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Anthony Phelps/Stuff
Julian Batchelor has hosted more than 60 seminars on his Stop Co Governance tour.
Anti-co-governance campaigner Julian Batchelor says he has filed defamation proceedings against a researcher and state-owned broadcaster TVNZ, claiming that he has supporters with “deep pockets” willing to support the effort.
It comes as Batchelor plans a series of public events intended to rally supporters against co-governance ahead of the election, starting with an event at the Destiny Church headquarters on Saturday.
Batchelor has hosted more than 60 seminars in his “Stop Co-Governance” roadshow, which recently completed a leg around the South Island. The tour has attracted considerable controversy, including physical and verbal scuffles between attendees and protesters.
His seminars include inflammatory rhetoric about Māori and the growing visibility of Māori culture in public life. Batchelor has said teaching children to speak te reo Māori is child abuse, and has likened usage of the words “Kia ora” to “heil Hitler”.
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Sanjana Hattotuwa is a researcher with The Disinformation Project.
Some critics have accused Batchelor of inciting racism towards Māori. Among them is Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa , research director at The Disinformation Project.
His comments were published by TVNZ last month prompting Batchelor – who has said the comments were “hurtful and false” – to start legal proceedings against both Hattotuwa and the state-owned broadcaster. It is understood he is seeking from TVNZ a payment of $50,000 and an apology aired on the 6pm news.
The status of the legal action is unclear. While Batchelor has said the lawsuits are filed, TVNZ said on Friday it had not received any such notice.
“We’re aware of Mr Batchelor’s public comments about this,” a TVNZ spokeswoman said. “We have not received any legal proceedings from Mr Batchelor.”
TVNZ had made a minor edit to an online version of the story after Batchelor’s initial complaint, but did not remove Hattotuwa’s comments.
When he teased the lawsuit last week on The Platform, Batchelor claimed he had financial supporters willing to help him.
“We’ve got some really big backers behind this – I can’t tell you who they are – but people who are prepared to go the whole way and have very deep pockets”, Batchelor said. He did not say who those funders were when asked by The Press.
Batchelor has regularly positioned himself as a champion of free speech and has accused his critics of trying to silence him.
He denied his legal action was seeking to do the same.
“It is not hypocritical to shut down someone who is shutting down free speech,” Batchelor told The Press.
“We are actually suing someone so as to defend the right to free speech.”
Hattotuwa, through The Disinformation Project, declined to comment.
Read more in The Press: Julian Batchelor warns the apocalypse is coming – but has he got NZ’s history muddled?
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