Posie Parker: Did Immigration NZ get her decision right? - The Front Page

Posie Parker (Kelly Jay Keen) has plans to speak in NZ. Photo / Getty Images

A legal expert says the immigration standards being applied to controversial activist Posie Parker (Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) are different from those that were applied to rap collective Odd Future.

Speaking to The Front Page podcast, Eddie Clark, a senior law lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, says the public deserves more information on the decision to allow Keen-Minshull to enter the country.

Since the decision on the Keen-Minshull case was made public, many online commentators have drawn comparisons to musicians who were previously denied the right to visit New Zealand.

Clark points to the example of hip-hop collective Odd Future, who in 2014 were denied the right to visit and perform in Aotearoa.

“There are some differences in that Odd Future needed a work visa to come in and Keen-Minshull doesn’t,” says Clark.

“But the same standards actually apply to visa waivers and visas under section 16 of the Immigration Act, so we can make a comparison here.”

Clark makes the point that the reasons given for Odd Future’s denial could also have been applied to Keen-Minshull’s case.

“There was an OIA [Official Information Act request] done for the reasons that Immigration NZ had for excluding Odd Future, and it was basically misogynistic and homophobic lyrics. And there were also some crowd control issues, from when a policeman got a minor back strain in Boston at a previous Odd Future show. That was enough for Immigration NZ to ban them.”

Turning the attention to Keen-Minshull, Clarke says it isn’t difficult to draw a parallel between these two cases.

“If you just look at the stuff that on the record policy and what happened with Keen-Minshull at the rally in Melbourne, it’s quite difficult to see how the same standard is being applied here to Keen-Minshull as was applied to exclude Odd Future.”

Tyler the Creator, one of the founding members of Odd Future, would in 2019 be permitted to enter New Zealand, with Immigration NZ saying he was no longer deemed to be a threat to public order and the public interest. Clarke says this all points to the level of discretion afforded to immigration officials who are required to make these decisions.

“It would be very helpful for Immigration New Zealand to actually release their reasons [in the Keen-Minshull case] and any advice to the Minister, because the short quotes in the press release don’t explain the difference in treatment [from Odd Future]. They may have reasons, but they haven’t told the public. And the public deserves to know.”

So, are there any legal steps available to those opposed to Keen-Minshull entering New Zealand? Where does the balance of free speech lie in making these decisions? And should we allow activists like Keen-Minshull to occupy our public spaces?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast for a discussion on these issues and more.