(Open Letter to the Minister for Courts -- slightly edited)

 

Dear Mr. Burrows,

 

I am writing to draw to your attention three incidents in which I have been at the receiving end of discriminatory and unprofessional behaviour by staff at the Wellington High Court. I am a Men's Rights Activist (MRA) of long standing and am used to being recognised as being one.

1. In 2006, after gaining an LLB degree, I completed an online Professional Legal Studies course. As part of that course, I had to attend a court case and report on it. So I went to the Wellington High Court and spoke to a woman (they all seemed to be women!) at the office counter, asking her if I could have permission to take notes during the court case. I had been told by my instructor to do this. Immediately, a young blonde woman some distance away in the open-plan office shouted out "You can't!". Not only was this offensive, but it was also untrue, because I easily got permission and took notes during the court hearing.

2. In 2009 I initiated a civil action at the Wellington High Court against various parties, including the Families Commission. One of the main issues was their support of the anti-male White Ribbon Campaign. The woman who I mainly spoke to at the counter about this was called (if my memory serves me right) Deina. I had a few chats with her about her Greek homeland, since I had just been to Greece. On subsequent visits to speak to her about my case, I noticed that a visiting card had suddenly appeared, standing vertically at her window. It was a Families Commission visiting card, and the White Ribbon symbol was facing out. Since she knew that I was upset about and angered by the sexism and discrimination which the Families Commission and White Ribbon involved, it was nothing less than bitchiness, bullying and unprofessional behaviour for her to suddenly have that card in her window at that time.

3. Last month (June 2014), I appealed at the Wellington High Court a District Court conviction which was based on the lies of a group of (mainly) women. The court official who liaised with my lawyer and me about the case was a woman called Sarla. My complaint about her is that she misspelled my name in the subject-line of an email. I complained about it, and she apologised twice. The second time she apologised was in person, outside the courtroom. She misspoke, apologising at first for mispronouncing my name -- and then correcting it to misspelling. This is significant, because I am known for advocating equality in cross-racial pronunciation matters.  As you know, the mass media have taught people that you should pronounce Maori-origin words in English the way they are pronounced in Maori -- although Maoris are never so craven or servile that they pronounce English-origin words in Maori the way they are pronounced in English! They just pronounce them any old way that feels comfortable to them -- which is what happens between pairs of languages in sane countries (i.e. not in New Zealand). So Whites try (and fail) to pronounce "Tauranga" the way it is pronounced in Maori, while Maoris pronounce "Queen Victoria" as "Kuini Wikitoria." I know that this issue was on Sarla's mind, because she looked very angry when I mentioned to my lawyer's Korean junior that New Zealanders (i.e. the New Zealand media) never bother to pronounce Chinese tones correctly. Sarla is a Polynesian, addressed the judge (a Maori judge) in Maori, and the judge refused my appeal -- so I am bound to wonder if the judge was biased.

It is my experience that women in New Zealand -- in all walks of life -- have a sense of entitlement to oppress men. This is because women have gained all sorts of rights on the basis that they wanted "equality", but male politicians have been too weak or ignorant to hold them to that "equality" standard. However, I would like to request that you please at least try to make the court system a bit less Female Supremacist.