Controversy
McKinnon has often taken positions on issues that are at variance with the consensus of Commonwealth member states, not least that of the New Zealand government. In a speech to the 2005 CHOGM in Malta, McKinnon caused controversy when he appeared to say economic development and free trade are more important than democracy. In a 2007 interview he criticised British public support for evicted white farmers in Zimbabwe as being "a bit of a guilt thing" and argued that the evictions were justified as there was "no way you can justify a society where 15,000 white farmers control 80 percent of the most fertile land".
Read more about this topic: Don McKinnon
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