Judith Collins must now know that the game is up. The Herald has decided that she must go – and the Herald can always be relied on to reflect the view of the National party.

The signs are now coming thick and fast – and they are unmistakable. The latest issue contains pieces by two of their most experienced journalists – and both Clare Trevett and Fran O’Sullivan make no bones about their conviction that Judith Collins’ recent mistakes and false steps mean that her fate is sealed.

Their prediction seems to be that Collins will be rolled by Simon Bridges; and that almost certainly means that the Herald has given away the next election, since there is no reason to expect the voters to be any more impressed by Bridges than they were last time.

The scenario they apparently see unrolling is that Bridges will replace Collins and lead National to yet another election defeat, whereupon there will be yet another leadership coup, which will bring forward the untested Christopher Luxon, supported by one of the “young Turks” as his deputy.

We have to conclude that things have reached a pretty pass when such a despondent future for the National party is laid out for it by its principal supporter and confidant. Ah well.

Bryan Gould
4 September 2021

Most people seem to think that politicians are a species apart, and they do not understand that politicians are just people like the rest of us. They share the same sentiments and prejudices, the same strengths and weaknesses. In any given situation, if we were to feel downcast or elated, disappointed or satisfied, so too would politicians.

A case in point is David Seymour, the Act leader. He made his name (such as it is) as the “cheeky chappy” of New Zealand politics, (although, to be fair, he also earned kudos for his work on the euthanasia issue), but he then discovered that he rated above Judith Collins in the preferred Prime Minister stakes – (which you may not think is much of an achievement) – but it has rather gone to his head.

We now see a David Seymour who seems to feel obliged, if he is to justify his new-found status, to come up with a snappy phrase or dig at the government – or to appear Prime Ministerial – on a twice-weekly basis; it may take him a little time to realise that this serves merely to make him seem even more lacking in the necessary gravitas than may be the case. Even politicians cannot defy harsh reality.

Bryan Gould
2 September 2021

For those with strong enough stomachs, reading the comments threads in the Herald can be an enlightening – if not exactly salutary – experience.

It does at least provide a useful insight into what drives what is presumably an important sector of the Herald’s readership – and it also offers an understanding of why the Herald finds it advantageous to pursue its current editorial line.

The comments are usually made in response to a Herald report or opinion piece which is critical of some aspect of the government’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic. The comments, by a large majority, endorse and amplify the criticism – no surprise there.

But what is likely to take the casual reader by surprise is the vitriol emitted by so many of the contributors. For many of them, it is not enough to deplore or lament this or that supposed failing of the government; it is the government itself that is the target.

And the comments are not just critical or dismissive of the government – they bespeak a visceral hatred of the government and especially of the Prime Minister. It is as though they are outraged at the very fact of the government’s existence – as though it is an offence against nature that it should be in office and responsible for our affairs.

We should not be surprised, perhaps, at this evidence that – for some people – the very concept of government (and this government in particular) is anathema. There is increasing evidence around the world, after all, of a rising tide of extreme right-wing opinion, characterised by a conviction that government is a conspiracy against them, and that its every action and policy must be resisted.

The pity of it is that our media – if the Herald is anything to go by – are all too likely, not only to reflect these distorted views, but to amplify and broadcast them, with the result that the values upon which our country has always been built are being lost – and we are all worse off as a result.

Bryan Gould
30 August 2021

The National party’s strategists (for which, read “The Herald’s editors”) seem to have decided that their only chance of electoral success is to prick the bubble of Jacinda’s popularity; so, we are treated today to a lengthy exposition in the Herald of the thesis that Jacinda “is not the Messiah” but is instead “a crafty politician”. In support of this shocking revelation, a good deal of time is spent on the Prime Minister’s supposed religious beliefs and on her Mormon upbringing.

This is all produced to back up yesterday’s report – lovingly detailed by the Herald – of criticism of, and surprise at, New Zealand’s lockdown and elimination strategy in the world’s media. I have no doubt that there is such criticism; political leaders around the world are no doubt sick of hearing how well we have done under Jacinda’s leadership and will be enjoying a good deal of schadenfreude at the outbreak of the delta variant.

Jacinda will no doubt respond to these assaults with her customary good humour and good sense. She will take the accusation that she is “a crafty politician” on the chin, comforting herself with the thought that, if doing the right thing is “crafty”, then she will plead guilty.

But, when the smoke clears, and we have got through the current crisis, the Herald will have to ask itself “where were we when the going got tough?” I hope and believe that they will be embarrassed by the answer they are compelled to give – “we were missing in action”.

Bryan Gould
24 August 2021

Right-wing political commentators can scarcely contain their impatience in their efforts to detect and encourage signs that the gloss is beginning to come off the Prime Minister’s bravura performance in handling our pandemic crisis.

Their hearts must have sunk when they realised that the delta variant had required the Prime Minster to show once again how good she is in a crisis and had also necessitated a further series of press conferences on live television in which Jacinda Ardern could again demonstrate her skills as a communicator.

Th response has come immediately, and on cue. In today’s Herald, Fran O’Sullivan berates the Prime Minister for taking a few moments to set the scene before announcing the Cabinet decision on extending the lockdown for a further period. According to the Herald’s reporter, the few seconds spent by the Prime Minster in setting out the background to the decision would have frustrated the business community who were anxious to know what was in store.

It is hard to believe that a serious commentator could ask us to believe that a few seconds could make such a difference to business prospects – the sticks with which to beat the Prime Minister must be in very short supply if that is the best they can come up with. The article also shows little understanding of the skill, courage and effort required of the Prime Minister in facing up to the assembled media on a daily basis.

But the O’Sullivan piece is welcome in one respect at least; it reminds us of just how partisan is the Herald’s coverage of this renewed national crisis.

We deserve better from our leading national newspaper.

Bryan Gould
21 August 2021