About 40 Right Wing Resistance members and 100 counter rally attendees came head to head in St Albans  at the annual Right Wing Rally in Christchurch.

There was a line of police separating the two groups to prevent confrontation. One person was arrested at the beginning of the rally on an unrelated matter, police said. It was unusual to have a counter rally but generally people were well-behaved.

One counter rally attendee said he came because he wanted to show the RWR was not the face of Christchurch. “I came to help there be more people to show there's people against this.

"It's not pride. It's not free speech. They have Nazi symbols and Nazi signs. It's hate speech.’’

Another rally attendee said he heard about the counter rally on Facebook and came because he hated racism. "I just want to stand up against it. All the people who must get harassed daily by these people, I want them to know not everybody in Christchurch is like that.

"I feel sorry for those [RWR] people with their misguided views. I think it's fine to be proud of their culture, but they shouldn't trample of other people's cultures.’’‘‘Christchurch is a multi-cultural city. We are all New Zealanders. It’s great to see so many people here at the counter rally,’’ said another demonstrator. 

Another demonstrator said people should emphasise their similarities rather than their differences, and there were deep-seated issues behind the RWR rally.

‘‘When people are living in a time when the economy is so unstable, they need a group to feel like they can belong. I understand where the other group are coming from because they want something to belong to. But choosing something that they can belong to shouldn’t be be based on something so superficial [as race].’’

The counter rally demonstrators carried signs saying, "Pride in your heritage is fine. Intolerance of other isn't" and "One race: Human’’. Slogans such as "Two four six eight, we don't want your racist hate" were chanted.

Members of the RWR carried New Zealand flags, White Power flags, and placards saying "Equal Rights for New Zealand whites’’ and ‘‘Stop the anti-white propaganda’’.

Insults were traded between the two groups, and traffic was disrupted as the rallies marched down from Abberley Park to Merivale Mall, but the demonstrators all departed peacefully. 

- The Press

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