Ezra Levant recounts his first visit to New Zealand (August 25), criticizing Jacinda Ardern’s pandemic censorship—her "WEF-backed" Christchurch Call and support for Canada’s C-11, C-18, C-36, and Online Harms Act. At a church launch for Avi Yamini’s Rebel from the Start, Levant highlights Maori resistance to smear campaigns and fears of Antifa-style intimidation, like the violent treatment of Posey Parker. With bodyguards in tow, Rebel News defies Ardern’s policies, including gun restrictions, while Levant teases clashes between activists and rebels in Auckland and Wellington before returning to Canada. [Automatically generated summary]
It's August 25th, and this is the Ezra Levant show.
Shame on you, you censorious bug.
Hello from beautiful New Zealand.
I've never been here before.
It's a very long journey.
I've been traveling a little bit.
We went to Maui for the wildfire story, and I think we made a difference.
We reported the news at a website called thetruthaboutmaui.com.
A ton of views.
I think we did some real journalism.
And I'm also very proud of the fact that our rebel viewers crowdfunded $25,000, actually even more than that, for one of the non-FEMA citizen-led relief camps there.
I think that was a really good trip to do.
And I think it's something citizen journalists are good at.
Now, New Zealand is a small country, quite far away from anywhere else.
It's even far away from Australia.
I grew up thinking they were right next to each other.
No, it's a four-hour flight from Melbourne to New Zealand.
That's quite a distance.
It's about 5 million people, and they're great, but they're at the edge of the world.
So we don't think about them that much.
Over recent years, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister who resigned not that long ago, made headlines, though, for being one of the most strident leftist, extremist globalists.
And it won't surprise you to know that she's cut from the same cloth as Justin Trudeau, being a young leader at the World Economic Forum.
She was also the head of the socialist international youth, which tells you a little something about her.
She took an extremely heavy hand during the lockdowns of the pandemic, really using it as an excuse to throttle freedoms in this country.
And the most terrifying part was her insistence on censorship.
And we'll talk a little bit more about that soon.
One of the things that I think was a proof of the authoritarianism in this country that took root under Jacinda Ardern was when our Australian chief correspondent, Avi Yamini, wanted to come here just to talk, not to make a fuss.
Well, to make a rhetorical fuss, maybe, but certainly nothing dangerous.
And Ardern's government illegally banned him from coming in like he was some sort of terrorist.
You know what?
I didn't believe they were going to succeed in having me banned in a free Western democracy.
But hey, I gave too much credit to Jacinta Ardern's New Zealand.
Jacinta Ardern, her government, her ministry have banned a journalist.
A journalist, by the way, that has traveled the world on the same Australian passport.
But for some reason, I'm not good enough to enter New Zealand.
I understand that it is solely for immigration, and it's not something I had any awareness of until I saw some commentary online.
In New Zealand, a country that follows the same liberal freedom of speech and has the same heritage that we have in Canada or they have in Australia.
It's the UK heritage of freedom and the right to dissent and the right to criticize government.
Because we were able to crowdfund lawyers, we challenged that and Avi was allowed in.
And so we're in New Zealand for the book launch of Avi's new autobiography.
It's a symbolic taking of the turf.
Now, there's a lot of interesting folks in New Zealand.
And just like Avi has told the story of Australia for Australians, but it was also of interest to people around the world.
I think the same is true in some ways for New Zealand too.
What I mean by that is, of course, New Zealanders need the other side of the story.
They need a more robust debate.
They need more points of view allowed in New Zealand.
But I think some of the things they're doing in New Zealand, absolute cracking down on private firearms ownership, extreme cracking down on censorship, official government misinformation and disinformation campaigns to see what's happening in New Zealand as a kind of laboratory for what the globalists want to export around the world.
For example, there was something called the Christchurch Call, named after Christchurch, New Zealand.
That's a fancy way of saying a global censorship regime.
That isn't a theory.
That is a plan.
And it came from New Zealand.
And if we're not careful, it'll take root around the world.
Justin Trudeau has mentioned it several times and is intent on enforcing it.
And he is, by the way, through various internet regulation bills, C11, C18, the Withdrawn Bill, C-36, that he says he'll reintroduce and the yet introduced Online Harms Act.
So what I'm saying is New Zealand may seem very far away and it may have a very small population.
You know, literally 0.1%, not even 0.1% of the world's population is in New Zealand.
But it doesn't take a big place to be a laboratory of bad ideas.
In a moment, we're going to talk to our friend Avi Yamini, who has done important journalism in Australia and is here in New Zealand to rev things up.
And over the course of the next couple of days, we're in Auckland today.
We're going to Wellington, which is the other large city in New Zealand.
We're going to do that in support of Avi's book.
And then we're going to go back to Australia and do a book event in Melbourne.
And then I'm coming home.
I've been away for too long.
But we want to catch up on what's going on in this part of the world.
We also want to say hello to and meet with budding citizen journalists here behind enemy lines.
Look, it's not that bad, but Avi makes the point that it's heading that way.
