P.R.A.T.T.S. R Here

It's 25 years since the Springbok Rugby Tour of NZ. The left has created the myth that the disgraceful violence, vandalism and thuggery perpetrated by many anti Tour activists was motivated by noble ideals and should be excused, or even glorified.

Many old lefties regard their court convictions from that time as some kind of badge of honour.

The anti Tour movement did attract many who were appalled by Apartheid and thought that holding up traffic and obstructing footpaths in NZ, would teach the " dirt-tee ricist Afrikaners" a lesson.

However the leadership of the Anti Tour movement was almost exclusively Marxist-Leninist and was motivated by more by the dream of a socialist South Africa than a non racist one.

Many of those who were so allegedly anti racist over South Africa went on to help build the Maori Apartheid movement in NZ.

Why, because to transform South African society, you had to destroy its underpinning philosophy, Apartheid.

To revolutionise NZ's non racist society, the opposite had to occur. Apartheid had to be built in NZ. To a Marxist-Leninist there is no contradiction here. A revolution takes whatever it takes.

What amazes me is how pious a lot of these old anti Tour people are. You'd think they'd marched with Gandhi or helped Wilberforce free the slaves the way they go on.

I thought I might devote some space in the next week to profiling some prominent anti Tour activists (Pious Radicals Against The Tour)and some of the organisations involved.

As I know I will be asked, yes I did support the tour and would again. I wore my little green badge throughout, but beyond some letters to the editor, did nothing practical for the cause.

Why? Though I was a conservative then, I strongly believed in free markets and that all people are individuals and should not be categorised by race. I believed that Apartheid was on its way out in South Africa and that market forces and public opinion would gradually finish it off.

However I was very much aware that the ANC was controlled by the South African Communist Party and therefore the Soviet Union. Their rivals, the Pan African Congress and Steve Biko's Black Concioussness Movement of Azania were Maoist leaning.

Therefore I was not about to support any ANC/PAC/BCMA power grab. I was also not about to support Marxist-Leninist radicals trying to bring my country to its knees.

At that time I didn't give a stuff about the rugby, I wanted to support the anti revolutionary forces in South Africa and the right of law abiding Kiwis to go about their business in peace.

My only regret is that I didn't do more to support what I believed in when I had the opportunity.