Richard Prosser
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First party list
In office
26 November 2011 – 23 September 2017
Personal details
Born
Richard Ivor Prosser

(1967-01-15)15 January 1967
Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand
Died10 June 2022(2022-06-10) (aged 55)
London, England
Political partyNew Zealand First (2010–2017)

Richard Ivor Prosser[1] (15 January 1967 – 10 June 2022) was a New Zealand politician, writer, and winemaker. He was a member of New Zealand First party and was a Member of parliament from 2011 to 2017. While in Parliament, he voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill, which allowed same sex marriage. He attracted international attention in 2013 when he called for all young men who were Muslim or who "look like a Muslim" to be banned from Western airlines.

Early life

Prosser was born in Henderson, Auckland, on 15 January 1967.[2][3] He grew up in Waikato and attended Hauraki Plains College.[2][4] Prosser lived in Britain for several years before returning to New Zealand in 1990. His work, prior to Parliament, included photographic technician, barman, engineering contractor, truck driver and sales representative.[5] Prosser also trained as a Reiki Master.[2] He moved to Otago in 1994 and took up wine making,[2][6] and obtained a Certificate in Grapegrowing and Winemaking from Eastern Institute of Technology in 2001.[2] By 2011 he was based in Canterbury, working as the South Island business development manager for an irrigation firm.[5]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2011–2014 50th List 4 NZ First
2014–2017 51st List 3 NZ First

Early unsuccessful elections

Prosser stood for the Democrats for Social Credit in the 2005 election in the Otago electorate.[6] He was ranked fourth on their party list;[7] the party received 0.05% of the party vote and did not get any MPs elected.[8] Prosser also ran in the 2007 Central Otago District local elections, both for mayor and for councillor for the Earnscleugh-Manuherikia Ward. In both elections, he came last out of three candidates.[6][9][10]

Prosser said that he wanted to restart the South Island Party, a political party which contested the 1999 general election.[6] He founded a "pressure group" of the same name, which was active around 2008, but it did not register as a political party. Instead, Prosser helped promote South Island First, another pressure group.[4]

Member of Parliament

Prosser joined New Zealand First in 2010 after attending a party meeting. He was later elected to the party's board of directors, and then selected as a parliamentary candidate for the 2011 election. He was ranked fourth on their party list.[5] He also ran as a candidate for the Waimakariri electorate. While he only received 588 electorate coming last of five candidates,[11] New Zealand First received 6.59% of the party vote and so Prosser won a list seat in the 50th Parliament.[12][13] For the 2014 general election he was ranked third on the party list[1] and retained his seat. However, for the 2017 general election, he was demoted to 15th on the list, which was too low to secure another term.[14][15]

His roles in Parliament included membership of the select committees for Law and Order, Primary Production, and Social Services. He was New Zealand First's spokesperson on various issues over the years, including agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and police.[16]

Political positions

For at least fourteen years, Prosser called for South Island separatism of some sort.[4] As of 2007, Prosser was calling for a separate South Island Parliament.[6][17] As of 2011 he still believed that South Island self-determination would come in some form, though felt it would be "generations away".[4]

Prosser advocated banning the burqa in New Zealand, saying "This is my culture and my country, not yours. Get some respect and conform."[18][19][20] He also advocated compulsory military training, calling those who would object "the pacifists, the weaklings, the other cowards and bludgers". He also called for arming bank tellers, dairy owners and taxi drivers.[18][19]

In 2013, Prosser voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill, which aimed to permit same sex marriage in New Zealand, with all of his fellow New Zealand First MPs.[21] Prosser said that he had ''nothing against gays'' but would vote against the bill to ''preserve the institution of marriage''.[22]

In May 2020, Prosser claimed on his website that the COVID-19 pandemic was a global conspiracy intended to transfer greater power to financial and political elites.[23]

Writing career

Prosser wrote the 'Eyes Right' column in the Investigate magazine for ten years.[17][24] In his columns, he suggested various political ideas including compulsory conscription in New Zealand.[25]

Prosser released the book Uncommon Dissent in January 2012 outlining his political opinions, in which he refers to himself as a "Kiwi Nationalist".[26] His claims in the book that "New Zealand society, Western society in general, has been hijacked by a conspiracy of Silly Little Girls" attracted heavy criticism from the Wellington Young Feminists Collective and the feminist blog Hand Mirror.[27][28]

