A ‘please explain’ lawyer’s letter has been sent to the NZ Speakers Office, about their refusal to fly the Women’s Suffrage flag.

Media release from the Women's Rights Party NZ

The NZ Speaker’s Office, amongst its other duties, is where decisions are made about the requests to fly flags outside Parliament. Most request are denied, I’m told, but clearly, the Speaker’s Office have their favourites, like the five flags flown for IDAHOBIT Day - International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia. No problem there with flying flags that represent people for no achievement or accomplishment whatsoever, unless giving men the right to use female spaces, and transing kids is counted.

The refusal to fly the Women’s Suffrage flag - suffrage means the right to vote - to commemorate NZ being the first self-governing country in the world where women achieved that right, and the reasons given for the refusal, were highly questionable. So, lawyers have stepped in, and a letter has been sent to the Speaker’s Office asking for the request to either be granted, or a better explanation given.

Today, the Women’s Rights Party issued a media release on the matter.

Lawyers ask the Speaker’s Office why it has refused to fly the Suffrage flag on Suffrage Day?