Peter Williams: Hidden in Prime Time

But did it really address the issue?

Saturday night on TVNZ One appears to now be a wasteland for worthy stuff while those who still watch linear television can soak up the live sport like the NPC quarter finals or the Bathurst Top Ten shootout.

The worthy stuff last night (October 11) was a government funded show called I’m Not Racist But …. It was a combination of in the field interviews, or rather quick take vox pops, and studio discussions with a revolving panel - some of whom made a fleeting appearance (the conservative free speech advocate white guy) and some who dominated pretty much every segment (the Maori human rights advocate and the Maori Te Tiriti advocate).

Karl du Fresne: Three thoughts for today

■ If Michael Wood deliberately sat on his shareholding in Auckland Airport despite knowing it represented a flagrant conflict of interest, he was guilty of ministerial impropriety bordering on corruption.

If, on the other hand, he simply didn’t get around to selling his shares despite being constantly reminded that he should, presumably because he was preoccupied with other things, he was guilty of inexcusable procrastination, rank incompetence and shockingly bad judgment. This should automatically render him unfit for any ministerial portfolio.

So he is either dodgy, hopelessly disorganised, or perhaps both. Either way, the case for Wood’s dismissal is overwhelming. Chris Hipkins is playing for time because he’s running out of cabinet ministers, but Wood’s situation is hopeless. You can hear the Death March playing.

Karl du Fresne: New Zealand's most useless public servant

The man masquerading as the guardian of New Zealanders’ human rights has weighed in, from his Olympian heights, on the Posie Parker affair.

As usual, Paul Hunt’s opinion is worthless and leaves us wondering once again what we did to deserve this third-rate British import and how much longer we should be expected to put up with him.

The chief human rights commissioner writes, as if we all eagerly awaited his insights, that he wants to provide a human rights perspective on the issues raised by Parker’s visit. He adds, in Uriah Heep fashion, that he does this “from where I sit with my multiple privileges and advantages”.

Oh, please. Breast-beating liberal white guilt has rarely been more cringingly displayed. We can only hope his $365,000 salary eases the pain.