About 1000 people marched in Queen Street on Saturday to protest against the Black Caps' tour of Zimbabwe. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey
About 1000 people marched in Queen Street on Saturday to protest against the Black Caps' tour of Zimbabwe. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey
The Green Party has rejected the claim of NZ Cricket boss Martin Snedden that public opinion has swung in behind the tour of Zimbabwe, saying the mood is the opposite.
Mr Snedden made the comments after a protest march against the tour by about 1000 people in Auckland on Saturday.
He said the small size of the march was "an indication that the view taken a few weeks ago by most of the media is not reflective of what the public think".
Green co-leader Rod Donald said the comments were "misguided".
A TVNZ/Colmar Brunton poll taken on June 30 found 77 per cent of New Zealanders opposed the tour. Only 14 per cent of those interviewed thought it should go ahead.
Mr Donald said he believed that opposition to the tour was even stronger now. The Greens will continue their campaign to prevent the team going, bringing Judith Todd - the daughter of Sir Garfield Todd, the New Zealand-born former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia - to Wellington this week to speak with union, church and political leaders.
Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff has conceded the tour is now likely to go ahead in a fortnight unless safety issues arise.
The International Cricket Council reiterated on Friday that the Government would have to make the tour illegal to prevent NZ Cricket suffering multi-million dollar penalties if it cancelled the tour.
The Government has refused to legislate to prevent the team from going, saying that would be an infringement of civil rights.
"The Green Party's bill has been drafted so that it doesn't prevent individual Kiwis from travelling to Zimbabwe," Mr Donald said.
"Right-thinking New Zealanders recognise that stopping Mugabe and not giving him the pleasure of seeing the Black Caps in his country is far more important than the tour."
