NZ Politics Daily: Labour beaks silence on port dispute

When TV3 chose to broadcast a documentary about poverty just four days before last year’s general election, it must have known it was being controversial.

Such heavily political documentaries are rare in New Zealand and it’s not surprising to find that there’s been a backlash from those who feel the programme may have influenced voting behaviour.

The question of whether this is a good or bad thing is now being debated thanks to Tom Frewen’s uncovering of the behind the scenes story – see his item: NZ on Air Spooked by Political Interference http://bit.ly/ykv40V. Frewen reveals that the state broadcasting funding agency NZ On Air, was very displeased with TV3’s timing and it’s now investigating how it might prevent the political programmes it funds from being screened during elections.

The political response to this has been very strong and is best covered in Claire Trevett’s item NZ on Air to stop docos in election lead-up http://bit.ly/zmj8ag. The agency’s moves are labelled as ‘heavy-handed’, ‘worrying’, and ‘censorship’.

Attention is also being focused on the fact that the state agency includes political appointees, such as John Key’s electorate secretary, Stephen McElrea. Hence NZ On Air, which worried about its reputation for political impartiality being tarnished by its funding for the Inside Child Poverty programme by Bryan Bruce, is now ironically being accused of being National Party cronies.

The debate about preventing the media from broadcasting political items during an election campaign is an important one. In many ways it’s a re-run of the same issues about freedom of speech, democracy discourse, and state regulation of politics that we saw during the fight over the Electoral Finance Act in 2007.

Only this time around, the (generally leftwing) proponents of state intervention and regulation of political discourse appear to have swapped sides and are now arguing for a more lassez faire approach. Clare Curran, for example, sums up a sensible position on the issue in her statement that ‘Surely it's a good thing that during an election campaign for there to be robust political discussion about issues’ – see: RNZ’s Film maker angered at NZOA pre-election move http://bit.ly/yT5GNo.

So rather than having less political programmes during the election, perhaps we actually need a lot more. This is a point well made in Tim Watkin’s very good blog post, NZ on Air gets it back-to-front on political docos http://bit.ly/z6N4NC.

In general, Curran and other critics of NZ On Air’s intentions – such as Steven Price http://bit.ly/zmj8ag, The Standard http://bit.ly/zuTL80, and Martyn Bradbury http://bit.ly/A8ijqD – are making very good and principled critiques of the proposals from NZ On Air. But you have to wonder if those same principled arguments would be made if the tables were turned, and TV3 had broadcast a documentary about, say, ‘welfare dependency’ a few days before the election.

There can be little doubt that the Bryan Bruce poverty documentary – which should be seen as a welcome addition to electoral debate – was heavily political. This is a point well made in Karl du Fresne’s most recent blog post http://bit.ly/x91VzO on the matter.

Also worth reading are David Farrar’s defence of NZ On Air http://bit.ly/xWBBYr and John Pagani’s call for the ‘political cronies’ in the agency to be sacked http://bit.ly/zferOa. For a humorous – but insightful – take on the topic, see Denis Welch’s Loose talk http://bit.ly/zxrABG.

Labour stays on fence
David Shearer has finally broken his silence over the Ports of Auckland industrial dispute, only to say that the Labour Party intends to remain silent. Essentially Shearer has chosen to re-adopt Labour’s infamous 1951 political position of being ‘neither for nor against the watersiders’.

Similarly, one of Labour’s industrial spokespeople, Darien Fenton, continues to insist that her party is not taking a side in the class struggle on the wharves, but nonetheless elaborates on her concerns in a very carefully worded Red Alert blog post Labour and the POA http://bit.ly/xcV12y. No Right Turn is less than impressed with Labour’s neutrality – see: Useless http://bit.ly/wAZDvQ.

