95bFM Far-right Christian extremist movements and their influence in Aotearoa
3 July, 2023
Interview by Spike Keith
Expert on far and alt-right extremism, Byron C. Clark, says that while getting into parliament is unlikely, he is concerned about the influence Christian extremist movements could have in Aotearoa. Image: Byron C. Clark.
On 13 June, City Impact Church held a “Christian Summit” at their North Shore megachurch, to push a coordinated electoral campaign heading into the election in October.
The event was attended by various far-right organisations and figures who discussed what they perceive as problems facing New Zealand society.
These 'problems' included anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQIA+, and pro-conversion therapy talking points, as well as conspiracy theories relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccines, and lockdowns.
On 95bFM’s The Wire, Spike spoke to Byron C. Clark, an expert on the far-right and alt-right extremism, about whether a combined collaboration between these far-right parties and organisations could have influence in this year's election.
“I think they realise that if they have any chance of getting into parliament, there needs to be some sort of unity between those Christian parties, and potentially also with some of the other small parties that may not be Christian but have similar views.”
The five far-right parties in attendance at the summit won a combined total of around two to three percent of the total party vote in the 2020 elections.
But Clark said that despite their similar ideological views, there is division preventing them from forming a coalition.
“I think what's preventing it [a coalition] is a lot of big egos in that space.”
“People want to be the leader or they want to be the largest party…”
“...they have various meetings about having some kind of coalition but never seem to come out with one.”
In 2022, controversial conspiracy theorists Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki and NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party leader co-leader, anti-vax lawyer Sue Grey, combined their parties to create the Freedoms NZ Umbrella Party.
But Clark believes this partnership does not have enough influence to see the Christian far-right reach parliament.
“The country leans very, very progressive, and the actual audience for these ideas is still pretty small, so we shouldn't be too concerned that one of these groups will get into parliament.”
Clark did raise concerns about the potential influence these groups can have outside of parliament.
“If they are polling high enough to be part of debates, they can then have the effect of widening the Overton window, bringing issues into the wider political discussion that previously were outside the bounds of acceptable debate.”
Hannah Blake, an activist focused on orthodox conservative and Christian extremist movements, told The Wire that New Zealanders often underestimate the threat of Christian extremism and how some churches covertly push their harmful ideologies.
“They like to do charitable work, but push their ideas through those charitable organisations.”
“A lot of evangelical churches are against sex work. So they handle that as they try and do a lot of outreach towards sex workers, with the end goal of ending sex work, as opposed to actually supporting the sex workers.”
Blake mentioned that organisations like Family First, a far-right Christian organisation that opposes gay marriage, abortion, and the ban on conversion therapy, encourage members to share misinformation and propaganda.
“You've got people like Bob McCarthy from Family First, who set out to take current ‘cultural issues’ and give Christians the tools and the language to talk to not only the community, but local politicians and to parliament so that they can influence the masses.”
“They provide a very handy breakdown, quotes, pieces of legislation, what to say, and who to contact.”
She feels uneasy about the coordinated effort from these groups to get into parliament.
“My main concern is that they will try and get a relatively politically sophisticated party together and get a seat by getting one MP elected in an area that is generally conservative.”
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
