Christ Trotter has based his latest column on the word of anti-TPP activist Josie Butler –  Protecting the TPP

The heavily guarded Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (TPP) travelling roadshow came to Christchurch last week.

The word “heavily” is used advisedly. According to the reportage of Josie Butler (who staged a peaceful protest at the event and was escorted from the auditorium)…

Apparently Butler hid a dildo down her pants to get past bag searches.

…the roadshow was not only protected by upwards of 30 police officers, but also by 40 members of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Those numbers surprise me. I saw two or three police officers outside the Dunedin venue (and the same number of protesters, and no one that looked like they were from the New Zealand Defence Force.

Butler’s reportage further alleges that the roadshow had at least one other protector – its government-appointed chairman, broadcaster Sean Plunket.

If Butler’s description of the proceedings is accurate…

That would surprise me.

…then it is fair to say that Plunket has opted for an alarmingly heavy-handed approach to chairing these gatherings. Participants are restricted to asking questions of the presenters and will be interrupted aggressively if they so much as attempt to contextualise their queries. Hecklers are summarily ejected.

There was no sign of this at all in Dunedin. Plunket was polite and gentle with questioners. The only times he interrupted ‘questions’ was to ask for an actual question rather than a long statement (which are the bane of public meetings).

Plunket told me that in Christchurch most of those attending were well behaved and participated reasonably, and there was a small number of very vocal protesters.

What was presented to New Zealanders as an opportunity to participate in a free and frank discussion of the costs and benefits of the TPP, is being experienced by those attendees not already convinced of the agreement’s benefits as little more than a crude propaganda exercise.

That’s a crude assessment based on the word of one fairly extreme protester.

Even worse, these meetings are alleged to have been conducted in a fashion that treats dissent as a hostile and potentially criminal act.

Disrupting events can be seen as hostile. Throwing objects at people is seen as  a potentially criminal act by many people. Outside the Christchurch event Butler squirted a liquid at people. That’s not just dissent, that’s aggressive attack.

The case in favour of the TPP needs to be made in full acknowledgement of its inherently adversarial nature. After all, the roadshow is the first official occasion for the public’s direct participation in the TPP debate. Critics of the deal should, therefore, be encouraged by the chair to make their case, and the government’s spokespeople required to answer their criticisms as well as their questions.

I saw exactly that in Dunedin.

Certainly, Butler’s description of the Christchurch roadshow makes a strong prima facie case for concern. In her report of the event she states that: “I went to the first security check point which was at the front driveway to the [Rydges] hotel. The guards asked for my ID, and whilst I was getting it out I noticed one of the guys had an army badge pinned to his lapel, I asked him if he was military and he confirmed that all security present today were army personnel.”

I didn’t see anything like that in Dunedin, but unlike Christchurch we don’t have a military camp handy.

Constitutionally-speaking, this claim is particularly alarming. The only circumstances in which it is justifiable for the Civil Power to call upon the assistance of the Military Power are those in which there is a demonstrable threat to life and property. Historically, the involvement of the military has been confined to helping out during natural disasters and, extremely rarely, to the quelling of widespread public disorder – like that following the 1932 Queen Street Riot. Nothing even remotely resembling such circumstances were present last Friday in Christchurch.

I don’t know whether the military has been only confined to helping in natural disasters before or not. They don’t appear to have caused any problems in Christchurch.

Frankly, it would be a whole lot better for New Zealand if Butler’s record of the Christchurch TPP roadshow turns out to be inaccurate.

I think some of it probably was inaccurate, or at least quite slanted.

That Plunket was, in fact, the soul of politeness and a stalwart facilitator of free speech and open debate.

He was in Dunedin.

And that whoever Butler spoke to about his military lapel badge turns out to have been pulling her leg about the composition of the security detail. Because, if her version of events is proved correct, then New Zealand is in a world of trouble.

I don’t know if this is the big deal that Trotter is trying to make of it or not.

And according to this TVNZ report Plunket sounds polite in dealing with Butler:

Dildo throwing nurse returns with sex toy at Christchurch TPP event

Nurse Josie Butler used a remarkably similar dildo at the Government’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) roadshow in Christchurch yesterday, which was filmed on camera.

Speaking at the event at the Rydges Hotel she attempted to hold a presentation ceremony for chief TPP negotiator David Walker.

“David Walker, I am here today on behalf of the vast majority of New Zealanders to present you with the New Zealand Dick of the Year Award,” she said.

However, a security guard removes the microphone from Ms Butler, while moderator Sean Plunket can be heard saying “no, you’re not, Josie”.

“Okay, thank you, Josie. That is great,” he said, as Mrs Butler is led away by security staff.

That doesn’t sound like “an alarmingly heavy-handed approach”.

And Butler doesn’t act on behalf of “the vast majority of New Zealanders” who I suspect will see her as an embarrassing nuisance.

But Trotter is prepared to take her at her word and base a major scandal on it.

Has anyone else voiced any concerns about the Christchurch Roadshow? I can’t find any.