Adam Bennett usefully reports on Shearer’s stance, along with that of other political parties in Big parties keep distance in port dispute http://bit.ly/xkhVRp. Other important items on the dispute are by Jenny Keown (Auckland wharfies find friends on city's boards http://bit.ly/xDh5r4) and Brian Rudman (The big issue behind port dispute http://bit.ly/xSOetz).

Finally, other good items today include Fran O’Sullivan’s Shearer needs a slicker response on oil http://bit.ly/yCdYzZ, Simon Collins’ Rich or poor? Poverty trap set at birth, study reveals http://bit.ly/xfZocb in which it is shown New Zealand has very low social mobility, Ben Heather’s Red-zoners 'bullied' in Govt buyout http://bit.ly/x1KNUR, and Vernon Small’s Labour cuts staff numbers http://bit.ly/ArtWg0 – which explains that Labour’s parliamentary state funding has been reduced ‘from $3.5m before the election to about $2.8m now’ leading to a downsizing in the number of spindoctors employed, and details are provided about other staff changes. 

Today's content
NZ On Air dispute
Tom Frewen (Scoop): NZ on Air Spooked by Political Interference http://bit.ly/ykv40V
Claire Trevett (Herald): NZ on Air to stop docos in election lead-up http://bit.ly/zmj8ag>
Kate Chapman (Dom Post): Questions raised by Labour over NZ On Air's neutrality http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/6273407/Questions-raised-by-Labour-over-NZ-On-Airs-neutrality
RNZ: Film maker angered at NZOA pre-election move <http://bit.ly/yT5GNo
RNZ: NZOA accused of political bias over poverty show http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/96173/nzoa-accused-of-political-bias-over-poverty-show
Newswire: Doco censorship called an 'affront to democracy' http://www.3news.co.nz/Doco-censorship-called-an-affront-to-democracy/tabid/1607/articleID/239665/Default.aspx
Denis Welch (Opposable thumb): Loose talk <http://bit.ly/zxrABG
Tim Watkin (Pundit): NZ on Air gets it back-to-front on political docos http://bit.ly/z6N4NC
No Right Turn: National tries to control the media http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2012/01/national-tries-to-control-media.html
Karl du Fresne: "Dropped in it" - NZ on Air and that Bryan Bruce documentary http://bit.ly/x91VzO
The Standard: Nats to use censorship to keep public in the dark ahead of elections http://bit.ly/zuTL80
Lew Stoddart (Kiwipolitico): Hearing no evil http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2012/01/hearing-no-evil/
Martyn Bradbury (Tumeke): Key's electorate chairman attempts to censor political docos at NZ on Air http://bit.ly/A8ijqD
Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): Balance not censorship http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/balance-not-censorship/
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Election period taxpayer funded programmes http://bit.ly/xWBBYr
John Pagani (Stuff): We don't need political interference in TV http://bit.ly/zferOa

Ports of Auckland dispute
Jenny Keown (Stuff): Auckland wharfies find friends on city's boards http://bit.ly/xDh5r4
Adam Bennett (Herald): Big parties keep distance in port dispute http://bit.ly/xkhVRp
TV3/RadioLIVE: Shearer stays out of Ports dispute http://www.3news.co.nz/Shearer-stays-out-of-Ports-dispute/tabid/1607/articleID/239644/Default.aspx
Darien Fenton (Red Alert): Labour and the POA http://bit.ly/xcV12y
No Right Turn: Useless http://bit.ly/wAZDvQ
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Squashed http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/01/squashed.html>
No Right Turn: Speaking out on Ports of Auckland http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2012/01/speaking-out-on-ports-of-auckland.html
Waitakere News: Why Len Brown should intervene in the POAL Dispute http://waitakerenews.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-len-brown-should-intervene-in-poal.html
RNZ: Port agrees to stop work meeting if strike cancelled http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/96192/port-agrees-to-stop-work-meeting-if-strike-cancelled
Brian Rudman (Herald): The big issue behind port dispute http://bit.ly/xSOetz
Herald: Editorial - Port row gives clue to asset sales solution http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10779387
Cathy Odgers (Cactus Kate): Union Admits It Is Out of Mantrol http://asianinvasion2006.blogspot.com/2012/01/union-admits-it-is-out-of-mantrol.html

