Comrades – it is with deep sadness that I announce The Working Group has been cancelled by the Political Right

ByMartyn Bradbury

Comrades it is with deep sadness that I announce The Working Group, NZs Gold Award Winning Political Podcast 2024, has been cancelled by the Political Right.

I would like to thank the incredible people who helped make it possible over the last 3 years:

The amazing ROVA team – Willie M, Isaac and Forrester for your brilliance and amazing work at promoting TWG and making it happen week in and week out. You guys are the best and we could not have achieved what we did without you! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Ian and Ian at Face TV on Sky TV for all their support, Grant Hislop at Juice TV on Freeview for helping make the election special happen, Aaron Crab for the amazing outdoor broadcasts and Thane Kirby and Tim Selwyn for their invaluable feedback.

Thanks to all those who appeared on the show over the last 3 years: Maori Party President John Tamihere, Political Commentator Shane Te Pou, Māori TVs Moana Maniapoto, Former Labour Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson, TVNZs Jack Tame, Broadcaster Sean Plunkett, Political Commentator Matthew Hooton, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, Political Scientist Dr Bryce Edwards, Political Commentator Chris Trotter, Political Commentator Professor Wayne Hope, Leader of the ACT Party David Seymour, Economist Bernard Hickey, Economist Brad Olsen, CTU Economist Craig Renney, Journalist Maria Slade, Herald Columnist Simon Wilson, Leader of the Labour Party Chris Hipkins, Labour MP for Manurewa Arena Williams, Former Green MP Gareth Hughes, Former NZF and National Politician Tau Henare, ACT MP Simon Court, Broadcaster Duncan Garner, Political Commentator Fran O’Sullivan, Green Party Leader Chloe Swarbrick, Former Labour Minister David Parker, Former Labour Minister Michael Wood, Political Commentator Max Harris, Political Broadcaster Matthew Tukaki, News Guru Mark Jennings, Entrepreneur Seeby Woodhouse, Economist Cameron Baggerie, Labour Party Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds, Former Green MP Sue Bradford, National Party Minister Chris Penk, Political Commentator Matt McCarten, Māori Champion Helmut Modlik, and the late great Efeso Collins,

I want to salute The Working Group for what it managed to do with the tiniest of budgets in a political media landscape devoid of creativity.

We managed 7 live-streamed electorate debates during the election.

We won Gold for best current affairs podcast and Silver for best Independent Podcast in last years podcast awards.

We are still the only place where there was an actual debate about the Treaty Referendum Bill…

…we made some incredible media and it is with a deeply heavy heart that I announce that it has been cancelled by the Political Right.

Damien Grant owns Gravity Management and Gravity Management sponsors The Working Group.

Early this year we were all set to start the season after the huge win of last year…

…however over the Summer, Damien and I began fighting again privately over content that I was publishing on The Daily Blog that was critical of the contacts between the NZ Initiative and Stuff…

…there had been building tension behind the scenes of The Working Group for some time.

Damien seemed to have believed that because he sponsored TWG that he had some type of editorial control over The Daily Blog and was constantly wanting me to change my tone on criticism towards Israel and my criticism of the NZ Initiative or connecting them to the Atlas Network.

I repeatedly explained to Damien that he was not the Editor of The Daily Blog. 

As Editor of The Daily Blog I will always criticise the Right when I think they are wrong, I will always highlight the links with Hard Right Free Market Think Tanks and the political and media infrastructure of NZ and I will stop criticising Israel when they stop murdering Palestinians.

I have conveyed this passionately back to Damien. Many times.

This tension came to a head over Summer as I published blogs linking Stuff’s Political Editor to the NZ Initiative and to Nicola Willis…

…I find it astonishing that a Free Speech Champion like Damien is pulling the sponsorship to an award winning political podcast because his right wing mates don’t like my free speech!

The hypocrisy is astounding because initially Damien agreed to allow me to find a new sponsor and continue on, we agreed that what we had built with The Working Group was bigger than him feeling pressured to pull the funding because his right wing mates had their feelings hurt by things I was saying.

