Racist group seeking transtasman alliance

By ELIZABETH BINNING

The New Zealand National Front, which opposes Asian and Polynesian immigration, is trying to strengthen its ties with like-minded groups across the Tasman.

NZNF director Kyle Chapman has posted a message on a white nationalist website calling for an alliance between extremist right-wing groups in New Zealand and Australia.

"It has come that time where we should work together as one movement across both countries," he said.

Such a proposal has brought words of caution from those who follow politics and race relations in New Zealand.

Such an alliance would unify extremist groups, building numbers for rallies and political demonstrations in both countries.

'The idea of united organisations is simple," said Mr Chapman. "More people, more energy, more action more results."

NZNF, a political party with followers in Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton - many of them skinheads - has become prominent at rallies and picketing outside meetings.

In May Mr Chapman led a counter-demonstration at a Christchurch anti-racism rally, speaking against the "masses" of immigrants "taking over" the country.

The party believes in a "European" New Zealand and that Polynesian and Chinese migrants should leave. It also believes in compulsory military service, capital punishment and that motherhood is the most honourable and important of vocations.

Mr Chapman told the Herald he had already received expressions of interest from several Australian groups about his proposed alliance.

While he would not confirm which groups had shown interest Mr Chapman hoped one would be the Sydney-based Patriotic Youth League, which helped to raise funds to free Australian politician Pauline Hanson, who was jailed for electoral fraud (the conviction was later overturned).

Mr Chapman said NZNF had a satellite branch in Australia, which he hoped would grow alongside the alliance.

"We want to have the Anzac spirit alive and well in our politics and never forget our history together."

Professor Dov Bing, a Waikato University expert on the political dimensions of race and ethnic relations in New Zealand, said such an alliance was of great concern and should be monitored closely.

"The civil organisations in Australia are known to be pretty radical and have been in difficulties with the law on a number of occasions. We wouldn't like to see the kind of things which are going on over there happen in New Zealand."

Professor Bing said while NZNF deemed itself a political party there were worrying similarities between it and European neo-nazi movements.

"In the past few months [its members have] become very visible, fairly active and deliberately provocative.

"Anti-Asian is only a reflection of the [party's] racist kind of ideology. Today it's an Asian. Tomorrow it might be the Maori, Jewish or Muslim community."