Writing for Investigate magazine in February 2013, Prosser stated; "If you are a young male, aged between say about 19 and about 35, and you're a Muslim, or you look like a Muslim, or you come from a Muslim country, then you are not welcome to travel on any of the West's airlines".[29] Prosser further stated that the rights of New Zealanders' were being "denigrated by a sorry pack of misogynist troglodytes from Wogistan, threatening our way of life and security of travel in the name of their stone age religion, its barbaric attitudes towards women, democracy, and individual choice". Prosser wrote that "Abdul" should not be allowed to fly, and should instead "go ride a camel".[30] It subsequently emerged that Prosser's column was written after a pocket-knife he was carrying had been confiscated by airport security.[31] NZ First leader Winston Peters initially said that he would not apologise for Prosser's conduct, that he had been writing in his capacity as a columnist, as opposed to an MP, that Prosser stood by his statements, and that he had spoken to Prosser about the article as the article "lacked balance".[32]

Subsequently, Prosser came under criticism from the Government and Opposition parties for the content of his article. Prosser stated that his intention had been to draw attention to the issue of passenger profiling at airports, and stated that his writing style was intentionally one of a "shock jock". He initially refused to apologise,[33] but later admitted his article lacked balance, apologising for the offence that he had caused. He stated he would not continue to write for Investigate magazine.[34][35]

In March 2013 the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it "regrets" Prosser's remarks, and "welcomes the strong criticism of such statements by the Minister of Justice and Ethnic Affairs and the Race Relations Commissioner, among others".[36]

Personal life

As of 2011, Prosser's partner was Mel Francis, and the two had a two-year-old daughter and another child on the way.[18]

Prosser died in London, England, on 10 June 2022, aged 55.[37][38]

References

  1. 1 2 "2014 General Election Party Lists". Electoral Commission. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Richard Prosser". Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Prosser, Richard, 1967–". National Library of New Zealand. January 1967. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Price, Mark (10 December 2011). "Independent thinking (page 1)". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Dickison, Michael (29 November 2011). "Election 2011: New kids on the block". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Winemaker latest hopeful for Central Otago mayor". The Southland Times. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Democrats for Social Credit party list". The New Zealand Herald. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "Official Count Results -- Overall Status".
  9. ↑ "Central Otago District Mayor". Local elections. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Central Otago District Council – Earnscleugh-Manuherikia Ward". Local Elections. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "Official Count Results -- Waimakariri".
  12. ↑ "Official Count Results -- Overall Status".
  13. ↑ Moore, Martin (26 November 2011). "Two NZ First MPs for Christchurch". The Press. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "NZ First releases party list". Newshub. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "NZ First 'down the gurgler' if they side with National - Richard Prosser". Newshub. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  16. ↑ "Prosser, Richard - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  17. 1 2 Cheng, Derek (26 November 2011). "Triumphant Peters claims victory". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 Smith, Cullen (7 December 2011). "New NZ First MP: Ban the Burqa". Star Canterbury. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  19. 1 2 Donnell, Hayden (8 December 2012). "Winston won't say if supports burqa-ban MP". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "NZ First parliament newbie won't be shy". Stuff. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Marriage equality bill: How MPs voted". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  22. ↑ "Parliament to vote on gay marriage bill". Stuff. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  23. ↑ Prosser, Richard (25 May 2020). "The Unpalatable Truth regarding Jacinda Ardern and the Con-vid 19 Plandemic". Eyes Right. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ↑ "Columnist to Stand for NZ First". Voxy.co.nz. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  25. ↑ "Eyes Right Richard..." 7 December 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2013 – via Facebook.
  26. ↑ "'Ban the Burqa' MP's Book Goes Further | Scoop News". Investigate Magazine (Press release). 31 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  27. ↑ "InvestigateDaily – Feminists plan pigtail protest over Prosser book". Investigatemagazine.co.nz. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  28. ↑ Julie (31 January 2012). "The Hand Mirror: MCP Watch: Richard Prosser MP". Thehandmirror.blogspot.co.nz. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  29. ↑ NZ First MP: Ban Muslims from flights The New Zealand Herald, 12 February 2013.
  30. ↑ "Parties coy on Coalition with NZ First after MP's "Wogistan" rant". TVNZ. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  31. ↑ "Editorial: The man revealed". Stuff. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  32. ↑ Andrea, Vance. "MP's "Wogistan" rant too extreme". Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  33. ↑ "No apology over Muslim statements". 3 News NZ. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  34. ↑ Vernon, Small. ""Wogistan" MP should resign – Islamic leader". Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  35. ↑ Burr, Lloyd (13 February 2013). "Prosser says 'sorry'... kind of". 3 News NZ. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  36. ↑ "Prosser's anti-Muslim rant reaches UN". 3 News NZ. 4 March 2013.
  37. ↑ "Former NZ First MP Richard Prosser dies aged 55". Stuff. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  38. ↑ "Former NZ First MP Richard Prosser dies aged 55". The Spinoff. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
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