I went out, found a new sponsor and was about to announce the new start date when Damien contacted me today, reneged on the agreement and decided to ensure I could not continue with the show by pulling his support for me continuing with it.

The Working Group was a unique media experiment and the body of work we produced and the range of guests was something I will always be proud of.

Having The Working Group cancelled because a Free Speech Champion has been bullied into it because his right wing mates don’t like my free speech, I believe stains the mana of Damien’s work as a columnist in a way he doesn’t appreciate nor comprehends.

When you see him pimping the Free Speech Union, remind him of that hypocrisy please.

I own the Youtube page the Working Group has been loaded up onto (and the Facebook Page) and know there are some in the ACT Party who would prefer the only Treaty Referendum debate disappeared altogether so can I reach out to the National Library to take a copy so that it is on file somewhere in case Damien starts legal action to seize the Youtube page?

I’m going to go and have a long drink now, watching the Libertarian you spent 3 years working with burn your work down in a Viking funeral that only he’s invited himself to is a tad draining for this Socialist.

I’ll be back once I’ve sobered up.

In Solidarity.

M Bradbury

Former Host, Writer and Producer of The Working Group

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74 Comments

    2. Why Bob? Because the dickheads you support won’t be shown up for being the bullshit merchants they are?

    3. Bob the fist can stay in the stables shovelling shit for his lord. the rest of us are riding our own horses.

  3. Saddest thing I’ve read in a while.
    That two people at the opposite end of the spectrum could pull of the Working Group was an amazing achievement.

    1. This ^^^

      Don’t let that asshole get you down Bomber. It was your enthusiasm that built TWG, and I’ve no doubt you can build something better.

  4. The political right are going to get buried at the next election. Damian Grant knows it.

    1. Damien Grant was a criminal.
      He didn’t offer anything of value to your blog Martyn, much like Bob the uneducated idiot right wing troll.

  5. Frankly, Mr Grant waffled on a bit in an effort to be a contriarian, and (with respect) a bullrush of diatribe from yourself. Some how though -it worked. I would tune in regularly. I also gradually began to enjoy Hootens disection of right and left immensely and he seems like a natural replacement for Damien. I hope you give the format another go because one thing we do need in this country is a robust political panel show.
    Perhaps with less roasting and more stir fry!

    1. It’s Hooton, not Hooten.
      Don’t worry, you are certainly not alone in getting it wrong.

  6. Very sorry to hear this Martyn.
    I, like many others, have enjoyed TWG immensely over the years and was eagerly awaiting the return of the show in 2025.

    1. Martyn – just find another sponsor. Get out there! Can anyone out there help?

      I also suspect that the timing from the execrable and fraudulent Mr Grant for this is somewhat – strategic…

      Especially as you were obviously pushing all the right buttons

  7. I regret this, Martyn. I v much enjoyed yours/Damien’s collaboration. Fran

  8. This gladdens my heart to be rid of Damian Grant and co. At least now this should be a true left wing blog not a hocus-pocus of right wing neoliberal ideology. Free speech is an arse anyway because it’s only free when David Seymour say it is.

  9. Crikey Martyn this isn’t good news and just reinforces how determined this new NZ’s fascist hard right have actually become.Obviously Atlas Network and NZ Initiative are now officially “in bed” with the big US Heritage Foundation with the same cancel culture tactics of the left over there.Scarey stuff.Would like you to talk about this on BHN please.

  11. Yes if you are going to have a right wing co host ask Hooten, or someone centre right I think the libertarians have dragged the right to extreme selfishness. The whole free speech has been hijacked by the far right to think they have the right to say whatever they like on any platform they demand they have a voice on where I thought free speech was that you weren’t going to be dragged off in irons and sent to a Gulag if you expressed a political view contrary to the government. But laws about obscenities, inciting violence still apply.
    Not all letters to the editor in the old print era were published, the editor had the right to veto letters.

    1. I like your comments, Sarah. I agree about the style adopted by the libertarians these days. It’s important to listen to differing opinions viewing an issue from their own perspective. I well remember Matthew Hooten and Mike Williams appearing together on RNZ. It was a great show hearing differing views on the same topic from two good minds.

