The Nelson Club was founded in 1861 with its current building on Selwyn Place being opened in 1903. The club is notoriously exclusive with prospective members having to be nominated by current members. It does not allow females to join and also has a smoking room – both rules have been cited as legally ambiguous.
The chairperson at the time said that "all members have the right to hold views on culture, race, religion and politics … However, to publicly state such extreme views within the club is totally inappropriate and detrimental to both the interests of the club and in general, and to individual members, in particular those who may be gay or Muslim".
The chairperson recommended that the member be stood down and apologise to the other members whom he was speaking to.
However, this motion was voted down unanimously by the board leading to the resignation of the chairperson.
In response, the complainee wrote to the club board saying that the comment about Muslims was about sexual grooming gangs in the UK, which was "factually correct" and that he was "anti-Islam" not "anti-Muslim". He also denied being "strongly homophobic" but did express a strong dislike for "LGBT activists pushing a pro homosexual agenda to young children in our schools".
He said his decision to move to New Zealand 10 years ago was "hugely based around the spread of Islam in the UK and Europe".
The member said that he hoped that the Nelson Club was an "old school" break from the "over PC norm of the modern world" and people could express themselves freely.
To solve the club's internal crisis, one member has even suggested appointing former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer to be appointed as a "one-man commission of enquiry".
"His brief will be to enquire into all aspects of the Nelson Club but in particular the issues and legalities of women members, the smoking room and recent complaint about a member's conduct."
The current club chairman Scott Dodd did not respond to requests for comment.
- Nelson Weekly
