Six of the twenty councilors on Auckland City Council are calling for Auckland Santa Parade organisers to allow the Falun Gong to participate in Sunday's Santa Parade.
The Chairman of Auckland Santa Parade, Michael Barnett (who is also Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and a C&R ARC Councillor) is refusing to allow the Falun Gong "Divine Land Marching Band" to take part in the parade.
Three City Vision councillors, two Labour councillors and one independent councilor have now come in behind Falun Gong and called for Mr Barnett to change his decision:
Cr Casey (City Vision)
Cr Fryer (City Vision)
Cr Easte (City Vision)
Cr Northey (Labour)
Cr Boyle (Labour)
Cr Roche (Independent)
The decision by Mr Barnett is heavy handed. The stated reason is that Falun Gong have not provided a guarantee that they will not hand out leaflets. This doesn't really stack up - Queen St is a public area, and on any given day of the week any person or group has a right to peacefully distribute material to other people. Why should doing this on the day of the Santa Parade eliminate a group from being able to provide entertainment for the parade?
City Vision Talk thinks that Mr Barnett and the Committee have gone a little over the top here. In Wellington the issue was worked through, Falun Gong participated in the Santa parade, and the event didn't turn into a rabid political rally. Here's hoping common sense will prevail in Auckland.
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