Cunliffe’s stand against male violence takes courage – every male should feel ashamed

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Pointing out how ashamed many men feel at our gender’s horrifying violence statistics is courageous leadership, it’s not PC self hating, yet the manner in which the media have reported Cunliffe’s strong statements shows how sexist a right wing media we have…

Cunliffe spoke of the “bullshit, deep-seated sexism” still prevalent in New Zealand. “It needs to stop,” he said. “I don’t often say it – I’m sorry for being a man,” Cunliffe said, “because family and sexual violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men.”

…who amongst us could disagree with those sentiments, yet the way the media have represented this as David Cunliffe apologising for being a man suggests the mere idea that any man should apologise is so beyond the cultural norm we are entering fringe snake handling spirituality. Every male should be ashamed and shocked at the horror statistics of other mens violence, and standing against that should be the obligation of everyone of us in society.

The ‘not every man should be ashamed’ backlash is the same tired voice of the invisibly privileged being forced to consider someone else’s feelings for once and it’s as intellectually bankrupt as it’s always been.

The sexism however in the way the media have portrayed Labour’s attempts at gender equality show us how far we still have to go. ‘Manban’,  ‘female dominated’, now ‘apologising for being a man’, all these narratives reflect the sexist views of the media rather than challenge them.

To have the PM now jump in and treat domestic violence like a big joke shows him up once again for the nasty little cretin he’s always been.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

This is ugly in a country that once celebrated giving women the vote first.

86 COMMENTS

  1. His speech writer should be taken outside and left there.

    To open what would have been a good speech with those words is at best political naiveté at worst deliberate sabotage.

    • The point is, a ‘good’ speech doesn’t cut it with this media unless you are Key, who can’t even do good.
      Cunliffe turned it into a great speech by being heartfelt and controversial.
      A ‘masterstroke’ by a great speechmaker.
      Everyone’s talking about it. The message has got through. Job done.
      Brilliant!

    • Make your opening words shock your audience – then everyone listens carefully to what is being said, waiting to find fault. Exactly what the MSM have wasted time on. They just don’t get it. Family violence is one of the most serious problems in this country – THE MEN HAVE GOT TO FIX IT!!!!!!!
      Good for you David Cunliffe.

    • He didn’t open with those words – they were *part* of a speech to Women’s Refuge about domestic violence in NZ. If you take things out of context, you won’t understand them.

  2. Good on you Martyn. You put it well. Good on you David Cunliffe keep it up and speak the truth.

  3. Strikes me more like insencere ‘words’ aimed at winning over his target audience. It’s a bit like saying that Hone should now get up and say he’s really really sorry for being both a man and in particular a Maori man in given the over-representation in domestic violence.

    I’d love for him to repeat that statement on a main stream podium, that would have balls.

  4. The fact is it is not a man problem, it is a problem for society as a whole. Being sorry for being a man completely misses the point. The majority of men who are not involved in violence of any type do not have to apologise for being a man. David Cunliffe came across as being somewhat insincere and it appeared that a certain amount of theatrics was involved in his announcement. This will not endear him to the majority of voters or indeed to many in his party at this weekend’s Labour Congress.

    • I’m amazed that so many people are so stupid! What he said was in exactly the same vein as I now say that, given what the current government has done to this country, especially to the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate, I am ashamed to call myself a NZer.

  5. TV 1 news might as well just drop the crap and simply hang a “Vote National” sign on the backdrop behind the newsreaders. Its coverage of what David Cunliffe said was deliberately and shamefully misleading and taken completely out of context. TV 1 news reported that David had apologized for being a man. What he actually said was “I’m sorry for being a man RIGHT NOW”, which provides a different context completely. What he meant was that he found it embarrassing to be male at the moment with all the crimes being committed against women and children in the news at the moment. The contrast between the Labour and National people was striking. David Cunliffe was almost trembling with rage and shame as he let out how helpless he felt as he was surrounded by these outrages and not being able to do much about it. As usual an immediate response was sought from John Key. I would have thought that our Prime Minister would have echoed the sentiments that David felt but no, he decided that violence and sexual abuse was a worthy political point scoring topic. His grinning, sneering response caught me by surprise and totally appalled me. Also there was Paula Bennett hamming it up as if oblivious to the topic that was being discussed. Those two should be the ones apologizing to New Zealand women and children for their attitudes, not David.

