David Farrar: Understanding academic freedom

Grant Duncan writes:

I too have questioned the boot camps (on grounds of a lack of evidence of effectiveness) and queried the possible reduction of the school lunches programme. But Prof Kidman let herself down, as an academic, by resorting to an ad hominemattack. Accusing the present government (the elected representatives) of hating children and asking if they're a “death-cult” was nothing unusual on X, but was well below par for credible academic debate. And she does display the title Prof. on her X profile.

Simon O'Connor: Hypocrisy abounds

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.

Cam Slater: Why Does She Still Have a Job?

I’ve been posting on X (formerly Twitter) about Professor Joanna Kidman, a director of the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, which is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She was appointed by Jacinda Ardern to the role.

Bryce Edwards: Rising toxicity in NZ politics

A top university academic, selected by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to head a big project aimed at reducing division and extremism in New Zealand, is currently in trouble for lashing out at the new Government, accusing it of racism, child-hatred, and being a “death-cult”.

Prof Joanna Kidman was appointed as the director of the He Whenua Taurikura, the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, funded by the Department of Cabinet and Prime Minister (DPMC). But in posting colourful critiques of politicians this week, she has brought on questions about her suitability for the role of reducing extremism in society. This minor scandal also provides a useful case study about the rising political temperatures in New Zealand politics at the moment.

Point of Order: Joanna Kidman

Finding out about Joanna Kidman – the tweets are private but her invective has not been removed from public view

A professor by name of Joanna Kidman seems to have caused a stir in political circles this week.

So what do we learn about her, if we put her name into the Google search system?

David Farrar: DPMC funded Director calls Government a death cult

You can have a reasonable disagreement on whether boot camps are effective. But someone who states that the Government hates children and is a death cult is a bad faith extremist. They're the equivalent of someone on the right who thinks Jacinda did vaccine mandates because she is paid by Pfizer. Crazy conspiracy theorists.

But Professor Kidman is not some random person. She is the co-director of He Whenua Taurikura, a supposed charity that is funded mainly by the Government. Their parent body's postal address is the Dept of PM and Cabinet.

John Porter: Ministry of Truth Happy to Hire an Anti-White Bigot

“Settler/Coloniser, we are your worst nightmare. And we are coming to a university near you!” So tweeted one Professor Joanna Kidman, who has recently been appointed a director of the newly launched Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism.

Or the Ministry of Truth as it is being referred to on social media.

The appointment of Kidman suggests that Ardern’s Government is comfortable and even agrees with the prejudiced views that Kidman expresses.

So who exactly is Professor Joanna Kidman?

Point of Order: Leaked report (by the looks of things) led to professor being unhired from post in the PM’s war against terrorism, violence and hate

Yes, the Government today made a big announcement about measures to tackle COVID-19 and flu. But we are confident the mainstream news media will give that an appropriate airing.

Point of Order instead found cause to revisit a Beehive press statement which we buzzed about on June 4. We have done so because we fear the country’s state-subsidised and Treaty-committed mainstream media (apart from the New Zealand Herald) will not be bothering to inform their audiences of what has transpired.

The press statement from the Prime Minister in early June announced the launch of the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, He Whenua Taurikura.

One of the centre’s two directors is Professor Joanna Kidman.

Karl du Fresne: The intriguing circumstances in which Joanna Kidman was appointed to show us the way against hatred and extremism

There’s an intriguing piece in today’s Herald (paywalled) concerning a government about-face over the appointment of University of Otago professor Richard Jackson as director of the spectacularly pompous-sounding National Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism.

David Fisher’s story indicates Jackson, who’s listed on the Otago University website as a professor of peace studies, thought he had the job in the bag. Then the Otago Daily Times ran a story about an internal review which described the university’s National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, of which Jackson was director, as having a “toxic” and “divisive” culture, with “deeply entrenched conflicts”. Whoops; not a good look, as they say.

Ben Espiner: Is it 'misinformation' when the Government does it?

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took her global gallop to Madrid last week for the NATO Leaders Summit, fresh off the back of a widely lauded, star-spangled excursion to the United States.

Over the last few months, Ardern has received praise, both at home and abroad for her charismatic diplomacy and for the global spreading of the New Zealand image. She fraternized with American President Joe Biden, sat in a posh-looking chair in the White House and didn’t ‘reject the premise’ of any of Stephen Colbert’s questions.

Loath to take the world stage for granted, however, Ardern seems to be using her time in the limelight to double down on her concerns over ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’.