Ethnic Communities Minister Mark Mitchell has labelled Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki's latest social media comments to "purge" Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims from New Zealand as the "actions of a scared bully".
By RNZ IndoNZ reporters
Mitchell told RNZ on Thursday that he understood police were assessing Tamaki's remarks against the thresholds set out in the Human Rights Act.
A police spokesperson said they were aware of the video and were making inquiries into its contents.
In a separate statement to ethnic community leaders on Thursday evening, police said they wanted to reassure Indian and wider ethnic communities that their safety and wellbeing remained a priority.
"We are actively monitoring the situation and will continue to engage with community leaders to understand and respond to any concerns," the statement said.
"The material has been referred for legal assessment, and any further action will be considered in line with legislation."
In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, the Destiny Church founder accuses Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of purging Christians in the South Asian nation.
"He [Modi] is currently purging India of all Christians and burning church buildings down," Tamaki said.
"I think we should reciprocate in kind. Let's purge New Zealand of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. And, while we're at it, if they're burning churches down, why don't we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat."
The Facebook post attracted more than 1100 likes as of 8am on Friday.
In response, Mitchell vowed to do all he could to protect and strengthen the country's social cohesion.
"It is obvious that Brian Tamaki's rants and deliberate targeting of ethnic communities and cowardly social media attacks against individuals are designed to tear at our social fabric to scare and prompt a response from the groups and individuals being targeted," he said.
"In my experience, these are the actions of a scared bully. We enjoy freedom of speech in our country, but with that comes responsibilities."
Tamaki later told RNZ that Mitchell was "missing the point".
"What is really damaging social cohesion in NZ is a government that continues to ignore the concerns of ordinary New Zealanders while pushing policies and agreements that nobody voted for," Tamaki said.
"New Zealanders never got a vote on the India free trade agreement. New Zealanders never got a vote on the unprecedented levels of mass immigration we are experiencing," he said on top of repeating other comments about immigration and religious persecution in India he made in the video.
Asked whether he believed his comments fell within the thresholds outlined in the Human Rights Act, Tamaki said New Zealanders had the right to "speak openly about human rights abuses, religious persecution, immigration, foreign policy and the future direction of our country".
Earlier this month, Tamaki called for a protest on July 7 at Auckland's Aotea Square to coincide with Modi's proposed visit to New Zealand.
"20,000 plus Indians will be in Auckland at that time along with Khalistan anti-Modi protesters as well," he wrote in a Facebook post.
"If 20,000 Indians can stand and take Auckland, then 30,000 Kiwis should show [up] to fight for your country and children's future.
"This is New Zealand, not India."
In January, hundreds of Destiny Church-affiliated Freedom and Rights Coalition protesters gathered for a rally at Victoria Park.
The protesters marched to the entrance of the motorway but retreated after being met with dozens of police officers.
The group was denied a permit to walk across the harbour bridge in December, with police saying no protest group from here on would be allowed to cross the bridge for safety reasons and the pressure placed on the bridge's infrastructure.
Last year, two Sikh religious processions in Tauranga and South Auckland were also disrupted by protesters linked to Destiny Church.
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