Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki attacks Muslims, but others slam him for hate speech

Brian Tamaki courted controversy soon after the Christchurch terror attack. /Al Jazeera

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki has hit out at Islamic immigrants in a Facebook post that other community members have labelled hate speech.

Tamaki had already earlier repeatedly criticised the Islamic community following the Christchurch terror attack where 51 people died after a gunman opened fire in two mosques.

He earlier claimed plans to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer across the country during a remembrance service in March would turn New Zealand into a Muslim country.

Now Tamaki has further claimed "we can not accept the proliferation of Islam in our country" in a post on his Facebook page.

"We can not ... think Just because you're tolerant, accepting and inclusive that we won't end up like Great Britain, South East Asia and most of Europe with violence, loss of the host country's identity, their values and culture destroyed and Sharia Law enacted," he said.

Tamaki argued he was only exercising his right to free speech in making the claim.

"There are biblical truths and strong convictions I have about my Christian beliefs, which may not be yours, but I'm free to express them," he said.

But one Herald reader wrote into the paper to say the Facebook post simply acted to incite hatred because many of its points were based on information that wasn't correct.

"It is a heinous ad full of ignorance and the same ideas as the Christchurch attacker," the reader wrote.

Tamaki's comments come after the Herald earlier this month found immigrants from some Muslim countries and parts of Africa were having a harder time getting holiday visas to New Zealand.

In the past six months, 103 visitor visa applications were lodged from Iraq and 68 were declined, immigration data showed.

Six in 10 applicants from Afghanistan and more than half from Syria also failed to get visitor visas to New Zealand.

By contrast, only 5 per cent of those from China and 10 per cent of applications from the United States were turned down.

I love all people and let it be known I’ve walked over 40 years with the love of Christ, treating all people as God’s...

Posted by Apostle Bishop Brian Tamaki on Wednesday, 12 June 2019

Tamaki also claimed a double standard, arguing he was continually asked questions about where his church got its income from and whether he tolerated homosexuality and sex before marriage but that these questions were not often asked of Muslim groups.