Little stands by 'gun them down' humour

Andrew Little. File photo / Richard Robinson

Former Labour president Andrew Little is not resiling from his "humorous, satirical" suggestion that Auckland councillor George Wood would like to end the Occupy protest in Aotea Square by gunning protesters down.

Mr Little, who is standing in New Plymouth this election, made the comments on Mr Wood's Facebook page yesterday in response to a post from the former policeman and former Mayor of North Shore.

Mr Wood was writing about the 150-odd protesters living in Auckland's Aotea Square, an extension of the global protests against corporate greed that started in New York in September.

"I certainly agree with my colleague Chris Fletcher. These people should have been removed from the Aotea Square on Sunday," Mr Wood wrote. "Their actions are illegal and the more that they are allowed to remain in situ the more difficult it will be to remove them."

Act member Cathy Odgers then posted: "Water cannons George. Hose them down hourly."

Mr Little replied: "Water cannons? Pah! Weakness! How about ice guns to freeze them out. No, no, wait a minute. Flame throwers. That'll burn their little arses. Forget that. Just strafe them with rifle fire, the way George always dreamed of dealing with unruly crowds when he was a cop."

Last night Mr Little said he did not regret the comments. "It's clearly an extreme, satirical send-up of conservative views. He's saying police should remove lawful protesters, which is a fascist response to a protest against corporate greed.

"I was using humour to highlight that point. If he's got a sense of humour he would [find it funny]." Mr Little said he supported and had visited a similar Occupy protest in New Plymouth.

Mr Wood said he didn't find the comments offensive. "But I'm pretty thick skinned." It was healthy that people could express their views freely.