    • I totally agree Mike .
      Regarding the TV reporting, I only saw Prime at 5.30 and TV3 at 6 and both did a reasonable job of reporting the speech. Didn’t see TV1 at 6 but they must have cleaned their act up (or done a bit of editing due to all the flak they must have been getting) because at 10.30 the reporting wasn’t too bad, (for them).
      Once again however the have been found wanting. Heads need to roll !

      • Yes, it seems that someone with a journalistic conscience did some editing before the 10.30pm edition. Doesn’t excuse the appalling way it was presented in the 6 pm bulletin, though.

        • They’re at it again this evening. Patrick Gower’s casual slurring of what David Cunliffe had to say about domestic violence was disgusting and callous, but I fear also brutally effective with the vast majority of people who don’t look past the soundbite.

          The MSM’s slurring of Labour/Green/MIP initiatives is in fact redolent of casual racism in its offhand brutality (though that is another issue).

          The reporting of Cunliffe’s words, plus the use of soundbites from Trevor Mallard and Chris Hipkins to imply disunity within Labour, can only reinforce the impression that the MSM is out to get the Left.

          Labour in particular needs to rework its communications strategies ASAP to take account of the massively uneven playing field it is on.

          • I totally agree with your observations GM.
            Gower playing only the first part of ‘that’ line and then cutting the rest out, at the same time talking negatively about Cunliffe and Labour.
            It’s pure bullshit gutter journalism!
            However, I feel the tide is turning against this ego driven facile media.
            Gower, because of his dumb, shallow questions, looks like a schoolboy when interviewing David Cunliffe , and a mate when interviewing Key.
            This makes Cunliffe look like he’s operating on a much higher plane, (which he is), and Key, because of the perceived mateship with Gower is now also seen as the schoolboy.(Which he is)!
            I feel the populace are starting to awake from their slumber and I’m picking by election time an avalanche of new political awareness will wipe National off the cliff edge, from where they now, so tenuously sit!

    • +1 Mike the Lefty and Grant (I don’t seem to be able to ‘like’ anything anymore – what is with that?)

      I would really like to see Martyn add the ‘right now’ to the quote of what Cunliffe said. As it stands it is a misquote.

      It is not suitable to leave it out for the reason Mike the Lefty supplied.

  6. Unfortunately National & MSM are trying to character asassinate Cunliffe, there is a coordinated strategy going on here and it shows NZ politics is rotten. Sexual and domestic violence needs to be taken seriously, taking one comment out of context and making it a headline is another example of poor journalism standards.

    • It is an insult to refer to these MSM clowns as journalists. They are simply puppets for the National Party. Roll on September 20 – maybe these biased performers will be gone by then as well.

  7. On this I disagree, not every male should feel ashamed, as it is a problem that a fair number of males may be responsible for, but not ALL males. I accept though that David Cunliffe did in all honesty speak for himself, which deserves respect, and must be acknowledged as such, him speaking for his position and feelings.

    I do respect what David Cunliffe said, and I am angry at the comments by John Key and some media hacks, who have again used the opportunity to quote David Cunliffe out of context, and jumped at the opportunity to rubbish and ridicule him.

    This shows how much “work” this country needs, to set things right, to be a better society, when we have idots and jerks like Duncan Garner on Radio Live rant on against Cunliffe, while fully supporting John Key. We must see again the ENEMY there is, that is the rotten MAINSTREAM MEDIA, that is too many working in there!

    I am actually totally disgusted by what I heard on Radio Live today, and especially by Plunket in the morning (till noon), and by Garner after 3 pm. These guys are NOT playing fair and reasonably, they are damned BIASED, and they feed bias to the public, intentionally, and they get paid mega bucks for it.

    It is time to hold their employer to the account, and reveal their salaries, their associations, political affiliations, their dinner and other party associations with government ministers and MPs and more. Let us also see who is the biggest advertising payer for that station, and for some other ones, so we know, who BUYS what favours, and who works in an agenda against political opponents to this government in this election campaign.

    I call it ALL ON now, for the MSM and their stakeholders and owners to OWN UP to what they are up to!

    This is NOT a fair election campaign, it is a stitched up event, it is paid for by big money and corrupt practices. Key benefits, the government benefits, and there is NO opposition given the same airtime and chance to comment.

    This is NOT right, it is ROTTEN, and take note, dear MSM, you will be challenged and EXPOSED!

  8. I was absolutely fuming when I saw the Herald headline this afternoon, so I posted the article on my page with the following comments:-

    For those intelligent enough to ignore and see past yet another typically and predictably biased and pathetic Herald headline…

    “His message went down well with the overwhelmingly female audience. One woman came up to him as he left and said she had moved away from Labour but his speech had won her vote back.

