The Race Relations Commissioner is warning politicians to avoid hateful speech before the 2026 election. Melissa Derby says the campaign could give a platform to language that puts religious and ethnic communities at risk.

Derby made her comments on 6 July 2026 at the launch of a document called the Statement on Religious Diversity. It sets out what religious freedom means and what the government must do to protect it. The launch was partly triggered by recent comments from Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki, who called for Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims to be "purged." Derby said she was "absolutely appalled" by Tamaki's remarks. Police are examining them, according to RNZ.

Tamaki said his comments were within the law. That disagreement points to a real hole in how New Zealand handles hate speech — something the statement launch is designed to highlight.

The legal hole

A major inquiry into the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack reported in late 2020 and found something important: religion is not protected under New Zealand's Human Rights Act. Race, colour, and ethnic origin are protected. Religion is not.

The previous Labour government tried to fix this by adding a new law to stop hate speech based on religion. But the idea became too controversial. It never made it onto the statute books.

The National Party says it does not support hate speech laws. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote a foreword to the religious freedom statement anyway. In it, he said all religious and faith communities have the right to practise their beliefs without discrimination or harassment. That is a statement of principle — not a promise to change the law.

The Human Rights Commission supports changing the law to protect religion. But it also says the bar for hate speech convictions should stay high, so people can still speak freely. That is a balance the Commission has argued for consistently, but the new push comes at a time when the election is coming up and Tamaki's comments are a recent real example.

Tamaki and the election

Brian Tamaki and his wife Hannah Tamaki lead Vision NZ. It ran in the last election under the Freedoms NZ banner and got about 9,500 votes — 0.33 per cent of the party vote. That is a very small number. Derby's real concern is not about Vision NZ winning seats. It is about how elections can let fringe ideas get louder: candidates get attention, social media spreads their words, and edgy rhetoric can shift what people think is acceptable — even if the party never gets into Parliament.

The 2026 election is months away. Derby's call is early and aimed at all politicians, not one party. Whether they take it seriously, or treat it as noise, will become clear as the campaign gets going.

One thing matters: the Prime Minister has put his name to a document that says religious people deserve to be free from discrimination. That creates a standard that campaign behaviour can be measured against — even though there is no official way to enforce it.

The National Party says no to hate speech laws, but the Prime Minister says yes to religious freedom. That is a tension. It will be worth watching whether the Commissioner — or others — try to make this a real issue during the campaign.