Plan B Forum

Hurling abuse wasn't the problem for Petra Mills. But a court ruled that calling her New Zealand neighbour an Australian was racist and against the law.

Czech-born Mills, 31, has been found guilty of racially aggravated public disorder after a rant at her New Zealand-born neighbour in Macclesfield, south of Manchester.


Chelsea O'Reilly, who has dual British and New Zealand citizenship, said: "She called me a stupid fat Australian b****. Because of my accent there can be some confusion over my nationality. She knew I was from New Zealand.

"She was trying to be offensive. I was really insulted. She said she would kill my dog. Bizarrely she then blew raspberries at me like a child."

The incident happened when O'Reilly was giving a statement to police about a domestic incident between Mills and Mills' husband in early September, the Daily Mail reported.

Mills, who had called the police after running from her house, had stormed over to O'Reilly's house and began screaming at her.

Two police constables told the court they had heard Mills use the word "Australian" during her drunken rant.

At Macclesfield magistrates' court Mills agreed she had shouted but denied she was being racist.

"I did not use the word 'Australian'. I used to live with an Australian person. She was very nice."

But chairman of the bench Brian Donohue said: "You were in an emotional and inebriated state. The word 'Australian' was used. It was racially aggravated and the main reason it was used was in hostility."

Mills denied the charge of racially aggravated public disorder but was found guilty and fined £110. She admitted assaulting a police constable by kicking him in the shin and knee and was fined £200 on that charge. She was also ordered to pay both victims £50 compensation, and £500 court costs.

Mills and her husband moved to Scotland after the incident.

The failure of Western leaders to condemn this violation of a friendly nation's sovereignty caused a great deal of change in New Zealand's foreign and defence policy.[9] New Zealand distanced itself from its traditional ally, the United States, and built relationships with small South Pacific nations, while retaining excellent relations with Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom.[10]

Crackpot wrote:And that the hell does that have to do with angering the Soviets?

liberty wrote:

Crackpot wrote:And that the hell does that have to do with angering the Soviets?

The NZ (insert derogatory name) required any war ship visiting their ports to declare its nuclear status. If we did that we would have beeen providing the Soviets with the same information. We prefer our enemies to be as ignorance as possible. That requirement in fact banned US war ships from visiting New Zealand. Which is just fine the can go their own way without any regard to us; they have nothing we need.

liberty wrote:

Crackpot wrote:And that the hell does that have to do with angering the Soviets?

The NZ (insert derogatory name) required any war ship visiting their ports to declare its nuclear status. If we did that we would have beeen providing the Soviets with the same information. We prefer our enemies to be as ignorance as possible. That requirement in fact banned US war ships from visiting New Zealand. Which is just fine they can go their own way without any regard to us; they have nothing we need.

Lord Jim wrote:I remember when New Zealand decided to pull this....

At the time I thought it was a meaningless, self-righteous, grandstanding stunt, taken by a lefty government to try to please it's lefty base....

Nothing has happened since then to cause me to revise my opinion....

Recent developments

Under the previous New Zealand Labour Government, its Prime Minister Helen Clark maintained New Zealand's nuclear-free zone status, a bipartisan position supported by the opposition New Zealand National Party. In a recent survey the majority of New Zealanders favour solar and wind energy as a power source, with only 19% wanting nuclear power.[47]
The United States wants New Zealand to repeal its nuclear-free legislation, which would then allow U.S. warships possibly with nuclear weapons to visit New Zealand ports. Pressure from the United States increased in 2006, with U.S. trade officials linking the repeal of the ban of American nuclear ships from New Zealand's ports to a potential free trade agreement between the two countries.[35] In 2004, then opposition leader Don Brash refused to confirm or deny that he told visiting US senators the nuclear ban would be repealed "by lunchtime" if he was elected prime minister.[48][49] Brash quit politics after losing the 2005 election and "gone by lunchtime" became a political catchphrase in New Zealand.

Lord Jim wrote:I remember when New Zealand decided to pull this....

At the time I thought it was a meaningless, self-righteous, grandstanding stunt, taken by a lefty government to try to please it's lefty base....

Nothing has happened since then to cause me to revise my opinion....