    Refuge chief executive Heather Henare said Labour had consulted her about its policy, unlike the National Government which announced its own policy on family violence this week without consulting Refuge.

    “David Cunliffe’s speech was, I have to say, inspiring,” she said.”

    Take that you Tory misogynist pricks ! National – the party that lets rapists leave our country through the back door and lies about it, whose cabinet minister tries to directly influence the Police to let off wife bashers ! The Party that cuts funding to, and closes down, centres and services that help rape victims.

    They will no doubt be quick to jump on to this inflammatory headline and take the piss, but they are all mouth and no trousers, like their pin-up boy John Key.

    They’re not real men, far from it.

  9. I’m more ‘ashamed’ of the horrific things we do to animals.
    But then where do you stop?
    Tar Sands? 911? 6 million Jews? Hutu? McDonald’s? The Green Party? The Green Turtle? CO2 …… voting.
    Maybe ashamed is to strong a word for some of the above – amazed, might be better, amazed how duped humans can be.

  10. I’m already pretty ashamed to be a man in this country. But if I hadn’t been already, the comments section at stuff.co.nz sure would make me.

    It’s incredible how ruthlessly conservative, patriarchal, and downright sexist this country really is, and how even a modicum of critical analysis and/or thought gets people’s backs up unnecessarily. People think that because of something that happened 120 years ago, that was fought for by a group of determined women, that they have carte blanche to just assume that NZ is some egalitarian wonderland of the sexes. It’s disgraceful, disingenuous, and downright humiliating.

    ‘Real men.don’t apologise. And they don’t take responsibility for the harm inflicted by their gender. Get with the programme David.’

    How do you even fight against somebody like that? That’s fubar. Once again patriarchy will ride again, and domestic violence and rape culture will get swept under the rug because John Key says it’s not an issue.

    Wonderful. Fucking wonderful.

  11. I’m going to somewhat disagree here with you Martyn.

    I don’t think any man ever should apologise for being a man. There’s nothing wrong with being a man, and the majority of men are wonderful people.

    What I think he was trying to get at is he’s sorry for the violence that other men do. Which doesn’t mean he has to apologise, because he didn’t do it.

    The other think I think he is trying to get at is he’s sorry for having unacknowledged privilege.

    I do appreciate his sentiment, but unfortunately MSM will jump all over this. And it will not end well for the status of women in NZ.

    • @Lara:

      MSM have already jumped all over this.

      And it is much more than a sentiment – it is todays reality.

      It is already faring well for NZ women, simply because it is now publicly acknowledged by a male political leader.

      The male violence issue is now in the public arena, and this is a very good thing. Wide open for debate and resolution.

      Awesome.

      Notice the negative votes coming from the violence condoners, MSM, and Nats.

      Opinion

    • David was actually more apologising on behalf of other decent men that some have so badly let down not only the women they mistreat, but other men as well. In general, gender is not something to be proud or ashamed of, any more than, say, the colour of one’s eyes. However, given the rate of domestic violence in NZ, and that the majority of it is committed by men against women, that is definitely something to be ashamed of.

  12. At last! A leader with the courage to start the debate. This is a male problem and it’s about time men stood up and owned it. Start noticing the racist, sexist and snide remarks in our conversations, think of what we are teaching our sons. Surely it is time to change for their sake. Good on you David.

  13. I heard Cunliffe talking to Duncan Garner after the sensational coverage of this carefully selected sound bite. He had been deeply affected by all the grim reports and statistics. Heaven forbid, the man has a pulse. It takes real guts to tackle such an emotionally weighted issue like this head on. Cunliffe is the man to do this. As prime minister, he will take personal responsibility for this issue. To the opposition, everything is a joke. Poverty is a joke. Inequality is a joke, and now domestic violence. What does Cunliffe do. He launches an ambitious plan to tackle sexual violence. He will lead these changes personally, with justice system reforms, including the establishment of a specialist sexual violence court, which I must add would be a fantastic idea. Because of irresponsible reporting on this sound bite, it has created a backlash. I just wish the public could be affected with the same amount of indignant outrage at domestic violence. What has John Key done to address this problem? Nothing. It is not so funny now, not to those who live in the real world and look for real leadership to create real change.

  14. Nasty little creep ? “Our Glorious Liar Mr John Key” ? No, surely not. Pathetic puerile pandering ponce ? For sure..

  15. Holding on to shame for things that you have done yourself is bad enough. Shame about the essential core of your being is wrong and toxic. Attempting to put that kind of shame on people is purely abusive, and hugely counter productive.

