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Thursday, September 8, 2022

Mike Hosking: Why can't the Government make a simple apology?


I asked a simple question of Megan Woods yesterday on the programme. Does this Government apologise for anything?

She went on to not apologise. She referenced Carmel Sepuloni, who also hadn't apologised. And by days end, no one seems to have apologised for the Northland cock up.

Not the Prime Minister, who referred questions to Chris Hipkins in yet another sign that she has basically checked out and essentially just lives for the overseas trips.

And Hipkins himself busily suggested that there was nothing new here, despite the fact most of us thought it was all new. He also said that when it came to an apology he didn’t want to get into the “ins and outs” of it.

Every time something like this happens it is further evidence, as if we needed it, that a full blown, no holds barred inquiry is needed to look at just what this country has been put through.

It appears increasingly as evidence presents itself that whether it's a lockdown that didn’t need to happen, a vaccinated person who died, a business that closed, a wage subsidy that wasn’t paid back, a traffic light system that made no sense, a Kiwi that was locked out, the kids that didn’t go to school or the mental health issues that pervade virtually every town and city in this country.

Added to the fact that economically we have been in recession and if not recession just a plain mess, that we might like to ask quite loudly, whether all of the obsession about the team of 5 million the lockdown mentality and the fear that was pedalled has served us at all well.

The inquiry, if in fact it's ever held, is now quite frightening. The papers that get released that tell increasingly scandalous stories of ineptitude and incompetence. Think about it, a whole region locked down and three days earlier, they knew the paperwork was wrong.

And even now, when the game is up, the mistake is made public. They don't want to get into the "ins and outs" of it.

Where is the humility? Where is the acceptance that everyone makes mistakes? And when you do make a mistake, the least you can do is say sorry.

What do you gain by trying to BS your way out of these things? What do you gain by not getting into the "ins and outs" of it? What do you grain by shunting off the questions to your Minister, because as a leader you take responsibility for nothing?

Woods see Sepuloni. Ardern see Hipkins. Sepuloni no apology and Hipkins doesn’t want to get into the "ins and outs" of it.

Open, honest, and transparent, eh? The biggest fraud of the decade.

Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.


2 comments:

DeeM said...

This government is so used to getting an easy ride from the MSM that it's impervious to threats of bad publicity.
And who can blame them. The latest Roy Morgan poll shows Labour still on 35%, equal with National. And this after the Sharma scandal.

The public either don't know or don't care.

The next election could very well be a close run thing and it wouldn't surprise me if we get a Labour-Greens-Maori Party coalition government.

To change that we need a National Party that actually wants to get into government with a leader who can get tough and dirty without apologising every 5 seconds.
I'm not sure that's on the cards.

Mudbayripper said...

This government will only apologize if they believe a political gain can be achieved.
They love apologizing for past so called grievances that have a racial component. Think of police action during the seventies, a straight forward law and order issue regarding immigration. Going back to the very beginning of the very creation of law and democracy of this country apologizes are all one way. In any kind of relationship its just not possible one side side is always right and the other side always wrong. Unnecessary apologies are completely disingenuous to both parties, whilst a genuine one can begin the healing process. This current government has zero understanding of fairness and integrity.