When he arrived in the country, he wore a shirt that said Kia Ora, which is a friendly Maori way of saying how do you get on you.
G'day, mate.
Kia ora, North Korea.
Take a look at this fun video that Avi made when he stepped out of the terminal in New Zealand, proving that they couldn't keep a good man down.
Take a look.
Kia Ora, North Korea.
I am finally here in Auckland, even though the Communist Party tried their very best to stop me with the cover of their state board and paid for mainstream media.
Thank you to the New Zealand Herald for promoting my book.
For the rest of you that are saying still left in this country, make sure to come on Friday night in Auckland or Saturday in Wellington, rebelfromthestart.com.
There are still some tickets left, I believe.
Rebelfromthestart.com.
I'd love to see you all there.
The smell of victory.
So we're going to meet other citizen journalists in New Zealand.
Maybe we'll make friends with them and maybe we'll even get some New Zealanders to give us updates from time to time.
I think that Avi has shown that the Rebel News crowdfunding citizen journalism model can work in other places beside Canada.
And wouldn't it be fun if we had a voice and a footprint here in New Zealand too?
Stay with us.
Coming up next, the man of the hour, Avi Yamini.
The reason we are in New Zealand today is the same reason why Rebel News is in Australia.
It really shows the difference one person can make.
And I'm talking about one of my favorite reporters I've ever met, Avi Yamini, who's our chief Australian correspondent.
I call him a one-man army because he really is.
Avi, it's great to see you.
Good to see you, mate.
I appreciate it.
Very kind.
Well, it's true.
And I think it's a combination of charisma and confidence, a self-deprecating sense of humor.
You're quick on your feet and you love the action.
You got a nose for news.
And you've really built rebel news up in Australia.
Now we're invading North Korea or New Zealand.
It's sort of fun.
It is.
Listen, I'm loving it.
And I think the people, the way they're taking it in New Zealand, they need this.
They need this in New Zealand more than anywhere on the planet, more than Australia, I think, because you see how far New Zealand went even in COVID and some of the legislation and the laws that are here are so far ahead than all of us, even in Australia and Canada.
You know, I remember when Jacinda Ardern, who just finished her term as the prime minister, early in COVID, she actually said at a real press conference, this is not an accident.
She didn't retract it later.
She said, trust us for all the news.
We're your sole source of truth.
Here, let watch her say it in her own words.
This is real, people.
New Zealanders must prepare, but do not panic.
Prepare.
And when you see those messages, remember that unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth.
And I really ask people, just visit covid19.govt.eng.
It has all of the up-to-date information.
And we will continue to provide everything you need to know.
The fact that the rest of the media, the rest of the establishment, the rest of the society said, okay, is terrifying.
And you know, she's no longer PM, but she's gone on to, I think she's at Harvard now, heading up a global censorship project.
That's exactly.
Like I said, they try and test everything in New Zealand.
So, of course, they want the person who successfully did it here.
Remember, she's the one.
It's her office that banned me for coming for the propensity to incite people with opposing views.
And I feel like I'm actually kicking myself that the book, the front cover, I should have it in quotations as, you know, this is what they say about me because, gosh, I wear that with pride.
I have a propensity of inciting people with opposing views.
But they say that.
They said that.
The government here, the Jacinda Ardern government at the time said that as if that's a bad thing.
You know, I mean, New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth and it has the traditions of free speech and debate and civil society.
I mean, it's a wonderful, I've never been here before.
It's lovely, people, lovely place.
And I don't know why, maybe because it's small, so it's not as noticed, but it really became, I mean, obviously it's nowhere near the actual North Korea, but boy, are the trends going in the wrong direction.
And they stopped you because they wanted the unanimity of thought.
They were afraid that if you came there, you would light a bunch of candles.
Your candle would light a bunch of candles.
And there are some other citizen journalists in this country, but they don't have as much oomph as you have or as we have in Canada.
And, you know, maybe New Zealand doesn't matter.
It's 5 million people.
It's off the beaten path, but it matters for the people who live here.
And like you say, it's a laboratory for bad ideas that are spread around the world.
I care about New Zealand.
I hope we can do something about it.
I'd argue that it matters for all of us because everything that happens here comes to, firstly, Australia or next.
And it affects, it's a domino effect.
It affects all of us.
And I think that they need it for them as much as we need it for us for New Zealand to really bring the battleground here.
Now, the reason we're here in particular is your new book.
And what a great way to start your book tour than in the country that banned you.
It's sort of like planting the flag and retaking the turf.
And you've got a lot of people coming out to see you.
Tell us about the event.
Tell us a little bit about your book, first of all, but also tell us about the event.
You've chosen a church with a large Maori congregation as the venue for the Auckland event.
Give me a minute on the book and then a minute on why you chose the Maori church.
Well, as you know, people have said a lot of things about me over the years that I've worked with you.
You've known the truth, but I've never been, a lot of it I wasn't even able to talk about publicly myself.
So this was my first opportunity to tell those, whether you're a hater, whether you're a lover, whatever you are, if you care enough to listen to what they say about me, here's the opportunity for you to hear about me from me, my story.
