Sunday host Miriama Kamo has defended the right of her programme to air a segment on controversial alt-right speakers Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux's visit to New Zealand.
The pair were due to speak at Auckland's Power Station venue before the owner backed out, and while the event did not take place, Molyneux yesterday called it a "success".
Kamo, who fronts the TVNZ current affairs show, said there have been calls for Sunday to be boycotted, with some saying the views of the pair should not be given such a prominent platform.
"Even before the story airs, we’ve had extensive and quite astonishing commentary about the content of our story, when only a fraction of it has been seen in public," Kamo said in a personal statement.
"As journalists, it’s our role to examine our society, to canvas a diversity of views, and to reflect who we are and who we want to be.
"By demanding that we close down debate and discussion on what has been a huge story, we must then ask ‘what else should we ignore, what other views should we suppress, which other stories should we turn away from?’
"You may not like what this controversial pair has to say, but it forces us to confront the very core of what free speech and hate speech is all about."
Kamo said she appreciates many people are "insulted, offended and disgusted by the views of the Canadian duo".
She also said there have also been suggestions that she herself, as a Māori woman, should not front the episode.
"I reject that," she said, "our story this week is told by reporter Tania Page, another Māori woman.
"The notion that we should distance ourselves from this story is patronising ... it has dominated the news agenda for over a fortnight.
"As an experienced journalist and as a Māori woman, I do not need protection.
"If it is seen as some sort of race betrayal, I return to the notion that no-one has seen our story yet - watch it first, and then decide.
Stefan Molyneux an Lauren Southern’s event today was cancelled at the last moment.
"I believe in the right to have a view and to back it vigorously ... I believe in protest, so I also believe that when we are confronted by views we cannot accept, it creates a platform upon which we can crystallise and refine our personal position on issues; that we can decide where we fall on the question of free speech, where it starts and ends, and at what point we decide that it’s gone too far.
"Our opinions and our right to express them is at the heart of the democracy that we all enjoy."
Sunday airs tonight on TVNZ 1 at 7.30pm.
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