John Armstrong's opinion: The biggest problem facing Brian Tamaki's party is the Destiny Church leader himself

June 8, 2019

The Destiny Church leader made the comments to a congregation in south Auckland last night.

Brian Tamaki’s express wish that his (sort of) apology for repeatedly castigating gays be the first step in the forging of a relationship of tolerance between Destiny Church and the rainbow community is a joke.

And not a very funny joke at that.

For all of his chatter about him and Destiny building bridges with those who speak on behalf of New Zealand’s gay population, it can be safely assumed that is something which is not going to happen.

That is not solely down to the deep antipathy that gays and lesbians understandably feel towards Destiny’s founder.

The scepticism from that quarter is of similar volume when it comes to his motives or asking to come to calming the troubled waters which he is responsible for making so stormy.

Tamaki has nothing to gain from any such rapprochement — and thus no interest or intention of going to the trouble of trying to establish one.

Mr Tamaki made the announcement with his wife Hannah in Auckland today.

The truth is that his saying sorry to gays and lesbians is hardly likely to see voters from that segment of society rushing to the ballot box at next year’s general election in order to cast their votes for Coalition New Zealand, Tamaki’s latest political venture. 

To give him his due, Tamaki’s public admission that the anti-gay invective that he has spouted since his coming to national prominence back in 2004 through his spearheading of Destiny’s infamous “Enough is Enough” rally at Parliament is unacceptable is refreshing in its honesty.

But that honesty is only honest if his recanting of the past is genuine.

Just how genuine is Tamaki’s apparent volte-face can be gauged from a number of things.

For starters, his penitence only goes so far. He still regards being gay as a sin.

The suspicion is that he finds the word “sorry” easy to say. Far too easy, in fact.

Furthermore, his acknowledgment of the hurt caused by the extreme nature of his anti-gay statements should not be viewed in isolation.

It would be naive in the extreme to believe that his renouncing of slights on gays is unconnected to the launch of Coalition New Zealand two weeks ago.

Tamaki’s contrition is about as genuine as the proverbial three dollar bill.

It is not merely a joke. It is a joke at the expense of the gay community. His drastic shift in stance following years of firing tirades and taunts is not motivated by any sense of guilt about how high and for so long Destiny has flown the flag of homophobia.

The audience he is seeking is not found in the oases of liberalism which are the inner city suburbs of the metropolitan centres. The apparent repentance is designed to reach a very different audience.

His target is the moral conservatives in the provincial heartland who believe the nation has been going to hell in a hand-cart for quite some time — but that is doing so at even greater velocity with the Labour Party and the Greens running the show.

With the pending review of the country’s 40-year-old abortion laws expected to see amending legislation tabled in Parliament within a matter of weeks and the detail of the promised referendum on the legalisation of cannabis yet to be hammered out along with the distinct possibility of a separate referendum on the introduction of euthanasia, Tamaki has likely judged there will never be a better chance of a party based on Christian values securing seats in Parliament.

Party leader Hannah Tamaki talks about the newly formed party on Breakfast.

Destiny New Zealand — Tamaki’s last experiment in running a Christian-based Party — secured less than 1 per cent in its sole outing at the 2005 election.

Coalition New Zealand — a moniker which the Electoral Commission will surely veto on the basis of the confusion it might cause — will struggle to do any better in 2020.

What is apparent is that his new political vehicle is much more focused as to from where it might be able to draw votes.

It is painting itself as a party that will uphold Christian values. But it is not falling into the trap of ghettoising itself as a “Christian party”. It will likely sell itself as the only viable alternative to Labour voters in the Māori seats.

It will hope to attract those voters who backed New Zealand First in 2017, but who have since deserted that party.

It might try to pitch itself as the coalition partner that National is looking for.

That might not be a wise thing to do, however.

Labour could never work with Tamaki and would make a virtue of refusing to do so. Simon Bridges could well do likewise. That would make a vote for Coalition New Zealand a wasted vote. It would make Tamaki’s party irrelevant.

The biggest problem facing Tamaki’s new Party is Tamaki himself.

His arrogance and high-handedness combined with the ultra-abrasive style of his politics make him about the last person you might wish to have fronting such a party.

Maybe that is why he has installed his wife as Coalition New Zealand’s leader.

Marae’s Hikurangi Jackson followed the Tamaki whānau as they invited the LGBTI community into their church and launched their new political party.

What is pretty clear is that Tamaki’s apology to the gay community clearly designed to paint him as more of a tolerant, understanding and compassionate persona than the testosterone-fulled beast which has been his abiding image since he shot to national prominence.

It might sound good in theory. But any such transformation in Tamaki’s image is nigh on impossible in practice.

The public’s view of Tamaki has long been fixed in concrete. Back in 2012, the Reader’s Digest accorded him the title of least trusted public figure alongside Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and former Pike Rive mine boss Peter Whittall.

It is unlikely much has changed in the interim. Tamaki’s penchant for reflective sunglasses, leather jackets, gang-style patches and the Harley-Davidson motor cycles remains unchanged. It is the uniform of belligerence. It is a massive electoral turn-off.

It is not smart politics from someone who is a lot smarter than opponents are willing to give him credit.

He has clearly worked out that new parties have a habit of disappearing from view once the hoopla surrounding their launch is over.

That can often prove to be fatal. Just witness the struggle that Gareth Morgan’s The Opportunities Party had in setting the political agenda despite having such a garrulous founder. Just witness how the Sustainable New Zealand party has fallen off the radar in the wake of it being posited as a potential coalition partner for National.

Tamaki can be accused of many things, but being shy when it comes to the media is not one of them.

He understands that building support for Coalition New  Zealand requires frequent and substantial media coverage. He understands that the media feasts on matters of controversy, things which are out of the ordinary and things unexpected. His apology to gays and lesbians fitted that bill perfectly.

Tamaki’s prominence in the media in recent months has been quite astonishing. It is way higher than someone whose party is not represented in Parliament can normally expect.

Tamaki’s skill is to pontificate in such highly provocative fashion that other public figures feel obliged to respond in order to defend the targets of his attacks.

Witness his argument with Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis regarding the latter’s vetoing of Tamaki’s Man Up programme for violent offenders.

Witness his slamming of Jacinda Ardern’s decision to hold an Islamic call to prayer ahead of the two minutes of silence held for the victims of the Christchurch shootings.

Likewise his attack on Islam as a "false religion". 

Tamaki can get away with saying what others are thinking but are reluctant to voice.

That can be an advantage if used judiciously. But Tamaki’s tendency to go right over the top and far beyond makes him the coalition partner from hell.

And that could see Tamaki’s party shot down in flames before it has barely become airborne.

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