Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect – Green Party
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care.
“When a journalist is barred from doing their job, just because they asked the Prime Minister difficult questions, it sets a dangerous precedent,” says the Green Party’s Media and Communications spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon.
“Aaron Smale is a highly respected journalist who has rigorously covered issues around the abuse in state and faith-based care. As a society that values the role of the fourth estate, we should value the work of journalists like Aaron, because it helps us take a critical look at where we have gone wrong and how we may move forward.
“We all know that Christopher Luxon doesn’t like it when journalists persist with tough questions. But it’s another thing altogether to place a ban on such journalists simply for doing their job.
“It demonstrates a lack of understanding of, and tolerance for, the critical role that media plays in holding those in public office to account, on behalf of New Zealanders.
“This is likely to create a chilling effect on other journalists who may be wary of asking probing questions of the Prime Minister or Government in future.
“Barring a leading journalist from an important event like this speaks to this Government’s lack of accountability. It is something we might expect in Putin’s Russia, not 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Let’s stand up for transparency and accountability by Government, and make it clear that our country does not punish journalists for doing their job,” says Hūhana Lyndon.
I can’t remember the last time I was incandescent with rage.
I feel anger a lot.
Injustice, abuse of power and wilful redneck ignorance all fire me up, but the decision yesterday by Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee to ban investigative Journalist Aaron Smale from Parliament had me yelling, swearing and throwing things around my house with an intensity that scared my neighbours shitless.
I have an enormous amount of affection towards Gerry and I respect his intelligence, but this decision to ban investigative journalist Aaron Smale from Parliament was so fucking woeful the question must be asked if Gerry should be forced to step down as Speaker because the ramifications here are just disgusting.
I have worked with investigative journalist Aaron Smale and hold him in the highest of regards.
I worked alongside him in 2022 to expose the highest levels of the Wellington Bureaucracy covering up the abuse of children in NZ.
His investigative series on Newsroom highlights the terrible means with which the Wellington Bureaucracy went to hide the abuse of children and then adopted despicable tactics to derail that knowledge getting out and to avoid legal precedence.
The vast, vast, vast amount of Kiwis have no idea whatsoever that the Wellington Bureaucracy hired private detectives to dig dirt on victims of state care abuse to present in Court to discredit the victims so they wouldn’t have to acknowledge the abuse or pay for it.
Let me say that again – THE NZ STATE HIRED PRIVATE DETECTIVES TO SMEAR VICTIMS OF STATE ABUSE SO THE STATE DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY THEM!!!!
Aaron Smale has been at the forefront of these investigations for almost a decade, and he has asked the uncomfortable questions that none of our other mainstream media journalists are even capable of so to ban him from Parliament so he can’t ask the Prime Minister uncomfortable questions of how involved the State was in re-abusing the victims and hiding that abuse is a fucking abomination from which Gerry Brownlee’s honour can never be cleansed of.
This is not a left-Right issue, I don’t give a flying shit who you voted for, this is a basic human rights issue – the NZ State knew kids had been abused and when confronted in Court, they hired private detectives to smear the character of those victims so they could hide the abuse and this tactic was very obviously agreed to by the highest echelons of the Wellington Bureaucracy, to ban the leading investigative Journalist from entering Parliament when the State is supposedly apologising for abusing all those kids is a sickening moment in NZ democracy.
The only redeeming feature is that Gerry capitulated late yesterday afternoon after an enormous backlash from the victims who look up to Smale and agreed to allow him in but only under guard from another Newsroom journalist.
One day this country will know the full story of how the Wellington Bureaucracy re-abused these victims and how instrumental they were in hiding it, and we will only know that thanks to investigative journalists like Smale.
I am ashamed to be a Kiwi this day.
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Martyn – Not Gerry’s best moment of his career.
Nathan The best is yet to come…
Brownlie protecting his craven incompetent leader.
Cowards.
I suppose we will never know why Brownlee turned him down.
Jabba the Hut SHOULD TELL lUXON TO HARDEN UP AND ANSWER THE REAL QUESTIONS.He was making rash big mouth statements while in opposition but cant answer simple questions .
We need 10 more Smailes in NZ media everyday asking the real questions .
While I don’t want to see any innocent people convicted over the past abuse I get the impression that an apology and compensation is considered all that is necessary. If the perpetrators are still alive and solid evidence is available then it seems very unfair to me that they escape any sanctions.
Slightly off topic but my impression is that Luxon will deliver some half arse apology that will leave more questions than answers although it would be nice to be proven wrong.
You will be 100% correct .He will stand there and babble a load of rubbish and when he has finished he will say quietly I DONT CARE .
The ban has been reversed which is a good thing for the public information perspective.
Not if the chilling effect on other journalists remains.
And what about the police interest? Has he still got their attention?
Surely other reporters will continue to be very wary of asking probing questions going forward knowing that it may also gain them police attention.
The damage has been done clearly the police have been asked to keep an eye on the real investigative reporters incase they make Luxon feel uneasy when he tells his lies .
Gerry showed the ability when in possession of further information to change his mind,what is not good the earlier advice that was obviously flawed.
I think you’re being a bit kind to Gerry there Martyn.
We should have laws to prevent the subversion of democracy and those breaking the law should be imprisoned for a minimum of 5 years.
I want these people held to account and we need our best journalists to do so and not be muzzled by the state.
The goodness the academics got on to Brownlee, a very bad look for him.
When is Jagose going to resign. Or when is she going to tell us what her role really is, to protect the government from having to pay out people or protect the people!
In one fell swoop Gerry Brownlee made this apology about Luxon and his goons by banning Aaron Smale from the apology not the victims and he should resign,but we all know he won’t. Yesterday democracy as we know it died in Aotearoa and Luxon et al were proved to be the worst government Aotearoa has ever had and if this doesn’t wake people up I don’t know what will
And Collins should resign for this…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360483166/defence-minister-uses-extraordinary-power-control-nzdf-strike
I dont know what she is worried about we dont have much of a defence force to be concerned about .
Let me guess; the ban was “becoming a distraction” so was eventually reversed.
Such revolting cowards that we have in charge.
The last time anything like this happened was nearly 50 years ago, when Piggy Muldoon banned Tom Scott from his press conferences. But even Piggy didn’t get the cops onto Scotty IIRC, though this may have had something to do with the fact that he had lately been let off for punching a protestor himself (politics was more exciting in those days).
lol – go hard whoever opened proceedings in Parliament
Luxon is such a robot – not a skerrick of personality in his apology apart from a forced air of solemnity.
I hope, during any potential question opportunity, every other journalist who is there to question the PM sits their asses down and shuts the fuck up to give Smale the floor with which to wipe with Luxon’s shit eating face.
Ok. I would like to know on what grounds he was banned from parliament. This is really the sentence you need to lead this story on. Also, what qualifies a journalist to go into parliament. Sorry, you may think ordinary Joe’s know this background, but I for one don’t.
Lone Comet, these are the key issues. The Speaker’s house is parliament. Brownlee does not have to let in people if he has reservations about them. No one has said what those reservations were. As for journalists, most of us dismissed them as even remotely connected to democracy years ago. So the second issue is sadly moot.
Contrary to Martyn, I’ve never noted much to admire or to respect in Mr Brownlee.
Gerry Brownlee should also resign over the shocking distain he showed to the survivors when he asked ‘where are the police?’ when someone heckled the PM, followed by ‘why aren’t they here?’. It smacked of distain, racism and arrogance. He should be removed.