Julian Batchelor’s Stop Co-Governance tour: Hawke’s Bay Racecourse claims venue booked by man for ‘preppers’ meeting

Protesters against Stop Co-Governance outside Julian Batchelor's eventual venue in the Hastings CBD on Monday night. Photo / Paul Taylor

The Hawke’s Bay Racing Centre is warning other venues in the region to be wary after it received significant public backlash for a Stop Co-Governance meeting it claims was booked under false pretences.

Attendees and protestors of the Hastings leg of Julian Batchelor’s Stop Co-Governance tour on Monday night turned up to a last-minute venue switch at a vacant Hastings CBD building on Heretaunga St West, following cancellations at the Good News Bible Chapel in Havelock North and Hawke’s Bay Racecourse.

Tom van Rijk organises catering and manages bookings for the Cheval Room at the racecourse and claimed he had received a last-minute booking for what was described as a private “preppers” meeting near the end of last week from someone who was not Julian Batchelor.

“We took the booking, and it was just yesterday afternoon that we were tipped off by a police officer about what it actually was,” van Rijk said.

The Cheval Room at the Hastings Racecourse.

“I called [the person who made the booking] up and asked them to tell me a bit more about this meeting, and they said, ‘It’s a preppers’ meeting’.

“I said, ‘What is that exactly?’, and he said, ‘Well, in case of economic collapse, we need to be prepared’.

“I asked if it had anything to do with this anti-co-governance tour and he said, ‘Well, Julian Batchelor will be there’, so I told him I don’t think we can go ahead.”

Calls made by Hawke’s Bay Today to Batchelor on Tuesday went unanswered. His controversial tour of the country has been met with backlash in several venues, but the protest action against it appears to have ramped up in the Central North Island.

Van Rijk said he believes he may not be the only Hawke’s Bay business that has been “tricked” like this and is worried others will receive backlash as a consequence.

“You can’t interrogate every person who wants to hold a meeting.”

He said Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber had then made the situation more challenging by writing an open letter urging the racecourse not to host the meeting on Monday, without speaking to them about it first.

He said that had led to “dozens of angry emails and phone calls”, even after the event had been cancelled.

Barber said Hawke’s Bay Racing CEO Aaron Hamilton had quickly contacted him to clarify the situation and let him know the racecourse did not support the kaupapa of the meetings.

“I think this has set off a lot of people’s emotions,” Barber said regarding the backlash the racecourse received.

Barber said he had communicated the clarification to the iwi and his mailing list as quickly as he could.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz