New Zealand First MP Richard Prosser has outraged Muslims by saying they come from a country called "Wogistan" and should all be banned from flying. Both he and his leader, Winston Peters, refuse to apologise.
Mr Prosser is an angry man – angry his pocket knife was confiscated by airport security. So he's lashed out in print at the entire Muslim world – that's 1.6 billion people.
He calls them a "sorry pack of misogynist troglodytes from Wogistan, threatening our way of life and security of travel in the name of their Stone Age religion."
Mr Prosser, from New Zealand First, had this solution.
"If you are a young male, aged between say about 19 and 35, and you're a Muslim, or look like a Muslim, or you come from a Muslim country, then you are not welcome to travel on any of the West's airlines,” reads his column. “Go ride a camel instead.”
“If MPs don't say this, who will?” Mr Prosser says. “We are here to represent and to speak about the views that people have.”
The unrepentant Mr Prosser didn't front at Parliament today. And his leader says it's just a mistake.
“There is an element of truth to what he is saying,” says Mr Peters
Mr Prosser also wrote dismissing Allah as an imaginary friend in the sky. A Danish cartoon about Prophet Mohammed once caused riots and deaths.
Mr Prosser has offended Indonesia's ambassador. It's the biggest Muslim country in the world, with 200 million Muslims.
“For Indonesian people, for myself, no, we cannot accept it,” says Antonius Triono.
The Government has publicly condemned Mr Prosser's statements, admitting they will cause international embarrassment. But there's still no apology from Mr Prosser himself. Presumably, he is still angry about his pocket knife.
3 News