A protester throws bricks at police on day 23 of the occupation at Parliament, March 22, 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Last week, racist flyers were distributed to households in the Tauranga suburb of Matua.
Their content is all too familiar to senior NZ Herald journalist David Fisher, who's spent the past couple of years immersing himself in the extreme end of Kiwi society - where disillusioned
people come together, often online, to trade anger, frustration and sometimes plans for violence.
While the flyers left in Matua mailboxes had a white nationalist message, there are plenty of other issues that are sparking fury in segments of NZ society. At the 23-day occupation outside Parliament, Covid restrictions were the ostensible flashpoint. Others are incensed by political, gender or environmental issues.
And while some New Zealanders who have extreme beliefs are on society's margins, Fisher says the anger and mistrust is spreading - fuelled by burgeoning misinformation channels.
"It's getting soccer mums, it's getting dads that volunteer at the PTA, it's getting the bus driver that used to take the kids to school, and it's getting the drama volunteers. It's right throughout the community ... it takes a lot longer to pull someone out than it does for them to fall in."
