UoA Debating Society says they do not condone “Egg-Based Violence”, not even against New Conservative’s Ted Johnston.
The latest stop on the campaign trail for some mayoral candidates was the dry cleaners after an egging during a lively University of Auckland Debating Society (DebSoc) event last week.
The mayoral debate moderated by journalist Jack Tame saw UoA students show up to support, heckle, and egg Auckland mayor hopefuls.
The audience got especially rowdy when two-time mayoral candidate and New Conservative co-leader Ted Johnston criticised the Auckland Council for wasting money on non-essential expenses like “global warming” and “cycleways.”
Johnston told audience members he called “Team Efeso” to quieten down, referring to Labour and Green Party endorsed candidate and former AUSA President Efeso Collins, who got the most support from students on the night.
Johnston then directed his frustration towards a person in the audience, Naira, a UoA student with Tourette’s syndrome, who he mistook as a heckler.
“Team Efeso, can you please keep quiet?” Johnston said. “At least my friend Leo fights his own battles. So just calm down.”
“She has Tourette’s, you asshole,” shouted a supporter of Naira.
A separate person, unlinked to Naira or DebSoc then ran down the stairs of the lecture theatre, hurling two eggs at Johnston. They would not speak to Craccum about the stunt.
Unfortunately for fellow candidate Craig Lord, he also left the debate with a bill for dry cleaning after one egg missed its target. Leo Molloy, who in a recent interview with comedian Guy Williams repeatedly used offensive slurs and called Williams a “soft cock,” to many students’ surprise, came away from the debate unscathed.
Tame scrambled to restore order in the lecture theatre, calling Johnston’s “ignorant comment” a “misunderstanding.”
After Tame explained the situation to Johnston, he apologised, stating that he did not know Naira had Tourettes. He added that he wasn’t bothered by the attack, as he has worked as a bouncer for 10 years.
After the debate, Johnston told media that he was talking to others, rather than Naira who he didn’t notice until later.
Naira told Craccum that Johnston continued to target her tics, and ignored multiple people explaining her condition to him.
“It’s obvious he was talking about me. He could have used this opportunity to highlight tourettes and other neurodivergent conditions. It was clear he made a mistake, but instead of simply apologising, he pretended he did nothing wrong.”
“If he had just apologised I would literally have not cared. It would still feel shitty but mistakes happen.”
DebSoc released a statement on what they dubbed an “eggcellent mayoral debate” on social media.
“DebSoc supports free speech on campus” and does not condone the use of egg-based violence against others. The exec apologises to anyone with a lecture in B28. “Despite our best attempts at cleaning, it may still smell a bit eggy in there.”
You can watch the full debate on DebSoc’s Facebook page.
