We've lost the plot in this country - and we wonder why we have gang problems.
The coverage looked like a recruitment drive or a PR video for the gangs. We got so ill served as viewers, the real news was not what a great man other gang members or whānau thought he was, it was not to display endlessly all their patches and motorbikes and burnouts like they're some kind of heroes, it was not to run glowing commentary on how they saw off their leader.
The news angle was that a town got shut down yesterday, and a main road closed for two hours - by gang members who decided to block it - while Police do nothing.
They allegedly said they'd try to clear it but the queue of traffic that couldn't get down the road in Ōhope for two hours may feel they didn't quite work hard enough on that.
Gang members were sitting on roofs of houses yelling out, sitting on top of cars, hanging out windows, doing donuts, some locals said the state of lawlessness was unbelievable.
There were shots fired at a vehicle near the convoy, no one injured thank god, but clearly weapons were present in cars.
Why wasn't every car stopped and searched? Why were they allowed to block roads and close a main road? Why were they allowed to sit on top of their cars while travelling down the road?
Can you imagine any of us doing that and not being immediately stopped? Why were they allowed to drive recklessly with no consequences?
The Prime Minister when asked about all this, said, "gangs suck." No kidding. But we need a bit more than stating the obvious from our PM. His words have to match some actions.
They suck… but we won't do anything about them, is what it looks like.
He said it was up to Police, and that it wasn't appropriate for him to comment.
Well sorry but this country's going to hell in a handcart on the crime and gang front, and actually as the leader of it, it is not only appropriate for you to comment, but crucial that you do.
People are being intimidated and inconvenienced and shut out of their own abilities to use their own roads, parks, schools, and businesses, because of a gang tangi. Because no one says no to the gangs.
Not only that, news crews turn up to pop a microphone under their chins to hear about what a great guy the slain gang leader was. They allowed precious minutes of primetime news to eulogise a Mob president. I mean, how did we get here?
How did we get the bar so low, that that now masquerades as news? Did the news forget that these guys thrive on notoriety, that all that footage and all those kind words about their leader, is just fuelling exactly what the gangs want.
I mean they just played right into their hands. There should've been no footage of gang patches and motorbikes burning rubber, no interviews on how much their leader will be missed and how they replace him, no acknowledgement of the gang other than it being a nuisance to society, behaving illegally, stopping hard working taxpayers from getting about their own business.
The story was the state of this country and how we've fallen victim to gangs ruling the roost. That was the story. Not a promo video for the actual gang.
Kate Hawkesby is a political broadcaster on Newstalk ZB - her articles can be seen HERE.
11 comments:
Well said Kate.
I think we have all become so used to the bland, one-sided, non-investigative news that has become our media that we just don't expect anything different. Remember Holmes, he would have gotten deep into this and started tearing into people and shaming them into doing their job.
I just shake my head at the low-level, totally unimportant drivel that occupies so much prime-time news. Really? Are these really the issues that we need to be informed about? Who do they think their audience is?
The News is a prime opportunity to tell us about what is happening in our country, what/who is behind what is happening, why is it happening, and what the impact of that may be on our lives?
Go deep, investigate, look at both sides, report, be journalists FFS. If an article doesn't meet these criteria then don't waste our time telling us about it. Who is driving the absolute crap appearing on our screens and is there a way to wrest control back to real issues?
It got to this point because the PJIF bribe clearly requires that some special people can do no wrong and in point of fact all reporting shall be only positive. It is in the criteria.
Perhaps it is not those in their midst putting a pro Russian spin on the news which media shoud be gunning for, but those putting a pro maori (ie gang) spin.
Has anyone conducted a survey of these gang members? How many work? Do they get tangi time off? On benefits? in state houses? how many qualify for free Dr treatment? How many benefitted from the handout lures to get vaccinated? Are there any asset tests?
Ordinary working folk are played as suckers.
Because kate, we, the law abiding white colonists are now the criminals, and the drug-dealing, rapists and criminal gang members are now nz's new royal family. The news mentioned that nz's top detectives and police minds are working night and day to find the gang members killer. The gang death takes priority, is the message that this is sending. During the covid auckland border closure, gangs on bikes were waved through by police, whereas we would likely have received a criminal record. Meanwhile govt departments are urging people to dob in members of the public wearing braids or looking at pinterest. Now that the gangs realise that they have achieved a vip statues, there is nothing to stop them from shutting down are larger cities at will. The other day in auckland I saw a group of them speeding down the road on motorbikes, taking over the road. Who is going to stop them? A member of our own parliament said not to mess with the gangs. Are tv1 just honouring te tiriti, where murder and tribal rivalries were common place before the british arrived? Nzers deserve to know.
You are fantastic Kate! I applaud you for being brave enough to say what most of us want to scream from the rooftops! I just cannot believe what I am seeing. So, if a massive Maori funeral comes to my town, what? I have to lock my doors, keep my children home from school and not leave my home until these (bleeps) decide to leave? What a joke, except it's not at all funny is it? I feel physically sick when I watch any of this footage. Why can't our media ever show nice normal, yes normal people doing good things, dressed properly and respecting other people and property. I despair!
On a lighter note Kate, I love your humour on Newstalk ZB on a Friday morning. I think you're great!
I am still waiting for someone to ask Mr Cuddles Coster, the $600,000+ per year man, why it is that Police have different rules for gangs, for example:-
If you or I drove a truck down the main street, on the wrong side of the road, honking the horn, with shouting hoons leaning out of the windows, we would be very quickly STOPPED by the Police, arrested and charged.
But if we were part of an outlaw racist gang, the police would clear the road for us to carry on, as they have done in Opotiki.
Exactly!
And all of this is covertly sanctioned by ministers like Willie Jackson, Kelvin Davis....and our Prime Minister, who is showing himself to be just as useless as he was when he was Police Minister.
The police resemble a badly sprained limp-wrist and the gangs are emboldened to do whatever they want. After all, their besties in government will see them right.
Gangs personify true maori culture.
Given they can do no wrong, its very unlikely this government will contribute to them being shut down.
Who is still watching/reading MSM??? Do not encourage tyranny by supporting it in any way. Boycott, boycott and boycott.
I see that the police have covered themselves in "glory" again.
Looks like it's become a modus operandi
Well done you blue arsed flies, I feel much safer and protected......not
Are these Maori gangs the same responsible people that Hipkins and company want to hand 50:50 co-governance to run the country ?
God help those people who can't escape NZ to somewhere safer.
By the way, the Opotiki library wasn't closed, because there is no library in town - they refused to write "Library" on the sign outside it - maybe it's known locally as the Wharebook ?
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