The Front Page: Inside the Graham Philip case and historic sabotage charge

Graham Philip appears in the Rotorua High Court on Thursday. Photo / Ethan Griffiths

New Zealand has its first convicted saboteur - eight decades after sabotage was made a crime in this country.

Sixty-two-year-old Graham Philip was sentenced in the Hamilton High Court on Thursday to three years, one month in prison after he targeted infrastructure belonging to New Zealand’s national electrical grid.

Philip attacked the Transpower infrastructure in November last year, and was charged initially with seven counts of wilful damage before all charges were upgraded to sabotage earlier this year.

NZ Herald reporter Ethan Griffiths, who has covered the trial, told The Front Page podcast that this is the first time anyone has been charged with sabotage in this country since laws were introduced during World War II.

“It was first introduced due to a fear of overseas operatives, spies and the likes sabotaging infrastructure in New Zealand during wartime. There were some homegrown concerns at one point in history in terms of sabotage during the 1951 waterfront strike. There were concerns around that time that some of the more militant unions would go about sabotaging infrastructure, but it never really came to pass.

“In the modern-day context, it’s sort of in a way being subsumed by our modern terrorism legislation, however, clearly there’s still a place for it.”

Griffiths has listened to hours of audio and read thousands of messages that Philip made online, which has made it clear that the basis for his attack was Covid-19 conspiracies, and his concerns were not being addressed.

After his arrest and during the trial, Philip was supported by other members of the community who hold similar beliefs.

“He essentially used his supporters to whip them up into a hysteria of sorts. For the entire case, Graham has proclaimed his innocence online via letter writing, which are then photographed and republished on a Facebook page set up by his supporters. There are multiple people that have donated large sums of money to his legal fees.”

Griffith said the suppression order over Philip’s case helped fuel his supporters and theories around his case. Many supporters were present in court on Thursday.

While Philip pleaded guilty, and his lawyer stated in court that his client was remorseful, Griffiths said that two days ago, a letter from Philip posted on a Facebook page run by his supporters stated that he was coerced into pleading guilty.

“That’s in contrast to him standing up in court yesterday confirming again to the judge that yes, he was guilty.”

Listen to the full episode for more on Philip’s charges, his colourful background, the historical nature of his trial, what impact his attack on the power grid has had, and his lingering ties to the anti-vax community.