A petition to remove all Muslims from New Zealand was sitting on the New Zealand Parliament website for three months.

Tayyaba Khan became aware of the petition (signed by 129 people) only on 3 March.

It had been on the government website since 4 December.

Khan, who heads the organisation she founded called Khadija Leadership Network, immediately began emailing branches of government about it, including the Human Rights Commission.

Not a safe environment

She was interviewed by Melissa Chan-Green for Newshub’s AM show and wanted action.

“I think it’s fair to say that, overall, people are very, very scared. We’re not living in an environment where you can feel safe,” Khan said.

She linked people’s fears to the volatile geopolitical environment.

“You’ve got Palestine, you’ve got Afghanistan, you’ve got Iraq, you’ve got what’s happening in China – there is lots of inter-connection in terms of what’s happening for Muslims globally. Then you have a petition like this in a faraway place like New Zealand which for a very long time we thought was a haven and nothing like the Christchurch terror attacks would happen here – and they did. So, you can imagine, there is fear.”

Petition breached basic rights

Whilst acknowledging freedom of speech, Khan felt the petition breached the Bill of Rights Act giving people freedom of religion and other basic rights.

“There is a culture here in New Zealand about, ‘Oh, let’s not give this too much air – I mean if it’s just sitting there, as if nobody knows about it, then it’ll be fine.’ But look, when the Christchurch terror attacks happened, nobody knew about it and it wasn’t fine. Can we take these things lightly? I don’t think so.”

The concern about the petition comes around the fifth anniversary of the Christchurch attacks, when white supremacist Brenton Tarrant shot dead 51 Muslims at two of the city’s mosques.

Petitions must be vetted

“We haven’t even met some of the fundamental recommendations made by the Royal Commission. Yet here we are five years on from those very horrible attacks talking about can we take a laid-back approach to parliamentary petitions? This petition clearly incites hatred and encourages people to see Muslims in a negative light. This is a parliamentary website and there has to be some level of vetting.”

On Wednesday 6 March, David Wilson, Clerk of the House, said the petition had been withdrawn at the petitioner’s request. It was still live the day before.

Wilson said the Office of the Clerk works with petitioners to ensure their petitions comply with Standing Orders.

He said the key requirements of a petition are that it’s in English or te reo Māori, asks the House of Representatives to take action, uses respectful and moderate language, is serious in intent and does not include statements that cannot be authenticated, such as defamatory information or unfounded allegations.

“Our role is to facilitate access to Parliament, not to pass judgement on the content of a petition,” Wilson said.