John Minto (b. c.1953) is a New Zealand based political activist known for his involvement in various left-wing groups and causes, most notably Halt All Racist Tours. A 2005 documentary on New Zealand's top 100 history makers listed him as number 89. Today he is involved with the protest[1] group Global Peace and Justice Auckland and the Unite Union. He also wrote a weekly column for The Press[2] and was formerly editor of the (now defunct) Workers' Charter newspaper.
Minto is also the chairmain [3] of QPEC, Quality Public Education Coalition (Inc) and co-vice-president of the Mana Party.
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John Minto, along with Trevor Richards, Tom Newnham and others, was involved in forming Halt All Racist Tours, a group set up to protest rugby union tours to and from Apartheid South Africa, in 1969. He became the National Chairman of the organisation in 1980. During clashes between police and protesters he was seriously assaulted by rugby supporters the evening after the disruption at Rugby Park in Hamilton. This assault had little impact on his protesting other than him adding a protective helmet to his distinctive outfit of overalls.[4][5] He remained at the forefront of the protests.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) listed Minto in 1981 on a list of 'subversives' for the events of that year. In 2005 a police baton owned by Ross Meurant, a former member of Parliament who was second in charge of the "Red Squad" during the 1981 Springbok Tour was put up for auction online labeled as a "Minto Bar",[6] a "joke" based on the co-incidence of names between John Minto and Minties, the brand name of a popular mint-flavoured candy. In 2009 John Minto's helmet appeared in an episode of Tales from Te Papa a television series of mini-documentaries about objects from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[7]
During January 2008 Minto publicly "rejected" a nomination for the prestigious South African Companion of OR Tambo Award, saying he was dismayed over current conditions in the country.[8] However, the Presidency of South Africa later stated that Minto had not been nominated for any national award.[9]
In January 2009 Minto led a protest to the Auckland Tennis Stadium, where they demanded that Israeli player Shahar Pe'er, who served a compulsory two years service in the Israel Defense Forces,[10] withdraw from the tournament and denounce the Israeli Government and its actions in the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict, adding that she should respect international calls for a boycott against Israel. Pe'er ignored the group's demands and participated in the tournament as planned, stating at a press conference that "I think [the politics] is nothing to do with what I am doing." [11]
Maurice Williamson, a Member of Parliament, rebuffed the protesters at the event, stating that she was not representing Israel and was playing as a private individual, thus the protesters should "leave her alone." [12]
The protest[13] was repeated at the January 2010 event, where Shahar Pe'er again competed. On the third day of protest (07/01/2010) John Minto was one of 5 protesters arrested[14] outside the ASB Tennis Center in Auckland for disorderly behavior. He was later issued with a 500 metre trespass order in order to prevent him from continuing disruption of the play inside the tennis center.[15][16]