Julian Batchelor’s Stop Co-Governance meeting in Hastings ended early for safety reasons - two arrests as waiata and haka fill CBD air

Jeremy Tātere MacLeod protests the Stop Co-Governance meeting in the Hastings CBD on Monday night. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Hastings meeting of the controversial Stop Co-Governance nationwide tour has ended early amid arrests and tensions, as protesters tried to use waiata, haka and meeting interruptions to drown out speakers.

Ngāti Kahungunu iwi’s promise to meet Julian Batchelor’s controversial rhetoric with opposition and noise during meetings in its rohe prompted at least two Havelock North venues to cancel in the lead-up.

Wannabe attendees of Batchelor’s meeting on Monday night were therefore directed at the last minute to a Hastings CBD building on Heretaunga St West, which once housed a Dollarama Store.

Protesters sung waiata to try to drown out speakers at Julian Batchelor's Stop Co-Governance meeting. Photo / Paul Taylor

He spoke to a crowd of about 70 as a number of counter-protesters formed outside, singing waiata and performing haka in a bid to drown out those trying to speak.

Police formed a barricade when protester numbers on Heretaunga St West began to swell to more than 100.

Inspector Dean Clifford said the meeting was ended early following police concerns the gathering had “become unsafe”.

“Police were monitoring the event due to expected protest activity. A number of people were trespassed from the premises and two people were arrested.

“Charges have not been laid at this stage and police inquiries into the matter are continuing.”

Jeremy Tātere MacLeod protests the Stop Co-Governance meeting in the Hastings CBD on Monday night. Photo / Paul Taylor

Witnesses told Hawke’s Bay Today the meeting indoors was disjointed from the start, the result of numerous interruptions by protesters who had made it inside.

One witness - a protester - claimed a woman at the meeting “threw over” Batchelor’s laptop during his talk, sparking what the protester claimed was an altercation in which the woman was then assaulted.

Video on social media showed the moment the woman threw a laptop onto the ground, and then went to grab it again when Batchelor pushed her away, with Batchelor saying “don’t wreck my equipment”.

A Hawke’s Bay Today photographer, who was invited inside the meeting for a period on the proviso that he not photograph it, confirmed the meeting had been consistently interrupted.

However, he had exited the meeting to photograph protesters outside when the altercation occurred, and was not immediately able to verify what had happened.

Haka ring out in the Hastings CBD. Photo / Paul Taylor

Julian Batchelor, silhouetted in the background, speaks to a Stop Co-Governance meeting in Hastings as protesters sing outside. Photo / Paul Taylor

The controversial country-wide tour has attracted fiery scenes at multiple stops.

A meeting in Golden Bay earlier this month descended into violence as attendees - including far-right extremist Lee Williams - and protesters clashed. Bookings have been cancelled on several occasions, often at the last minute, and organisers have also struggled to find venues willing to host meetings.

A Palmerston North woman was over the weekend dragged out of a meeting after protesting against the event, with some members of the crowd yelling “pull her pants down”.

Victoria Jakobs claims around six people assaulted her. Police confirmed officers were outside the event when a member of the public exited the premises with a minor injury.

Inquiries revealed the woman received the injuries after she was forcibly removed by members of the public, and police were speaking to several people, police said.

Batchelor’s original itinerary for Hawke’s Bay includes another meeting at an undisclosed venue in Hastings on Tuesday night and two meetings in undisclosed venues in Napier on Wednesday and Thursday.

* Chris Hyde is the editor of Hawke’s Bay Today. He compiled this report from Hastings, using eyewitness accounts and video from the scene.