Why leaving Chlöe Swarbrick out of the Mayoralty debates robs media of any credibility

By
Martyn Bradbury
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13
4

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What is the point of Radio NZ or The Nation’s Auckland Mayoralty debates if one of the most important voices is missing from it?

Chlöe Swarbrick is the youngest candidate standing and we have had her on Waatea 5th Estate on numerous occasions because she brings a fresh new voice and perspective to politics that makes you want to sit up and listen in hope. Her policies are smart, her passion is genuine and her vision would leave every other candidate in the dust.

If all RNZ and The Nation can muster is a regurgitation of vested interests from a bunch of candidates whose positions are well entrenched, then what’s the point of doing the debates in the first place?

The reality is that Goff is going to win by a country mile anyway, so why not expand the discussion to at least allow other perspectives to engage in an election that is already done and dusted? At least that would generate some real debate.

The media are muzzling real debate for the pretence of doing a debate.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Q. ‘What is the point of Radio NZ or The Nation’s Auckland Mayoralty debates if one of the most important voices is missing from it?’

    A. To corral the populace and ensure that only a business-as-usual perspective is presented to the public and that only a business-as-usual candidate is ‘elected’.

    I see someone is throwing tens of thousands of dollars into getting ‘fuck off’ installed as mayor to give Auckland a ‘better future’ which will undoubtedly consist of making everything rapidly worse.

    It’s the same old bollocks day after day, month after month, year after year, as we [as a society] charge straight towards ‘the cliff’ of resource depletion and environmental collapse.

  2. Seems you were mistaken. It’s much more important to have that plummy guy representing the interests of Orakei than someone representing the entire city’s millenials and arguably quite a few X-ers.

    • Greed is endemic on Planet key now.

      So today we won the global prize of having the fastest property prices this year with an average yearly increase of 11.5% increase.

      So key wins the ponzie scheme prize of the year.

      History will record “blood and misery” has been given us all by John Key while as PM of NZ.

      http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37293588

      New Zealand tops global list for house price rises

      7 September 2016

      New Zealand, Turkey and Canada have seen the biggest leap in house prices over the past year, according to a new global ranking.

      Estate agents Knight Frank found property markets in the three countries grew between 10% and nearly 14%.

      While New Zealand comes in second after Turkey, it tops the list once the impact of inflation is stripped out.

      The average house price in Auckland hit NZ$1m (£554,000, $743,000) for the first time last month.

      Separate data shows house prices in the Auckland region rose 15.9% on last year, making them more than 85% higher than the previous market peak in 2007.

      The rise in New Zealand house prices has been fuelled by strong immigration, low interest rates and limited housing.

      The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has consistently warned that the soaring prices are a risk to financial stability.

  3. They excluded Penny Bright from an earlier debate as well. As mayoralty candidates the impressive Chlöe Swarbrick and the awesome Penny Bright should be included in all of the televised debates. There is no rational grounds for such exclusions.

    • I agree Words, Penny Bright deserved to be heard, if for just sheer hard work and never giving up on cleaning up the council and demanding an opening of the books for scrutiny. I admire her, she is eccentric but very well clued up and has done her research. The world is lacking for new ideas and interesting people in positions of responsibility. Its the same old pigs in the trough year in and year out and they are stale and lack passion.

      Chloe Swarbrick is also a bright and interesting younger person who would be great if she could be heard. A black mark for RNZ. The Nation is a waste of space.

    • Do you not think that keeping the gravy train going is rational for those whose benefits accrue from keeping it going?

      “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary is dependent on not understanding it.” -Upton Sinclair.

      Penny Bright must surely be near the top of the blacklist of truth-tellers and opponents corporatism and rortism; as such she cannot be given publicity. After all, councils have been morphed into truth-free zones, and oases of corporatism and rortism.

  4. Martyn we need a free speech channel quickly or loose the next election.

    Surely we can start another fund raiser to build a channel now as the word is not getting out there.

    All these local body elections are just a taste of what we can expect during the general election, so it is imperative that we move on starting a free speech channel if opposition Parties wont take back half of our rights to TVNZ/RNZ which are now trumpets for National and we are all being stifled and shut out of the election process now without any voice.

    I don’t care how and who we use but we need now to be planning a free political channel at least!!

    One choice is to begin;

    1/ “Give a little” for a free speech channel

    2/ Bumper stickers OFFERED TO US TO BUY.- that will promote a political Free speech channel WITH A DONATION ADDRESS.

  5. Thank God someone raises this issue!

    I was also furious at RNZ for only selecting the four “leading” contenders for the mayor’s job here in Auckland, so as if to suggest, they are the only “credible” candidates that should be given a voice.

    With that RNZ has joined the rest of the MSM, who play this game over and over and over.

    They are the facilitators of the elite and the upholders and defenders of the hopeless status quo.

    It is the same with other elections, where the ones not already in the limelight, not in Parliament, and not having much if any resources to communicate their message, are given no or very little reporting and opportunities to be heard.

    I look at the election billboards and placards around us, and see a clear dominance by the well funded candidates for Mayor and the board representation, who are favoured by business and other vested interest holders, yes often have their own ties to these.

    Chloe was not invited by RNZ, it seems, nor was Penny Bright, nor were others that are running. It is a disgrace, but perhaps RNZ will get around to presenting a similar forum for the candidates that were not invited the first time?

    If this is not done, we have just more proof that we do NOT live in a true democracy, as only informed voters can create and maintain a true democracy, not informing them of all options and candidates is simply undemocratic itself.

    I bet we see no change. This is no coincidence, it is to keep the elect elite boys and girls in power, those that have “proven” they are loyal to the status quo of a more or less neoliberal, market economically driven, laissez faire and “money rules” kind of society.

    And as we are as citizens treated like rats in a laboratory, where perverted tests are run to see how we can fend for ourselves and compete with each other, too many fall for the system, under the pressure, and vote in the masters that are in charge to keep them eat and fight each other. Blaming minorities and dissenters is a favourite past time of too many.

  6. No one is safe from persecution at work any more on Planet key with stricker employment rules creeping in everywhere!!!

    But shifty shonKey has turned work relations into slave labour and workers are now facing gagged orders with threats that if they complain they will be seeking another job!!!!!!

    We have sunk to a new low with this evil fascist PM.

    Don’t you love hearing on RNZ this morning as RNZ announce we all may wake up in the morning with cars laden with snow???

    Pathetic media aren’t they when some of those cars will have homeless families living in them with no heating as the temperature outside is hovering around zero and freezing people to death.

    Stupid senseless RNZ shame on them, at least a kind word to the homeless would at least have encouraged the poor to stay alive with some hope they are not ignored!!!!

    GGGGGRRRRr!@#$%^&*()_+
    s

  8. I smell a rat here.
    Excluding Penny Bright and Chloe Swarbrick who have made a commitment to stand for the Auckland mayoralty and want the chance to attend these public debates is undemocratic and appalling and a snub to those voters who want to hear their plan for Auckland.
    It takes oxygen away from these two exceptional candidates and denying them publicity will harm their long term careers in local or national politics.
    Christ what are we turning into as a country! its stopped functioning as a democracy and they used to call communism repressive to the freedom of speech.
    I like the idea of alternative news -current affairs channel if it can be funded its the only way of giving the REAL issues some daylight.
    We need a WAATEA channel with the reach to inform the public directly.
    Sick of this status quo stranglehold!!

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