    • @ Waz: “Shame about the essential core of your being is wrong and toxic. Attempting to put that kind of shame on people is purely abusive, and hugely counter productive.”

      And yet, and yet…. is it not the case that a goodish chunk of the Pakeha world – much of that chunk being male, I’ve noticed – puts exactly that trip on Maori men with regard to their disproportionate representation in the crime and violence stats?

  16. Dimwit Duncans’ deleterious, ‘drivetime’ diatribe on Radio Dead, tells you all you need to know about how he and his ilk choose to obtusely interpret and, or, conflate a serious message.
    However in his rush to try and humiliate David Cunliffe, with what is a very very serious issue, he has scored an own goal.
    First of all he has shown off his poor journalistic skills by not wrapping any context around the subject in discussion.
    Jim Snora also did the same thing, and had to be educated by one of ‘The Panel’ guests on National Radio about context.
    Ah yes, context, Jim and ‘Dunks’, means not isolating half a sentence from a major speech, rejigging the grammar and removing commas to suit your own selfish message.
    The own goal by ‘Dunks’ was rammed home when he babbled on about how out of 100 texts and emails he had received, only 3 had been supportive of David Cunliffe.
    Considering Cunliffes gutsy speech was received with a standing ovation and a huge pat on the back by Womens Refuge, ‘Dunks’ has only highlighted that his listenership are predominantly moronic, redneck thickos with sheep like behaviour patterns, therefore, intern, mirroring his own behaviour.
    Key of course , jumped straight in, and looking like a complete dickhead, started blathering on about all the men out there who aren’t ashamed of their manlyness or some such juvenile nonsense,then challenged David Cunliffe to repeat himself at the ‘rugby club.’
    Own goal no.2
    Key has now insinuated that ‘rugby club people’ are likely to take offence about a speech relating to men beating women.
    Logically,(as this is a subject that most normal people realise needs discussing), you would only take offence if you were one of them .
    Therefore Key, by suggesting that ‘ rugby club people ‘ wouldn’t want to hear the speech, has alluded that they could be possible abuses.
    What a vacuous ,shallow moron!
    Foot note :To their credit, realising the seriousness of the subject , Prime, TV3 and TV1 did wrap some context around this story and reported it in a balanced mature way. Well done!

  17. Excellent Martyn.

    What this really says is that David Cunliffe is a courageous realist, and the good guy here.

    And the media and Key are nothing more than men who obviously condone male violence in society. I suppose with all the money Nats have invested in prisons, and future private prison contracts, they would want to keep the male violence figures high, otherwise who will they house in their prisons?

    Go David!!!

    Opinion.

  18. Very well put Martyn. As for David Cunliffe’s speech, it takes a strong man to stand up and address such an abhorrent issue in the public arena. Brilliant speech from Cunliffe. Only added to his mana.

    John Key in ridiculing Cunliffe, made light of the violence afflicting, maiming and killing so many Kiwis. With a smirk on his face, the PM’s response was to treat Cunliffe’s comments as a joke.

    I considered Key’s attitude offensive towards past, present and likely future victims of violence within the home environment.

    So that just about sums up Key and National’s attitude towards family violence! To them it’s irrelevant! Roll on September!

  19. Perhaps men wouldn’t be so cocky if they realised that their body plan is basically a woman with a little testosterone thrown in the mix. Ever wondered why males having nipples?

  20. My god I think the biggest surprise from this has been the lack of understanding of institutionalised sexism, rape, and abuse even among people on the left. I expect it on the right, but allegedly progressive people have been getting their backs up as if they have been personally labelled rapists and wife beaters.

    And that is not the case.

    But even so, we should ALL be ashamed of being men in this country. You don’t have to have been complicit in any of these acts specifically yourself to be ashamed because by and large we are part of a society that has endorsed them unofficially, and repeatedly voted for representatives that entrench political and economic actions that not only entrench these cultural institutions, but actually accelerate them.

    You don’t have to be inactive because of this shame either – it should be a call to action and change. If you’re taking it as a personal slight then you’re far too insular, and perhaps you should be thinking of voting act, because that’s the kind of individual responsibility and society denial that would fit right up their alley.

    It’s time for us to grow up, acknowledge that as a society we’re a white supremacist, patriarchal society, by and large because of decisions made outside of our consent and sphere of influence. But we can change it – denying it and looking to ignore it is definitely something that we should be ashamed of.

