PM Christopher Luxon heckled while giving apology to state abuse survivors

Tuesday, 12 November 2024

The official Government apology to survivors of abuse in state care was interrupted by a heckler at Parliament.

Former Vision NZ candidate Karl Mokaraka yelled at Christopher Luxon from the public gallery while the PM was delivering the apology.

This is not the first time Mokaraka has interrupted a political event, having done so multiple times during the 2023 election campaign.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was heckled from the public gallery in Parliament while delivering the Government apology to survivors of abuse in state care.

Former candidate for the Vision NZ party Karl Mokaraka shouted at Luxon from the gallery, saying “make New Zealand great” and asking “how can we heal without Jesus Christ back in this Parliament”.

While Mokaraka was yelling, Speaker Gerry Brownlee said “where are the police and why aren’t they here”.

This came after Brownlee asked Mokaraka to leave the gallery multiple times, before calling on security to remove Mokaraka from the House of Representatives.

Other people in the gallery also asked Mokaraka to leave as he was restrained by security.

Mokaraka initially refused to leave, but then walked out of his own accord.

Before he left, he called on Te Pāti Māori to “stop the division,” while adding, “we are one New Zealand”.

This is not the first time Mokaraka has interrupted Luxon.

In 2023, he gatecrashed a press conference Luxon was holding in Auckland during the election campaign, leading to a war of words between the pair.

During the campaign, he also heckled Labour leader Chris Hipkins at a press conference, and interrupted the Act Party’s election campaign launch.