David Farrar: Hipkins hypocrisy

Stuff reports:

Labour leader Chris Hipkins wasn’t happy when new ACT Party candidate Paul Henry said he’d need to “shoot” Hipkins, during a game of “shoot, shag, marry”.

His other options were Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters, who, given the options, he’d “shag”.

Simon O'Connor: Call it what it is

A recent fracas involving a government Minister at a music event simply shows that an artist is allowed to provoke, but cannot be provoked.

So, a government Minister has found himself in woke hot water because he dared to give his honest opinion at the recent Aotearoa Music Awards. Chris Bishop, a former colleague of mine and who would happily describe himself on the liberal side of the National Party, was at the awards night and called a highly political musical performance “a load of crap.” Unfortunately for him, even as a liberal, he crossed an unwritten and unseen line which is that you never critique anything progressive or woke. Celebrate, yes. But never criticise.

David Farrar: The hypocrisy

Radio NZ reported:

The government wants to divide New Zealand along ethnic and economic lines, Chris Hipkins says, and he wants to be the leader who brings it together.

Is he serious? He led a Government that tried to see everything in ethnic terms, and caused the huge division we still have today.

Simon O'Connor: Montreal Burns

Why is it so hard for politicians and media to call out violence when initiated by certain groups? Plus a few observations on the ongoing hypocrisy of some New Zealand sportspeople.

You will have not seen any reporting here in New Zealand, but a few days ago there were significant and violent riots in Montreal, Canada. Police were attacked, cars burned, buildings smashed, fires lit, and calls for revolution and to globalise the intifada.

As you might expect, it was the usual suspects: Pro-Palestinian groups, supporters of terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Marxist radicals, anti-capitalists, anti-NATO activists, and other revolutionaries and anarchists.

DTNZ: NZ Herald promotes harmful content – Counterspin

In a powerful critique of the NZ Herald’s declining editorial standards, Counterspin Media has highlighted a disturbing contradiction in the legacy mainstream media’s messaging.

The NZ Herald is facing mounting scrutiny over its apparent promotion of content that many consider degenerate, leading to concerns about the social consequences of normalising such material.

Simon O'Connor: Hypocrisy continues blindly

Reactions to a haka and an academic's crude outburst show that many in New Zealand still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding consistency and free speech.

When it comes to free speech in New Zealand, the hypocrisy (or at best, inconsistency) of many commentators is well on display during the last few days. Two very recent examples illustrate this. The first is the supportive reaction to the Hurricane’s women’s rugby team doing a haka that called the government ‘redneck’. The second is the reaction to Professor Joanne Kidman’s tweets where, again focusing on government, she decried it as a death cult.

Garrick Tremain: Anzac day

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on Hipkins and his lot's hypocrisy! 

Stuart Smith: Students Must Be Fully Informed

Last Friday saw Parliament’s grounds filled with Global Climate Strike protesters led by Izzy Cook, a year 12 student. The protesters came armed with six “demands”:

* Ban synthetic fertilisers
* Halve the number of cows
* Free public transport
* Safe cycle and walkways
* End all coal, oil and gas exploration
* Just transition.

Fair enough. And putting aside that the students took time off school to attend and didn’t sacrifice their free time for the cause, we still should give them credit for fighting for a cause they believe in.

Bob Jones: Hypocrisy or human?

The hypocrisy of the left when it comes to personal gain, never surprises me.

The latest spectacular example is news that Britain’s Guardian newspaper is paying its editor, thanks to a massive 42% pay rise, a NZ$1m annual salary.

Like Stuff here, the daily Guardian newspaper’s free on-line issue makes pleas for donations from its readers. Last year this yielded The Guardian circa NZ$150m with over a million on-line readers pledging £1 per month and another half million making one-off payments.

All of that despite the newspaper having a base support from its owner, the tax exempt Scott Trust, which has a circa NZ$3billion investment fund used solely to fund the newspaper.

Derek Mackie: Jacinda advises on the fragility of democracy

Jacinda Ardern has just given a virtual speech at Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy on, wait for it…… the fragility of democracy. No, I’m not joking! 

 Like me, you probably didn’t know anything about this summit, or care for that matter, and that’s OK because, like most summits, they achieve nothing and are held so leaders can preen and display in front of each other and deliver speeches full of rhetoric and hypocrisy. Right up Ardern’s street, then! 

 The apparent aims of the summit are to “galvanise commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights”. 

Kate Hawkesby: Why isn't the PM social distancing?

Today the rest of the country will most likely get to Level 1. Aucklanders, not so much. Our restrictions are likely to remain in place, which is annoying for Aucklanders but also problematic for campaigning politicians.

They'll be hoping Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extends gathering sizes as promised, so they can mingle in bigger crowds. But will that include easing restrictions on social distancing?

Because here's the thing, the Prime Minister herself doesn't seem to want to abide that rule.