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A Motueka man has
backed down from a pledge to stay up a tree until airlines review their
decision not to allow men to sit next to unaccompanied children. New Zealand Father and
Child Society coordinator Kevin Gill said he could not do anything more to
convince Air New Zealand and Qantas to reverse the controversial policy. Air New Zealand
spokesman David Jamieson defended the airline's stance, saying the airline
had no intention of reviewing its policy, which had been in place for many
years and was in line with international best practice. Mr Gill abandoned his
protest about 2pm Wednesday - less than 24 hours after perching himself on
top of a 10m-high Otterson gum tree stump in Queen St, Richmond and vowing
not to come down until the policy was changed. "I'm prepared to
stay up here as long as it takes," the double amputee and former ACT
party candidate said yesterday morning. But by yesterday
afternoon he conceded, "there's not much else I can do". "The airlines
weren't going to back down and the best way to address the issue was through
the Human Rights Commission," he said. He hoped the matter
would be resolved through mediation. "There has been an
awful lot of public opposition, so I can't see it being brushed under the
carpet." Human Rights Commission
spokesman Kallon Basham said the commission had received four complaints
within 24 hours. The commission spoke
informally with both airlines yesterday and would be making contact with them
again in the next week to discuss the matter, he said. "While I am unable
to reveal the details of those complaints, I can confirm that we will be
entering into a dispute resolution process," he said. The policy came to
national attention this week when Auckland father-of-two Mark Worsley
complained that he was asked to move on a Qantas flight when an unaccompanied
child was seated next to him. The incident, which
happened a year ago, irked Mr Worsley so much that he recently contacted
National Party's spokesman on political correctness Wayne Mapp. Dr Mapp said the
airlines' policy was an example of political correctness that had got out of
hand. |