  21. I thought Cunliffe would be a bit more of a sleeves rolled up labour leader instead we’ve ended up with hand wringing. He should be ashamed. Lets see more pragmatism from labour in the lead up to the election.

    • This is not hand wringing, not even close. I’ve seen the carnage caused of what he’s now seen and its truly horrific and brings with it intergenerational damage.

      When I listened to what David Cunliffe was saying it was the first time ever I have heard a prominent political leader or anyone of note actually express true disgust at woman and child bashing and violence of all kinds. In fact its the first time I think there could be a real change to the status quo of domestic violence in a meaningful sense rather than casting about millions for appearances sake with no idea if it will ever work.

      With our media DC is always on thinnest of thin ice and will be stitched up out of context at the slightest opportunity. Possibly a slightly better choice of words would have helped such as “When I see what I have just seen it brings shame upon men that this continues and few do anything to stop it”. And it does and you can’t escape it.

      He’s right, this bullshit is over and has to be stopped.

    • Read the manifesto, go to see David Cunliffe in action, then see if you can still profess that Labour and he lacks pragmatism.

    • @ David: “I thought Cunliffe would be a bit more of a sleeves rolled up labour leader instead we’ve ended up with hand wringing. He should be ashamed.”

      Hand wringing? He’s called men out on the behaviour of the violent ones, and the failure of most of the rest to take seriously the issue of violence against women and children. Got you where it hurts, has he?

      “Lets see more pragmatism from labour in the lead up to the election.”

      Pragmatism? Like, say, ignoring issues like this, because announcing policy on it might mean that the boofheads won’t vote for Labour? Jesus wept….

      I think Cunliffe might well say in response: I rest my case, yer Honour.

  22. Oh God , cunliffe apologises for being a man ? Fuck off ! What disingenuous tripe ?
    He should in fact apologise for being partisan to raging neo liberal greed that created the horrible dysfunction that’s making itself obvious by the equally terrible crime statistics we now see peddled daily by the MSM to sell Chinese made junk during the ‘ News ‘ .
    I’m proud of being a man and I’m proud of the man I am thank you very much . I’ve never laid a hand on a woman or child and could never do so , perhaps because I’m not afraid , I’m not anxious , I don’t get pissed up to cloak fear and anxiety . I know my enemy and it’s not my female human or our children . It’s neo liberal gibberish that cunliffe passes off as caring . It’s Polyester caring . Fake as .
    If you want to talk about those whom do real damage in the home , here’s a few names for you and not one of them is a shameful Man . ( The jury might still be out on richardson . She looks more like an old male chimpanzee jockey on a paraquat diet and the hideous creature still heads up corporations as a freelancer WTF ?
    Paraquat (dipyridylium) is a highly toxic weed killer once promoted by the United States for use in Mexico to destroy marijuana plants. Research found that this herbicide was dangerous to workers who applied it to the plants. )

    jenny shipely
    ruth richardson
    paula bennett
    judith collins
    hekia parata
    anne tolly
    Christine Rankin etc …

    The above fiends , powered by greed and narcissistic egos are doing , or have done far more damage to our wider whanau and tamoriki than any drunk thug with a skin full . And we pay them to do that to us . Hahaha !
    If cunliffe must apologise , he should apologise for sitting on his hands all those years as he watched on from his six figure salary while those bastards laid waste to us by crushing our souls with usury debt , ever increasing job insecurity and escalating basic costs of living due in large part to those same bastards selling off our stuff to foreigners .

    Cunliffes trying his best to come across as a dick and I think we may be doomed to another three long years of fucking jonky .

    • It’s not just neo-liberalism thats done so much damage to so many women and children Countryboy.

      I agree with you that neo-liberalism is hugely damaging.

      But patriarchy is also damaging. It damages both men and women, but it is women who bear the brunt.

      They are raped, beaten, abused, and killed. Thats what Cunniliffe is talking about.

      Its tied up with neo-liberalism for sure, but there are aspects of this which are different. If we focus only on neo-liberalism and ignore how patriarchy damages us all we’ll not identify the problems nor find solutions.

    • Being a man – or a woman, for that matter – is not something of which to be either proud or ashamed. It just is. The rate of violence in NZ, largely committed by men, and frequently against women, is definitely something to be ashamed of. If you can’t see that that was what David Cunliffe meant, Country Boy, I suggest you go and talk to some women’s refuges, as he did.

