A Filipino family holidaying in Wellington were left disgusted after falling victim to a racist tirade.
The Mayor of Wellington has personally reached out to a Filipino family who had their holiday ruined after falling victim to a racist tirade in the inner city last week.
An unknown woman told them, "Don't come back here any more. You're not welcome here. This is only for white people. This country is for white people only".
She later continued the abuse on the street, with a video taken by Egipto showing the woman telling them to "Go home. You have a country".
Mayor Justin Lester told the Herald he had seen the video and was appalled by the woman's comments.
"This is an isolated incident and should not be tolerated."
The footage shows the woman saying, "It's simple, no big deal. Go home. You have a country."
Mayor Lester said he had rung Egipto and would also be sending her a few "Wellington treats" to make sure her visit was positive overall.
"If she returns I will personally welcome her back to the city and take her on a tour to show how much we appreciate visitors," he said.
Egipto said she was speechless and overwhelmed at being contacted by Wellington's Mayor.
"He said sorry to me personally for how that lady treated us and then told me that next time that we visit Wellington, he will give us a personal tour around.
"That was actually really nice of them that they've contacted us personally to say sorry on what happened," she said.
"I am really overwhelmed because I wasn't expecting that at all."
Egipto said she had also received a lot of support on social media.
"There are a lot of positive comments, but of course there are still people who are saying negative things like 'we need to know both sides to the story'.
"I am just ignoring them because they don't know exactly what happened to us, and I am just thankful to those people who are understanding and supporting us.
"There are actually people from the United States and internationally messaging me too," she said.
Egipto's Facebook post, that included footage of the encounter, has been viewed over 105,000 times and been liked by over 2300 people.
Many commenters have expressed shame at the racist's reflection on New Zealand, and congratulated Egipto for sticking up for her family.
"You have as much right to be here than she does. Don't let her ruin your day!" one person wrote.
Another said, "It's people like her that give our country a bad name, no this country is not for white people only!"
Another wrote, "As a New Zealander I just want to say I'm so sorry for what you and your family went through! Disgusting behaviour that reflects purely on this awful woman and should not speak for all of us kiwis!"
A spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission said it had received a complaint in regard to this matter so can't comment in detail.
"However, the Commission's position in general is that New Zealand is an open and welcoming country that celebrates diversity. Racism has no place here. It's up to all of us to stand up to racism," the spokesperson said.
"One in three complaints to the Human Rights Commission are about racial discrimination but we also believe that many people don't make a complaint.
"When we see racism or discrimination we need to stand up to it by supporting the victim, recording the incident and reporting it to the Police or the Human Rights Commission."
The spokesperson said talking about racism is the first step in addressing it.
"Conversations about the everyday things that happen in our community can bring a new awareness to those of us who have never experienced racial discrimination. If awareness leads to action to address it, that can only benefit New Zealand."
