the way of takeaway shops in the whites only compound.
To be a part of the compound you have to hold the same thoughts and philosophies and ideals as Chapman and his ilk. Incredibly, there are more people who think like this than you might imagine. In the Christchurch mayoral campaign, Chapman received more than 600 votes. Which is about 598 more votes than I ever dreamed he would get. Still, those 600 people don't seem to be quite so keen on the protected community idea.
In an email sent to supporters, beginning Hello Patriots, he called for donations and for people to join him. And according to TVNZ, Chapman has five or six people willing to sell up and get close to him as well as an Australian farming couple who've expressed an interest. Let me guess. They're from Queensland. Which is hardly an avalanche of enthusiasm so the whole concept may just remain, as one clever texter put it to me this week, a pigment of his imagination. Still, at least we know they're out there.
The good thing about folks like Chapman is that they're up front and open about their half baked beliefs and ambitions. You can see the whites of their eyes. But his concerns about the declining numbers of Europeans in New Zealand are ill founded.
According to Statistics NZ figures for 2005, by far the largest group of people choosing to come and live in this country came from the United Kingdom. Second was Australia. So those who are lying awake trembling in terror at the thought of the Yellow Peril sweeping down from China can sleep soundly. So perhaps there's no real need for Kyle to go to all the fuss and bother of building his gated compound. Although it'd be nice for the rest of us if white supremacists were locked away tidily. Saves us having to build another prison.
* www.kerrewoodham.com
