CHRISTCHURCH man Matthew Horncastle, published his political opinion on his own digital billboard, which led to the New Zealand Electoral Commission referring him to police.
“Here is what I did. I put political speech on my own digital billboard on Moorhouse Ave in Christchurch – the message was simple: do not vote for Labour, the Greens or Te Pāti Māori.”
Te Pati Maori is modern Maori for the Maori Party, who consist basically a mixture of Green, Labor and indigenist ideologies.
Back in the 1970s, Maori activists travelled to China to learn all about Maoism, and how to win friends and influence people for the sake of the Communist Party. Six of them now sit in the NZ Parliament.
Meanwhile Matthew Horncastle says his political advert ran for a short time period, on an unrented screen, at no cost to anyone.
“There was no secret donor. There was no hidden campaign. There was no political machine,” he says.
“It was me, expressing my opinion, on my billboard.”
The billboard message also included the obligatory “Approved by Matthew Horncastle.”
Then three people apparently complained to the New Zealand Electoral Commission, which emailed Mr Horncastle on June 3rd and June 17th asking for a response. “Those emails went to my junk folder. I never saw them,” he said.
And then, without ever actually reaching him, the Commission referred him to Police on July 3rd.
The Electoral Commission issued a public statement saying his billboards “did not contain promoter statements” at all.
“That statement is false. The billboards did contain the words “Approved by Matthew Horncastle.”
“The Commission’s own referral letter admits that. Their actual allegation is that the billboard did not include separate contact details. That is a completely different issue,” he said.
“So a government body publicly misstated the facts about a private citizen, referred that citizen to Police, and did all of this over political speech. That should concern every New Zealander.”
Mr Horncastle says his concern is now “much bigger than a billboard”.
“I am concerned the Electoral Commission has been compromised by people with left-wing values who are hostile to right-wing speech and free speech.
“If the Commission is neutral, the documents will show that. If it is not, the public deserves to know.
“That is why I have filed a formal OIA and Privacy Act request demanding the complaints, the internal assessment, the full referral package sent to Police, proof of contact attempts, and referral statistics since 2023.
“The Electoral Commission does not own political debate. The state does not own my billboard.
“The state does not own my opinion, the state does not own my speech.
“A free country requires citizens who are allowed to criticise political parties. I intend to get to the bottom of this.”
Cairns News says well done Matthew Horncastle. This is the attitude we need to see more of, whether it’s New Zealand, Australia or elsewhere in the western world where corporations (public and private) think they rule the roost.
