Ordinary Kiwis could decide to boycott Australia in protest against the treatment of detainees, a party leader in New Zealand has suggested.
United Future's Peter Dunne has criticised the Australian government for the "appalling" conditions under which New Zealanders are being held while they wait to be deported.
He believes that feeling is widespread and people could decide on direct action.
"I think there will be a lot of people who will make that sort of call and who will decide one way of venting their protest is not to go to Australia," he said on Radio New Zealand on Friday.
"Or they could make their concerns known to Australians they know, relatives or friends - this is something that needs to be taken up people to people.
"The Australians keep telling us we're family, and families are frank with each other."
Dunne, who is a government minister, said in a newsletter published on Thursday that Australia's actions amounted to using "a modern concentration camp approach" to detain New Zealanders with criminal records.
"It was wrong when the British tried it in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, it is wrong in Guantanamo Bay, or in Israel today," he said.
"Australia is no different. The right to due process and fair and open trials is inalienable."
Dunne says Australian authorities are pushing the boundaries of human rights.
"We can, and should be, speaking out as loudly and frequently as we can against abhorrent practices.
"The government and the opposition need to be turning on the real villains of the piece - ministers like Peter Dutton and others in the Australian government who continue to promote and support such savage and inhumane policies."
Share
