Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attended the Big Gay Out this afternoon after delivering his State of the Nation address in the morning.
The Prime Minister was met with hostility at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland as pro-Palestine and trans rights protesters confronted him with signs and chants.
As Christopher Luxon walked around taking in the festivities, about 50 protesters followed behind bearing signs reading “there is nopride in genocide”.
RNZ political reporter Katie Scotcher said the exchanges became quite heated, with at least one attendee shouting directly in Luxon’s face.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Big Gay Out today, where he was met with hostility.
In video footage of the incident, protesters can be heard yelling “blood on your hands” as Luxon refuses to engage with them.
Luxon abruptly left the festival in Auckland’s Point Chevalier, RNZ reports.
At a media stand-up this morning, Luxon said he was looking forward to going to the Big Gay Out and felt comfortable there.
“I went there last year. I loved it. Talk to the Rainbow community and what are they fixated on at the moment? Rebuilding the economy, restoring law and order and delivering better health and education.”
He said Israel had moral and legal obligations to uphold, comments that amount to his strongest remarks on Israel since the war began in October.
Christopher Luxon presents his first State of the Nation speech before attending the Big Gay Out. Photo / Alex Burton
“Palestinian civilians cannot pay the price of Israel trying to defeat Hamas,” he said at his post-Cabinet press conference.
“There are 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah at the moment. We are extremely concerned about that.”
He said Foreign Minister Winston Peters was conveying New Zealand’s position to the Israelis: “That they do not proceed with operations in Rafah.”
Peters met Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby in the Beehive earlier in the week - although the meeting had been pre-arranged and the ambassador was not “called in” by Peters.
Israel has begun airstrikes on the city despite a plea from US President Joe Biden made in a phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which he expressed grave concern over the rising civilian death toll - put at 28,000 by the health ministry in Gaza.
According to Reuters, Netanyahu’s office said it had ordered the military to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah and destroy four Hamas battalions it says are deployed there.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu made remarks that were interpreted as defying the International Court of Justice’s power.
“Nobody will stop us - not The Hague [the base of the International Court of Justice], not the [Iranian-led] axis of evil and not anybody else,” Netanyahu said.
“The hypocritical onslaught at The Hague against the state of the Jews that arose from the ashes of the Holocaust... is a moral low point in the history of nations,” he said.
The conflict began after Hamas terrorists entered Israel on October 7, killing 1200 and taking over 200 hostages.
After this morning’s State of the Nation speech, Luxon had defended the coalition Government’s planned changes to sexuality and relationship education guidelines, RNZ reports.
New Zealand First - one of the three coalition parties - had campaigned on removing “gender ideology” from the curriculum. The guidelines were first introduced in 2020 by then-NZ First MP and associate Education Minister Tracey Martin.
The changes have been described by academics as a “huge mistake”.
Big Gay Out at Coyle Park. Prime Minsiter Christopher Luxon talks to Young National suporters. Photo / Alex Burton
“We will always have sex education in New Zealand schools. It’s so critical, so important,” Luxon said.
“Parents have a responsibility and a role to play in that as well.”