And I love the title Rebel from the start.
It's true.
You really were.
It definitely is.
And the reason why we chose that venue, because I know you said that New Zealand is nothing like the real North Korea, which is true.
But you know what?
I have more respect for the North Korean government than I do for the government here.
Why?
Because North Korea, at least they're honest about what they're doing here.
They pretend to be for freedom and democracy, yet they're banning people for the propensity to incite people with opposing views.
And I chose that particular church because we know the minute that it's announced and we heard, we held those cards close to our chest.
This particular church, we weren't worried that they were going to pull out because they're not scared.
They're cancel proof.
They're cancel proof.
They're rebels.
They're rebels.
Through the lockdowns, these were some of the people that were at the forefront of that fight and they've copped every smear in the book.
So there was no way to scare them into canceling it for that.
And they're also big, tough men.
So there's no way to scare them out of protest or intimidate them.
So I chose that location here in Auckland.
And I'm really glad we did because I think, you know what?
Rebels stick by rebels because that's the only way you win these fights is, you know, together against the big global, that's what it is.
Remember, Jacinda, I don't like just like Justin Trudeau.
He's part of the young global leadership.
They're all WEF puppets.
Well, and they don't like you because they saw the journalism.
You've gone to WEF twice now, World Economic Forum.
Last time we were there together, that was a wonderful journalistic mission.
Let me ask you one last question.
It's a little speculative and maybe you don't want to predict the future, but there's a lot of New Zealanders who are really rooting for you because this country needs to hear the other side of the story.
This country needs a debate, especially after the suffocation of Jacinda Ardern.
But there are those in the establishment media, there are those in establishment politics, and there are even, I don't know about antifub, but activists for sure, who would try and stop you.
And if they couldn't stop you from coming into the country, and if they couldn't stop you from getting into this church with a large Maori congregation, are you worried that there's going to be, I mean, I don't even want to say it because I don't want to manifest it, but are you worried about some physical protests or, God forbid, even worse when you're here?
Look, you just look at what happened to Posey Parker, who's a little blonde woman who was standing for women's right.
Yeah, she was a challenger to transgenderism, right?
Exactly.
And she came in, she was holding an event where you let women speak about what their concerns are about issues today.
And she was violently chased out of the country, violently chased out of the country.
And if they would do that to a young woman, they would have no compunction doing that to you.
Yes.
And so it is a concern.
We have to be vigilant.
You have got a bodyguard with you, which is good.
Live Volcanoes Around00:03:08
We've brought a bodyguard with us the whole time because we're not going to take any chance.
We're not going to let them intimidate us, chase us out of the country because our mission here is to stay.
We're not going to cower.
We're not going to run.
We're going to stay and fight for New Zealanders as we are for the rest of the world.
Well, Avi, I meant what I said earlier.
You have probably made more difference pound for pound than anyone else in our company because you really were a lonely voice in the beginning in Australia.
You met some other friends along the way, Rook San Fernando.
making friends here in New Zealand, Cam Slater, Chantel Baker.
So there are little green shoots.
So, you know, the lone blade of grass, maybe it'll become a lot of blades of grass.
It shows that if you have the courage and if you know what you believe in and you're willing just to try, and if you fail, get back up and try again.
I think you've made a lot of difference.
And not just for Australians, everywhere I go, people say, how's that Avi doing?
What's up with Avi?
Oh, I like that Abby guy.
I think it's your character.
And my favorite thing about you, frankly, and I need more of it myself, is a self-deprecating sense of humor.
Because when you make fun of yourself, everyone laughs with you.
And I think we're very lucky to have you on the team, Avi.
I appreciate it, Ezra.
And look, I got to just say this.
Jacinda Arden may have banned me a year ago, but guess who's here and who's not?
Well, amen to that.
We'll leave it there, talking with Abiyamini on the glorious beaches of Auckland, New Zealand.
Well, that's our show for today.
I'm over my jet lag.
I've caught up with the team.
We're going to have a great event here.
I'm really interested in New Zealand and the similarities and the differences.
But let me tell you one of the differences.
I don't know if you can see behind me that island, it looks slightly cone-shaped because it is.
That is a volcano.
New Zealand, there's dozens of volcanoes around here.
That volcano is extremely recent.
Just 600 years ago, that volcano emerged from the water.
And 600 years ago, that sounds like a very long time ago.
Well, in the course of geological history, that's a blink of an eye.
So there are live volcanoes around this area.
I think it's fascinating.
In 600 years, obviously, trees have grown on top of it, and you can actually get out there.
But that's one of the fascinating things about Auckland and New Zealand that I've discovered.
I'm going to come back to you with more news on Monday.
News on how our events went.
Did the ruffians in the New Zealand version of Antifa show up to try and stop us?
Was there some sort of, God forbid, was there a conflict?
I don't know because they don't like alternative points of view here.
Well, when I say they, I mean the establishment, ordinary people love it.
So I'm going to come back to you with more news next week.