Julian Batchelor
[7] He studied educational psychology at Massey University's Palmerston North campus from 1980 to 1985[8] where he underwent a born again experience in 1982 and converted to Christianity.
[2] Journalist Matthew Scott has likened Batchelor's evangelical zeal to American televangelists Billy Graham and Joel Osteen.
[3] According to Otago Daily Times columnist Jean Balchin, Batchelor subscribes to a binary evangelical Christian worldview of good versus evil which framed his political views on Māori social and cultural objectives and co-governance.
To fund the development and restoration of the Lodge, Batchelor briefly became a real estate agent for Barfoot & Thompson in Auckland and Whangārei.
[9][10] In late 2015, Batchelor became locked in a dispute with local Rawhiti residents over the construction of a conspicuous 3-metre-high retaining wall at the frontage to the Lodge that is next to a public road and the sea.
Key complaints to FNDC against Batchelor included that his retaining wall was constructed on unstable land; he had removed or heavily pruned, very old and culturally-important pohutukawa trees next to the road; his earthworks polluted the beach during a storm; and his activities and land changes around the Lodge had disrupted Māori access to a culturally-important cemetery.
[10] The FNDC issued Batchelor and his company (Gracealone Oke Bay Holdings) four infringement notices for non-compliance totalling NZ$3,000.
[11] In July 2020, a local iwi (tribe) applied for Heritage New Zealand to designate parts of his land as wāhi tapu.
[12] In 1997, Batchelor organised an anti-gay letter-writing campaign and over 200 letters arrived at Auckland City Council protesting the Hero Parade.
[14] In 2000, Batchelor used images of Martin Luther King, Dame Whina Cooper, Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi to protest against gay rights in Auckland.
His roadshow was controversial, with critics accusing Batchelor of promoting anti-Māori racism[15] and disinformation about the Government's co-governance policies.
Batchelor failed to substantiate his claim that the media had "twisted, contorted and fraudulently manipulated the Treaty to give elite Māori massive wealth and assets that belong to all New Zealanders".
[19] He referred to the diabolical behaviour of dictators in his talks in order to motivate his audience to reject co-governance by instilling fear.
[30] A petition organised by Kaipara District Council Māori ward councillor Pera Paniora that gathered 1700 signatories in 24 hours requested Attorney-General David Parker take action against Batchelor for allegedly inciting racial disharmony as a result of his "misinformation, lies and insults toward Maori".
Batchelor claimed his supporters had made the booking in good faith and he criticised the actions of the protesters for taking away his right to free speech.
He published the venue owner's contact details and photograph and encouraged his followers to send an email to them objecting to their decision.
[49] Batchelor advised on 9 September 2023 that he would file a defamation lawsuit against TVNZ and The Disinformation Project director Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, who had allegedly accused him of inciting racism against Māori people.
[12] The second march in Wellington comprised 30-100 of Batchelor's supporters who were well-outnumbered by counter-protesters, including Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition and Christian leaders opposed to his message.
The Stop Co-Governance protesters sang the national anthem God Defend New Zealand in English but not Māori.
[53][54] Issues highlighted by New Zealand's anti co-governance movement were recently summarised and compared with Australia's "Indigenous Voice to Parliament" referendum.
However, Professor Dominic O'Sullivan from Charles Sturt University stated that Batchelor's objections to co-governance "did not have any foundation in democratic principles or inclusion – they are purely racist".
[55] Batchelor's "Vision 2023-2026" strategy included the development of an on-line teaching resource for discussion by small groups whose purpose would be to "counter the government's narrative on the Treaty, to inform the public regularly about key issues of co-governance and to raise an army of 100's of thousands who would be willing to go into battle to stop co-governance completely at the next election in 2026".
