Professor Joanna Kidman says coalition Government might be a ‘death cult’, David Seymour calls for resignation of anti-extremism centre director

The head of a publicly funded anti-extremism centre says the Government might be a “death cult” that “hates children”, leading to calls from the Act Party for her resignation.

Professor Joanna Kidman, a director of the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, lashed out at the Government on Tuesday night, responding to its announcement that the first military boot camp for young offenders would be running by mid-2024.

Kidman wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that she could “only assume that this Government hates children, most of whom will be poor and brown”.

“There is so much evidence that military-style youth boot camps don’t work and are expensive,” she wrote.

Professor Joanna Kidman, director of the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, He Whenua Taurikura.

Kidman also added that the Government “wants to snatch children’s lunches” in response to Associate Education Minister and Act leader David Seymour describing free school lunches as “wasteful” public spending and arguing that the Government should cut them.

“Is this a government or a death cult?” Kidman wrote.

Seymour replied on X: “Some interesting views from a Jacinda Ardern and Labour appointee”.

Kidman has since made her X account private.

It is the second social media spat involving Seymour after earlier this week, after he and Health Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Professor Lisa Te Morenga exchanged personal barbs over the Government’s free school lunches programme. Te Morenga said she viewed the coalition as a “fascist white supremacist Government”, while Seymour said she had “anger management problems”.

Professor Joanna Kidman's post on X, formerly Twitter.

Kidman was appointed on a three-year term as director in June 2022 by former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern in response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the Christchurch terrorist attack.

“I believe this centre will help us to be a more resilient, inclusive and safer Aotearoa New Zealand,” Ardern said at the time.

Speaking to the Herald last night, Seymour said it was “really strange” for Kidman’s comments to come from an organisation funded to bring people together.

“If people want to have arguments about the merits of the school lunch programme or the Government’s boot camps for prisoners, there’s lots of arguments they can make if they’d like to without getting into these kinds of personal attacks. Once you start doing that you’re actually promoting division and extremism,” he said.

Seymour added today: “You would think she’d be smart enough to figure out that what she says in any capacity, if it relates to extreme rhetoric, is going to be a problem”.

He said he believed in freedom of speech and the Government “should never lock someone up for their opinion”, but if someone entered a private contract, they took on obligations in terms of behaviour.

He said people who took government funding were allowed to criticise the Government.

“If she wants to get into a rational debate about what to do with youth offenders, for example, we are very happy to have that debate. That level of name-calling is not actually advancing the debate. It is actually advancing a more divided society which is, ironically, the opposite of what she’s supposed to be about.”

Kidman has not responded to multiple requests for comment from the Herald. The centre’s board chair has also been approached for comment.

In a statement, Victoria University, which hosts the centre, said while it supports the rights of academics to have an independent voice, Kidman’s social media post “does not support an inclusive conversation” and they are “discussing this matter” with her.

“We endorse reasoned debate that brings evidence and scrutiny to issues, to increase public understanding. Some of the language used in Professor Kidman’s social media post does not support an inclusive conversation,” a spokesperson said.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley was also appointed as an interim director for up to a year, to work alongside Kidman in establishing the centre.

Spoonley, who is no longer a director did not wish to comment when approached by the Herald.

Act Party leader David Seymour speaking at Waitangi. Photo / Michael Cunningham

When asked if Kidman should apologise for her comments, Seymour said she “doesn’t have a very good track record” and he finds it easier to ignore her.

“The Government is facing an uphill battle to save money and balance the budget and I think it would be challenging to keep funding an organisation that doesn’t appear to be adding value and may actually be working against the very ideas of unity, respect and dignity that I thought it was supposed to promote,” Seymour said.

In a statement from the Act Party last night, public service spokesman Todd Stephenson said: “The irony of an anti-extremism campaigner using such extreme rhetoric should be obvious”.

“While Act supports her right to spew deranged garbage as a private citizen, she shouldn’t be doing it on the taxpayer dollar and certainly not with the borrowed credibility of the Prime Minister’s Department.

“Kidman’s salary is paid by taxpayers via the Prime Minister’s Department, which means Christopher Luxon has just been delivered some potential savings on a silver platter. The board of the centre must move immediately to sack the extremist in their midst,” Stephenson said.

Bridget White, the executive director of the National Security Group for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), told the Herald Kidman is employed by Victoria University, “so this is a matter for them”.

“However, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has conveyed to the university via the Trust its concerns that Professor Kidman’s comments may bring the centre into disrepute.”

The DPMC funds the centre through a charitable trust, which operates independently. The centre is not a government agency and funding for the centre for year ending June 2024 was $1.325 million.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.