  23. Ithe reason I go infuriated with this speech is not because of its message, but because of how it was represented. Cunliffe can apologise for being a man as much as he wants, he brings across this image that domestic violence is limited to (all) men in this country and therefore all need to feel guilty. I have come across a lot of violence in my previous line of work and have seen domestic violence in a lot of forms. From deliberate psychological manipulation to the beatings and death. There is such a vast range in this dreadful topic it is impossible for one speech to really bring attention to it. But one thing is for certain, domestic violence comes from a lot of people. From fathers, mothers, boyfriend, girlfriends and even sons and daughters towards parents. People can hail this speech as much as they want, all the money in the world and useless speeches will not change the one thing that will have an influence over this. Social acceptance of looking the other way. Much like alcohol we have this attitude of laughing things off. Stop relying on politicians who, quite frankly, won’t have much of an influence over this and do what is right. Hold people accountable yourself.

  24. If he if sorry of being a man then he should also be sorry of being white and wealthy.

    Male white wealthy men have commited most genocidies in the world.

    Most of the world was colonized by white wealth men.

  25. Funny thing…

    The media have criticised DC for being “fake” and “insincere” with the public.

    So the guy gets on stage; bares his soul to the public – and receives the predictable savaging from a headline/advertising/rating-driven media.

    It is times like this when the wholer f*****g country should stand up; fess up, and quit this bullshit.

    This country wrings it’s hands impotently when a child is murdered or a woman butchered by partners/ex’s who can’t control their anger – but when a politician gets up and says something unpalatable, well, the results are there for all to see.

    This was a Veitch-like knee-jerk response to an issue that Cunliffe raised.

    Am I ashamed to be a male?

    Occassionally, when I read/hear such stories of violence to woman and children.

    But more like ashamed to be a New Zealander when I read sensationalistic rubbish from a narrow-minded, tabloid media that seems to have lost the plot entirely.

    • The speech was insincere. It was an effect for his audience. That is the problem with Cunliffe. He only addresses those to whom he is speaking. He says what he thinks his audience wants to hear, which is why the message keeps changing and why he is accused of lack of sincerity.

      • No, Ben. The speech was sincere.

        It’s you that has a problem with what Cunliffe said, rather than what he was talking about.

        That is evidenced by the fact you’ve barely addressed the problem of domestic violence and the ongoing brutal bashings, maimings, and murders of women and children in this country.

        You’ve been silent on that.

      • And you know this how, exactly? If true, you could make a fortune with your mind-reading skill.

    • Funny story re: ‘jornolists’ or presenters as our friend resently pointed out. Said friend works at a media archive and was contacted by a ‘jornolist’ who ask “I hear you have some old footage?”. Makes you think…

  26. Key had the audacity to call David insincere, yet David is prepared to address a serious issue (family Violence) whereas as Key his Social Development Minster Bennett and the sycophant media just refuse to acknowledge we have a serious problem with family violence.
    Key is such a callous nasty PM yet people love this charlatan, go figure. This government make me sick.

  27. Cunliffe has at last stood up as a political leader on gender oppression.
    Now all he needs to do is express his shame at being in a party that betrayed its voters in the 1980s and has not won back their respect by turning its back on neo-liberalism.
    Then he needs to be ashamed of his complicity in living in a neo-colony run by a rich, white, male ruling class sucking up to an even richer, white male US ruling class.
    Then we might have a political leader worth following.

    • Cunliffe wasn’t part of that govt., and has already expressed his intention of leading NZ away from that kid of thinking.

  28. I am appalled at the level of violence perpetrated by some men but I am not going to apologise for being a man. My gender is outside my control. I have never committed an act of violence. Why should I apologise or feel ashamed for being a man? There was a video released of girls kicking a victim brutally. Should women in Otago apologise for being female.

    Frankly I thought Cunliffe’s speech was sanctimonious bullshit. And before you dismiss me as a right wing red neck I am a life long Labour supporter, although I am beginning to have doubts.

    • @Ben:

      Cunliffe isnt accusing all men – just the violent ones.

      And as for the news showing these girls dishing out the violence for a change, that it was girls is what made that article newsworthy.

      If the news were to show every act of male violence on tv, there would be no time left to air any other programmes!

      You should think on the reality of that.

      It is time for ALL (men and) NZers to do what it takes to put this out of control violence to an end.

      Opinion.

    • Ben, he’s not asking you to apologise or feel ashamed for being a man. He’s said
      “I’m sorry for being a man, because family and sexual violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men.”
      He’s speaking for himself and about the men who are violent.

