Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy has issued a challenge to political leaders to "start acting with dignity and respect".
The comment follows Winston Peters' "joke" during his speech at the NZ First campaign launch yesterday, which targeted Asian people during a section about foreign land ownership.
"I think as New Zealanders we can do better than this. I don't think it's funny and is now becoming tiresome," she told RadioLIVE this morning.
She says while some people may have found the jibe funny, it's a sentiment which belongs in the past.
"I think as a country we're growing up a little bit and I don’t know whether as a young Chinese New Zealander growing up, if they consistently heard jokes or remarks made particularly by a political leader that we would find that amusing at all," Dame Susan says.
"Winston continues to do it and probably will and it's probably time for everyday New Zealanders to just actually make him stand up and take note of how we may feel as a country moving forward."
The Human Rights Commission has not had any official complaints regarding Mr Peters' comments, but had had people informally ringing with their concerns.
Mr Peters has since defended the comment, saying it wasn't racist and said a Chinese person had told it to him previously.
"It's called humour. I know that in Beijing they think it's funny, and so do I."
Meanwhile Steven Young, a past president of the New Zealand Chinese Association says the comment was "seriously off base and a perfect example of Winston Peters getting it wrong".
Prime Minister John Key dismissed the remark, saying "it's Winston, isn't it?"
"I don't want to be cynical about these things, but with 40 days from an election you're asking me a question about it and he's probably achieved his objective which is to try and get on the news," he said at his post-Cabinet press conference this afternoon.
When asked if it was an offensive comment, he said it was up to individuals to decide for themselves.
Dame Susan also believed a group of students chanting "F*** John Key" at an Internet Mana political rally was inappropriate.
While the chant had nothing to do with race relations, it was about "common courtesy and respect".
3 News
source: newshub archive
