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Green Party candidate Efeso Collins has revealed he was the target of a death threat after the political party released a policy on ending poverty in Aotearoa.
Just after the policy release, an electronic message arrived at the Greens’ headquarters outlining threatsto Collins and suggesting he would be “executed”.
The Green Party called in police because of the seriousness of the threat.
“Police got in contact and told me threats were made against me,” Collins told the Herald.
“The detective said the threat was along the lines of they want to execute me. I never had official copy of the threat. The detective was also shocked by the gist of the threat.”
Collins, who is 11th on the Green Party list, said the threat made him reassess his priorities.
“Threats like that create a level of doubt, but I was more concerned for my family, and I didn’t want to have to keep looking over my shoulder.
“I’m glad the police were able to locate who it was,” Collins said.
“I’m glad this person has been brought to some justice for what he has done. There must be consequences and whether they mean it or not, the facts are they have done it.
“You can’t sit on a keyboard and make threats against people.”
When asked what he would like to say to the keyboard warrior, an emotional Collins replied:
“I would like to say to him, why would you do this to a person you don’t even know? I have young children and all I think about is my kids. I want that man to know that my wife and I are wary of their safety.
“Even my parents - who are in their 80s - offered to sit outside our house or make sure the kids were safe. It put us all on alert. Think about the damage you have created and you must accept that is not acceptable.”
Collins, who is standing in the Labour-entrenched seat of Panmure-Ōtāhuhu, said campaigning in his “own turf” was much easier than when he ran for the Auckland mayoralty against Wayne Brown.
He said the racial abuse and snide innuendo made him wonder if he was cut out for public office.
“During the mayoral campaign, I would turn up to debates and could hear racial slurs like coconut and words to that effect.
“I don’t get that door-knocking around my own hood.”
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for 12 years for Te Whānau o Waipareira.