    • There are men who abuse their partners/children, then there are men like you who say you don’t and therefore should not share in the guilt. However, there are plenty of men who don’t abuse their own but do stand by while others do. THAT is one of the things I believe DC was trying to get across in his speech. Enablers… Imagine if every man who saw his mate doing this to his partner stepped in and stopped it. So in my mind the assault doesn’t just start and stop with the initial perpetrator and victim…it starts and stops with a society that allows this to happen. To denigrate this speech in the way it has been should also be something we should be ashamed of. That is why he stated this was an issue men need to address. My opinion anyway.

  29. My maiden blog so here goes.

    Since every leader has come along the media has done their best to clobber them all, they need to come clean and make this election fair and balanced.

    What we see wrong here is the lack of neutral reporting here, & hard hitting investigative journalism as we had in other elections.

    First we have lost all those Paul Homes, close up, channel 7, type shows that would uncover Government wrongs.

    It is clear to everyone that our media has been gagged by the dropping of almost all investigative journalism now as the Key/Joyce propaganda machine moves into gear.

    We will never have a free press again under this gagged media circus as they skirt around the real issues with smiles and how wonderful Key is.

    We just turn off the TV1+3 news after two minutes, it lacks credibility of proper investigative journalism and neutral interviews.

    What’s this we hear that TV! has been warning its staff not to say anything that would hurt the government policies?

    Apparently at TV1 they now must have all news items first be scrutinised and go through a channel and be Censored.

    Probably by some Government right wing spin doctors of Joyce’s mob.

    This is how Goebbels Ministry of Enlightenment changed the minds and hearts of Germany’s people to endear them with Hitler’s rhetoric.

    Look out all, dangerous times we are living in we are afraid.

    Would be nice to get several of these gagged Journalists to speak up now for democracy before we loose it altogether.

  30. One wonders how many of these men who bash their women & children are National voters.

    Not that many I suspect…

    • “One wonders how many of these men who bash their women & children are National voters.
      Not that many I suspect”…

      Seriously????

      So you are saying domestic violence or sexual offending is highly unlikely in a National Party voting household. Why’s that and lets generalise a little here too;

      Is it because National voters all go to church, they all mow their lawn and that of their 15 rental homes, plus the holiday home in Omaha or Honolulu, because they all wear crisply iron white collared shirts, drive their Audi’s to the office and once home again (depending if its the wife or the other hidden Mrs/Mr’s home) a submissive little woman/man who brings the slippers and pipe to master of the house? Or is it because they love their rugby and wear the old school tie occasionally? Or is it because they don’t have time as they are ripping off investors/IRD/next door neighbour?

      Domestic violence or any form of violence doesn’t give a flying shit who you vote for!

  31. This felt like another case of the media trying to draw blood from someone who’s down (in the polls). I’ve all but given up on mainstream media actually discussing policies and ideas. At some point these regular savagings are going to stop intelligent, well-intentioned people from entering politics.
    I suspect that if it had been an All Black who made Cunliffe’s comments he would have been portrayed as a hero and people would actually be discussing the domestic violence problem.

    • ”I suspect that if it had been an All Black who made Cunliffe’s comments he would have been portrayed as a hero and people would actually be discussing the domestic violence problem.”
      That’s exactly it though, isn’t it? The impact of the statement depends to an extent on who says it. If Labour had a better grasp on how things are, they would have known that Cunliffe is not someone who can say it without creating an angry backlash.

      • @Robert.

        The angry backlash you speak of can only come from men who think its ok to be violent to women and children. Otherwise why on earth would you possibly be angry about anyone wanting to put an end to violence against women and children.

        There have been lots of negative votes on this site about this great topic, and that merely signals how rampant the violence actually is!

        So come on all you who are voting the negative to stopping violence against women and children. You are no better than John Key! Seriously, you need to take a good look at yourself, and do something about your bad and wrong attitude. You need to stop supporting violence right now, and stopping violence yourselves is the best place to start.

        Opinion.

        • ”The angry backlash you speak of can only come from men who think its ok to be violent to women and children.”
          There is no logical basis for that conclusion or any point in discussing it further.

          • There are many points for discussion on the matter of men being the overwhelming majority of inflictors of violence against women and children – unless of course you are an ostrich like John Key, or a perpertrator of violence against women and children yourself.

            The subject has well and truly opened up for discussion of many points, and that is because our next leader has chosen to stop hiding this very serious issue under the manmade rug!

            Go David Cunliffe!!!

            Opinion and belief.

