Associate Education Minister David Seymour says the postponement of a free speech event at Victoria University is "tragi-comic".
Seymour described the Wellington-based university's decision as such in an X post on Friday.
"Here we have the tragi-comic spectacle of a debate on free speech being shut down because students are 'freaked out' that it includes 'right wing' voices," he said.
"I've read about lions on the yellow brick road showing more courage than the university leadership here.
"Taxpayers fund universities to expose students to new ideas. If that's no longer the case, the dangerous corollary is that universities are only there to reinforce students' prejudices," the ACT Party leader added.
The event due to take place on Monday, 'Freedom of Speech - The Role of Universities: A Panel Debate', was postponed earlier this week due to the university needing "more time to ensure we have the right contributors and the most effective format to have a robust, engaging and thought-provoking conversation", it said in a statement.
"We know there is genuine interest in discussing this topic. However, we are also aware of the strength of people's views on this topic and the importance of having a cross-section of balanced and representative views in the discussion."
Marcail Parkinson, the president of the university's student association, told The Post students had "freaked out" after seeing the panel line-up because it appeared to be a "right wing voices" platform.
Michael Johnston from the New Zealand Initiative think tank and the Free Speech Union's Jonathan Ayling were among those to be involved in the panel.
"That's 100 percent the right thing to do in this scenario, when you make a mistake, to say actually we realise we made a mistake and we're going to try and fix it," Parkinson told The Post of the postponement decision.
The university said it was "committed to holding this event and intend to confirm a new date soon".
