Further news, views, commentaries

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Fear and loathing grips the left over NZME shake-up

Journalist and commentator, Graham Adams, fires back at politicians and media commentators who have their knickers in a twist about Jim Grenon’s proposed NZME board takeover. Graham writes: “It’s very hard to see how that is a threat to democracy, as some media commentators have claimed. Rather than a blow to democracy, it could be more accurately seen as promoting diversity of thought and opinion in a media landscape heavily dominated by left-leaning journalists”.

NZME’s Future: Fresh Governance, Shareholder Value, and Balanced News

A nominee to a refreshed NZME Editorial Board to guide editorial strategy and ensure decisions to uphold a commitment to balanced and trusted journalism, Philip Crump, writes that it’s about ensuring that NZME’s journalism is robust, balanced, and trusted by New Zealanders. “My motivation is to deliver balanced, diverse journalism (including a range of political views) that bolsters New Zealand’s democracy”.

Integrity Briefing: Te Pāti Māori’s ongoing financial accountability failures

Dr Bryce Edwards, Director of The Integrity Institute, comments on Te Pāti Māori’s continued failure to abide by electoral laws. “Te Pāti Māori has fought for the mantra that Māori voices be heard and respected in New Zealand – a goal many of us applaud. But along with that goes a responsibility to honour the laws and principles that uphold our democracy”.

Te Pāti Māori’s Defiance

Satirical blogger, Matua Kahurangi, comments that Te Pāti Māori’s refusal to appear before the Privileges Committee over their disruptive haka in Parliament is a brazen display of arrogance and entitlement. “Their decision to ignore a formal summons demonstrates a fundamental disregard for the rules of democratic governance and the very institution they are elected to serve”.

A Broken Nation – complete tribal disunity

First published July 3, 2024, research scientist Dr John Robinson outlines how he sees the political situation in NZ today. He believes we are a divided, racist, apartheid state which has had its unity, democracy and sovereignty ripped away, with the final step under preparation of two separate race-based parliaments passing different laws, with the dominant ‘indigenous’ authority following the culture of tikanga. John asks how we can turn this around.

Supreme Court matters: statutory interpretation and constitutional balance

Roger Partridge, the Chair of The NZ Initiative, is urging the restoration of proper constitutional balance while protecting both judicial independence and the rule of law. “When courts adopt an ambulatory approach to statutory interpretation, they introduce profound uncertainty into the law. Voters cannot reliably determine their legal obligations by reading Parliament’s words. Instead, they must try to anticipate how judges might reinterpret those words based on the particular judges’ perceptions of evolving social values. This uncertainty undermines the rule of law’s fundamental requirement that laws be clear and predictable. It also threatens democratic accountability by transferring effective lawmaking power from elected representatives to unaccountable judges”.