The BFD | Which Is Worse for NZ: Servile Hush-Money-Tainted News Media or a Racist Government?

If you have to rely on what passes in New Zealand these days for the mainstream news media, you will have missed during this last week two tidings of great woe for our country.

Firstly, a seasoned author of children books and common sense commentator on current affairs, Amy Brooke, of Nelson, had to resort to an Australian publication, the Spectator to air her view that our current Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern is a saboteur:

The full article is behind a paywall, but these opening words tell it all:

For New Zealand’s Prime Minister to be talking such nonsense – in fact, such a complete untruth as “bold action on climate change is a matter of life and death” – is more than ominous. Her obvious preference for calling urgency on endorsing the recent recommendations of the Climate Change Commission is completely unacceptable. Its unbalanced findings verge on the fanatical and it is high time Ardern is called to account for her fear-mongering and for promoting policies that would in fact basically destroy our economy.

Grist to her mill is that the anti-carbon Left is pushing the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in relation to pre-industrial temperatures. As has been pointed out, this is incompatible with the growing worldwide population, requiring a total reorganisation of the global economy that would keep billions in poverty. But our hard-left Prime Minister is publicly committed to it.

Why? She must be very well aware that policies have consequences – so why is she so dramatically advocating what would be a self-inflicted wound on New Zealand? There is no evidence whatsoever that we are faced with any life or death decisions with regard to climate change – except the one she is not highlighting: that adopting its extreme and unnecessary recommendations would economically cripple us as a country.

So what is she up to? She must know very well that given our size, in comparison with major producers of carbon dioxide, what we might achieve would not make one shred of difference to the total global CO₂ emissions. She is treating New Zealanders as fools by maintaining this fiction. Russia, for example, is reportedly spending over $10 billion to boost its coal exports. Major producers in China, India, Australia, Russia and South Africa are apparently promoting mining projects to increase global output by 30 per cent. China is constructing over one hundred new coal mines, as well as developing shale oil deposits.

Ardern, apparently, is making obeisance to the extremist propaganda advanced by the far Left. However, New Zealanders are gradually realising that the guerrilla tactics of communism have long been undermining our country. Given her hard-core leftist agenda – and a strong body of dedicated, socialist comrades in her Labour coalition – extraordinary moves are now being made to destroy our democracy, largely unchallenged by a lacklustre National party opposition.

Democracy-not. Cartoon credit SonovaMin. The BFD.

By fanning the flames of concern over the supposedly catastrophic consequences of climate change – giving it cargo cult status – an extraordinarily useful tool is at hand, particularly given the prophesying of impending calamities by our helpful, now government-paid media. Stuff, one of our two major media organisations, has, to its disgrace, consistently refused to allow any dissenting points of view to be published, no matter how well-qualified the dissenting scientists and how well-proven the facts.

Surely, when someone of Amy Brooke’s status brands our Prime Minister as a “saboteur”, you’d think that would be news in New Zealand, but the MSM recipients of this government’s hush money (a.k.a. the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund) just can’t bring themselves to even question, let alone criticise the motives of their canonised patroness. No wonder ABC statistics show newspaper circulations plummeting!

But help is at hand: we still have truth and up-to-date accuracy from websites such as The BFD, the New Zealand Centre for Political Research (NZCPR), Kiwiblog, Bowalley Road and, usually, Politik.

Secondly, a devastating condemnation of the He Puapua Report by distinguished University of Auckland academic, Professor Elizabeth Rata.

Professor Rata explains the difference between the democratic nationalism we enjoy now in New Zealand, or the ethno- (race-based) nationalism proposed under He Puapua.

There is no more basic constitutional issue for New Zealanders than this, and all we get from our newspapers are snippets about Willie Jackson, the Minister for Maori Development, referring it firstly to Maori groups for comment, while leaving the rest of us out of the consultative picture for the present. And are our news media, our Fourth Estate, standing up for our rights to be brought into this critical picture? Not so far.

As Mark Twain memorably observed: “If you don’t read the newspapers, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspapers, you are misinformed.”

Again, thanks to key websites, we hoi polloi can remain informed day-by-day, and I especially recommend these links:

Bowalley Road (bowalleyroad.blogspot.com) Chris Trotter’s last three posts.

NZCPR (nzcpr.com/tikanga-in-law-what-does-it-mean/) Dr John Robinson on what tikanga means.

NZCPR (nzcpr.com/a-few-thoughts-on-hate-speech/) Karl du Fresne on free speech

The BFD (thebfd.co.nz/2021/07/05/muzzling-free-speech/) Dr Muriel Newman

Finally, I make the following calls to:

Hon Judith Collins: LEAD…THE…OPPOSITION – OED (Oppose! Expose! Depose!)

David Seymour: Keep up ACT’s Opposition!

Right Hon Winston Peters: Take out your utu this time on the Coalition partner that hid He Puapua from you! Join National and ACT in this, challenging PM Ardern on the following issues: