Standing room only. I wouldn't
like to stereotype everyone in the room, but I would say the crowd skewed older.
The first three speakers got through their addresses - in English - with ease and plenty of applause.
Then, Kim Williams, the spokeswoman for the alliance's steering group, began her address.
She greeted everyone in English, then said a few words of greeting and thanks in te reo Māori.
As soon as the words left her lips she was ridiculed by what seemed to be a disturbingly large proportion of the crowd.
"Speak English!" people spat at her. "Get off the stage," one called.
I think I saw Williams mouth "wow". Wow indeed.
This was not a few errant voices in the crowd. It was a large group of people who seemed to me to be emboldened by each other.
I heard a lot of "hear, hear" and that sort of rubbish.
Williams, seeming to harness all her might, rolled her shoulders back, said she was greeting them and carried on in English, and people in the audience applauded her.
She finished her address, walked off the podium and returned to her seat, shaking her head.
MC Peter Williams reprimanded the crowd when he returned to the mic, and good on him.
After the event, other speakers also condemned the behaviour, including Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.
From my perspective, it was the most sickening, childish and bullying behaviour from a bunch of adults I have seen in my life.
It was just bloody rude and in my opinion, it was a blatant display of racism.
I have one question for the people who took part in this outrageous display: what the heck is wrong with you?
I felt like I stepped back in time to a century when Māori were beaten for speaking their native language.
That time no longer exists and a return to it is most definitely not welcomed in this day and age.
Te reo Māori is one of New Zealand's official languages and it has been since the late 1980s. So is sign language.
English is not but, as our most-spoken language by a wide margin, it hardly needs such enshrined protections.
Nor do the ears of people who speak English need to be protected from ever hearing te reo Māori.
It was frankly embarrassing to see such ignorant behaviour from adults who should know better.
I feel bad for the Tauranga Ratepayers' Alliance that their first public gathering was hijacked by this mass outburst they did not invite. Certainly, Kim Williams didn't invite it.
I love Tauranga but the ugliest side of our city was on display on Wednesday night. It's shocking given Rotorua - which could be considered the heart of Māoridom - is also so close.
Iwi leader Paora Stanley said the incident was an indictment of our city, and I agree.
If we, as a city, give any space to racism, it reflects on all of us.
