The Public Service Association (PSA) says the harassment of staff at the Ministry for Pacific Peoples on Thursday morning is alarming and disquieting.
The PSA also condemns media comments made by ACT Leader David Seymour about the Ministry.
The incident at the Ministry’s office took place before Seymour made his comments, and there is no direct link between these two specific incidents.
However, PSA National Secretary Kerry Davies says that Seymour’s comment is just the latest attack on the public service, and on institutions such as the Ministry, the Human Rights Commission and Ministry for Women, which aim to support groups facing systemic inequity.
“These attacks go far beyond holding the public service to account. Their effect is to drum up resentment towards specific groups – public servants, Pacific peoples, and others,” Davies says.
“In our view the constant targeting feeds a polarised political environment that is often dangerous to those specific groups. The harassment of Ministry employees is an example of how things can escalate in such a hostile environment,” Davies says.
Seymour’s framing of his comment as a “joke” showed a lack of awareness from a senior politician, Davies says. “It is never a joke for someone in a position of power or a political leader to talk about killing people,” Davies says.
