The entire book is built around his allegation that the Taxpayers' Union is a proxy organisation working to help political parties on the right. Yet that is precisely what he appears to be doing for political parties on the left.
He didn't release this book outside an election campaign because he wanted to remain neutral or help parties on the right, did he? He released it to help parties on the left.
You cannot read this book without being struck by his bias. He makes excuses for Tamatha Paul, the Green MP, saying people don't want to see more beat police because it makes them feel unsafe. Remember when she made those comments?
Hager argues there was nothing wrong with saying that. According to him, she was simply discussing a real problem. Apparently, it's not strange at all to make those comments about the police.
He also suggests it was understandable for Maiki Sherman to call Lloyd Burr the F-word homophobic slur because Lloyd, as I mentioned earlier, had admitted he was lusting after her boyfriend.
Hager says Sherman lost her job for objecting to someone making those comments about her partner. He also writes that she was suspended for pushing too hard to get an interview from someone else.
No, mate, that is not what happened.
She lost her job, first, for breaking Parliamentary rules by knocking on an MP's door for minutes on end in an area where she was not permitted to solicit interviews. Second, she lost her job for calling a gay man a word so offensive that I am not allowed to say it on air.
If that isn't giving some people a free pass because of personal bias, or because it fits the goodie-versus-baddie narrative in his head, then I don't know what is.
My favourite line comes in the second-to-last paragraph of the book. He says the Taxpayers' Union used its influence to move National to the hard right.
Is National on the hard right now?
Really?
This is the party that literally received praise from Marama Davidson of the Greens for threatening to break up a supermarket chain. It is not on the hard right by any stretch of the imagination. At least, I don't think so.
Anyway, maybe he's not naïve. Maybe he's not sheltered. Maybe Nicky Hager is just seeing ghosts.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and radio broadcaster who hosts Newstalk ZB's weekday Drive-Time Show – where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
"He says the Taxpayers' Union used its influence to move National to the hard right."
The problem with leftist marxists is that everyone is to the hard right of them. What they call hard-right is simply what the average New Zealander believed ten years ago. They are the ones who shifted.
Spot on, Anonymous 7:19am. I think "soft right" is somewhere left of the former Communist Party of New Zealand.
True Heather = Hager is irrelevant and has his own anti right agenda. He also misses the point = which is that more broadly our right wing's boring institutional equilibrium of the NZ Initiative, Taxpayers Union, Farrar's polling outfit and Newstalk ZB media arm has failed our youth and the economy they depend on. Its protective of chumocracy culture, includes many influential wacko libertarians & defends anti competitive corporate behaviour that has put up costs. The Kiwi political right which is backed by these outfits doesn't support merit based appointments. Mates rule. A new group of institutions is needed with a younger, fresher & smarter group in charge. Ruth Richardson as Chair of Taxpayer Union symbolizes how stuck in the past NZ's right is, even though I know & admire her = but she shouldn't be back.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.