Goff didn’t wait, instead sending a tweet condemning the pair and stating “Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux will not be speaking at any Council venues”. The booking was duly cancelled due to “security concerns” around the “health and safety” of the presenters, staff and patrons.
The evening Goff sent his tweet, in the Taxpayers Union (TU) office on Lambton Quay in Wellington, a group of colleagues enjoying after-work drinks vented their outrage at the temerity of the Auckland mayor deciding who they could or could not listen to in a publicly-owned venue. After all, it was Friday night and most of them were young enough not to have to worry about rushing home to children and responsibilities. The workplace, above the Local Government New Zealand office, is modest but the walls are triumphantly plastered with front-page stories the TU has featured in over the years.
The following day, it being a Wellington Saturday in winter, rain was bucketing down when one of the group returned to the office, texted his colleagues and asked if they would like to come in and “do a whiteboard session” on the issue. Four people turned up at 2pm and brainstormed furiously until the early hours of the following morning. They were back in the office at 9am on Sunday. By 10am Monday, they had opened a bank account and created a website. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) was born.
By Yvonne van Dongen for North & South