          • You might feel different, Robert, if you were a woman or child being pummelled into a bloody mess by a male in the household.

            Too many (male) commentators seem more focused on being defensive on this problem rather than addressing what Cunliffe said about domestic violence.

            It’s no use chest-thumping and making vitriolic screams of disgust when the next woman or child is murdered. The chance to do something is now, before the next atrocity takes place.

            I think that’s worthy of a logical basis for discussion, don’t you?

            • @Frank
              Mistery’s first sentence was demogogery with no logic to it. I don’t waste my time talking with people who don’t employ basic logic. Your comment is the same.

  32. It took a great man of good strong character to say what David Cunliffe said. He knew exactly what he was saying and to whom, and makes no apology for that. Those, and they appear to be predominately from the right wing, cradling their fake bruised egos, need to wake to the fact that this is not about them, it’s about the victims of violence, most of which are innocent women and children.

    Much Kudos to you David Cunliffe, what a great role model you are.

  33. Why is that Stuff has very few articles on Key and the government that allow comments, but every article on Cunliffe is open slather?
    I wanted to comment on the government appointment of a sexual predator (and ex-military) to high office and also wanted to comment on Key’s reaction to Cunliffe’s Women’s Refuge speech, but no go.
    It seems as though Fairfax is preventing any perceived or actual criticism of the PM from being aired.

    • Its unprecedented what mainstream media are doing, they are literally shielding john key from public opinion.

    • I’ve noticed that too. Along the same lines as McCully refusing to be interviewed by Q and A this morning and John Key not wanting to debate David Cunliffe. They know their arguments are weak and they can only win if they cheat. Pathetic bunch of cowards. Backed by corporate media. Thank goodness for blogs.

  34. When Cunliffe goes to bed with the feminist, all men are rapists and the poor among the most vulnerable of society are used as means of socialist production. These are the most vulnerable of society.

    Labour might be a vehicle in the removal of the separatist business government, but Labour in bed with feminist is no better to the ordinary folk.

    If our ordinary left vote is redirected to genuine representatives of the real issues of our struggles, Labour will have no choice but need us to govern.

    There is also a question mark over Peters allegiance and who’s funding him. He has some rich business mates and we know what he’s like.

    My party vote is now securely cast on Internet Mana.

    • @Peter:

      You said “When Cunliffe goes to bed with the feminist..”

      Where did you dig that up from?

      David Cunliffe is making a stand for the most vulnerable of NZ society – the victims of violent and sexual crimes.

      Are you suggesting that these victims of these crimes that are done by men (are you a man?) are feminists?
      Are the little boys who are raped and battered and killed by men feminists?
      Are the babies who are raped and battered and killed by men feminists?
      Are the little girls who are raped and battered and killed by men feminists?
      Are the women who are raped and battered and killed by men feminists?

      No, they are victims of sexual and violent crime committed by men, and David Cunliffe is going to attempt to fix this very serious in NZ appalling state of affairs.

      Are you an ignorant and selfish man? Yes!
      Why don’t you manup and do something to help fix the problem. If you are a one of the good men, then you can teach other men how to behave. Can you cope with that? Are you man enough?

      May God bless all men with love, peace, and respect for all women and children and their fellow citizens, and respect for themselves. Amen.

      Opinion and belief.

    • “When Cunliffe goes to bed with the feminist, all men are rapists and the poor among the most vulnerable of society are used as means of socialist production.”

      That makes no sense at all, Peter.

      99% of victims are women and children and 99% are male offenders.

      Referencing “feminists” is a sly way of attempting to deflect responsibility for male-perpetrated violence in our homes.

  35. Well -if he really is serious then he needs to get a sex change operation. Then I will believe that HE is sorry for being a man.

    But as for me – sorry David – Im do not want you to go around apologising for me or for all those men who dont go around beating up others. Thats arrogance at its McCarthyist worst!

    • Barry – I note your distinct lack of interest in domestic violence.

      You seem more interested in bagging Cunliffe’s comments and have expressed no concerns whatsoever at the number of women and children bashed, maimed, and killed in this country.

      Your “priorities” speak volumes about your attitudes to this problem.

  36. Petition to Demand Electoral Commission Investigation into Media Links to National Party http://www.averagekiwi.com
    I stopped believing mainstream media , they full of stuff, I was a victim of an abusive partner but I was strong enough to leave , annoys me that Key downplays domestic violence & is more interested in attacking the opposition, they can say what they like , hasn’t swayed my vote, ex-National voter since Jenny Shipley , Labour’s got my vote

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