Christchurch
Ben Heather (Press): Red-zoners 'bullied' in Govt buyout http://bit.ly/x1KNUR
Cullen Smith (The Star): Shearer wants bipartisan response to quakes http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10779345
RNZ: Labour leader visits quake-hit residents http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/canterbury-earthquake/96169/labour-leader-visits-quake-hit-residents
Joe Bennett (Waikato Times): Rebranding Tony Marryatt http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/6274063/Rebranding-Tony-Marryatt

Other
Simon Collins (Herald): Rich or poor? Poverty trap set at birth, study reveals http://bit.ly/xfZocb
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Shearer needs a slicker response on oil http://bit.ly/yCdYzZ
Vernon Small (Stuff): Labour cuts staff numbers http://bit.ly/ArtWg0
Danyl Mclauchlan (Dim Post): Wither Red Alert? http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/wither-red-alert/
John Hartevelt (Stuff): Orchestra tickets perk for director http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6272244/Orchestra-tickets-perk-for-director
Shane Cowlishaw (Stuff): Wellington council's catering bill $1000 a day http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6272370/Wellington-councils-catering-bill-1000-a-day
John Ryall (Dom Post): Wage law change will be draconian Treaty Settlement Process http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/6273465/Wage-law-change-will-be-draconian
Russell Tregonning (ODT): Opponents point out hazards of lignite plant http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/194698/opponents-point-out-hazards-lignite-plant
Joshua Hitchcock (Maori Law and Politics): Government Cuts Threaten http://roiamaori.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/government-cuts-threaten-treaty-settlement-process/
Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Recession risk rises as cup joy fades http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6272412/Recession-risk-rises-as-cup-joy-fades
RNZ: Business confidence takes a knock http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/96141/business-confidence-takes-a-knock
Roeland Van den bergh (Stuff): Economy sound, but risks abound, says bank http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6272417/Economy-sound-but-risks-abound-says-bank
TVNZ: Kiwibank buys Gareth Morgan's company http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/kiwibank-buys-gareth-morgan-investments-4691815
Trevor Mallard (Red Alert): Another fortnight of Key’s kowtowing http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/01/17/another-fortnight-of-keys-kowtowing/
David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Mallard on Crafar http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/01/mallard_on_crafar.html
RNZ: Asset sales mooted to reduce Dunedin debt http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/96159/asset-sales-mooted-to-reduce-dunedin-debt
Steffan Browning (frogblog): The Food Bill, not as sweet as first appeared http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/01/18/the-food-bill-not-as-sweet-as-first-appeared/
David Farrar (Stuff): Should there be term limits for list MPs? http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/blogs/david-farrar-by-the-numbers/6270303/Should-there-be-term-limits-for-list-MPs
Patrick Leyland (Progress Report): Farrar’s non-solution to a non-problem http://theprogressreport.co.nz/2012/01/17/farrars-non-solution-to-a-non-problem/
Grant Duncan (Policy Matters): Maori seats: Why do they exist? http://masspolicy.blogspot.com/2012/01/maori-seats-why-do-they-exist.html
NZ Parliament: Looking back over 50 Parliaments http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/Features/c/9/e/00NZPHomeNews201201171-Looking-back-over-50-Parliaments.htm
Newswire: Green MP on bike for planet http://www.3news.co.nz/Green-MP-on-bike-for-planet/tabid/423/articleID/239578/Default.aspx
RNZ: Assistant Speaker elected head of global group http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/96162/assistant-speaker-elected-head-of-global-group
Clare Curran (Red Alert): How important is IP to our economy http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/01/17/how-important-is-ip-to-our-economy/
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