  14. I have been sure that the incremental bourgeois style that Kiwis too often take for the norm would start showing up in some way, such as this. And many would be likely to say that they weren’t bourgeois and didn’t even know what it means. And if they were moved to look it up still couldn’t understand it.
    Time for the A Fish Called Wanda quote, lovely Jamie Lee Curtis with lovely put-down of Kevin Kline.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ADAcJJ2GvU
    ‘I’ve known sheep that could outwit you’.

  15. I’m pretty sure Mathew Hooton would enjoy putting the boot into Damien Grant I mean who the fuck does Damien think he is Bombers got friends Damien can fuck of.

  16. lets not forget Damien was more less a zionist so
    the Israeli lobby would have been putting the boot into him in the background so this isn’t surprising.

  17. ……it is with deep sadness that I announce The Working Group, NZs Gold Award Winning Political Podcast 2024, has been cancelled by the Political Right. Martyn Bradbury

    Sadness indeed. Thanks to you Martyn for providing us with this service to our democracy for as long as you did.

    No chance then of tempting them back with a juicy topic?, Like, ‘Why did the Liberals win Canadian election?’

    I mean where else will the right get the chance publicly to discuss such topics?

  18. Very disappointed the working group not coming back I love the diverse range of opinions on it

  19. Well, thats very shit!

    The highly enjoyable The Working Group was named with Labour in power. Move with the times, same format rebranded The Market Study 😉 Sponsors will be queuing.

  22. I lived in the wilderness for 7 years with the only external supplies a 20kg sack of rice every year or so
    In that time, with my transition into animism and total integration with the world around me, I became close friends with a bush rat whom I would feed my left over goat curry and rice.
    She would sit on my shoulder like a familiar.
    But one day, just before the onset of winter, when I needed that rice for survival I noticed the rice was gone and the bush rat was fat.
    Now I don’t bother with them. I shoot them with my crossbow.

    2. Thanks for a happy start to the day, we had rat issues in the garden and house last winter but blocking the heat pump hose penetration and poison seems to have fixed the problem.

  23. To be honest, I don’t think anyone watched The Working Group to hear what Damien Grant thought. Your clear, well considered analysis of the issues, and your unique ability to connect across the political spectrum is what makes the show work so well. I hope you find an alternative way of bringing The Working Group back to life, even some kind of crowd funding model might go some way to bringing it on (depending on how much it costs!).

  24. God I will so miss hearing Damien Grant waffle on!(NOT).

    I always thought I should listen to and respect the other person’s point of view but they do need to be coherent. He is not.

    But on the positive side I always wondered if the Right wing can put together reasoned arguments that would make me question my belief in socialism.

    But the unreasoning meandering of Damien ( who actually seems to revel in his fraud conviction) along with the excrement spurts of our locals here has made me far more confident that I am on the right(left) side.

  25. Martyn I would think your association with Damien Grant has prevented him from being perceived as a complete tosser. His parting action challenges that generosity.

  26. To be honest it got rather boring hearing Damien Grant blather on. He liked the sound of his own voice a tad too much.

    Do something with Hooton, he was far more acerbic and witty than Grant. I’d tune into that tussle every day of the week.

  28. I am sorry to hear this, but will echo other commentators. Damien was increasingly hard to listen to and another RW commentator who could actually debate a point would actually be a bonus and may even increase your audience.

    You have a great concept, I hope you can find a way forward

  30. Dammit. I hope you can rebuild back even better, Bomber.

    Damien did my head in – just his annoying voice was enough to trigger me. Won’t miss the tosspot.

  31. Only those who know they are wrong try to silence voices of dissent. I’m sad that you have been forced to back away but I hope you will return soon better than ever! And for those who wish to silence dissent against Israel and support for Palestine I ask this question… Give me in your own words any meaningful difference between the holocaust and Nazi Death camps and Genocide and the Gaza Strip and the West Bank!

  33. Sorry to hear this. I can’t say I always like what I heard but it was a really good place to hear a truly diverse range of views. And our family’s kiwi content just dropped by a large amount. Boo on Damien – what a whoose! Since it is your Youtube page you may have the opportunity to carry on with something else, on the same page, with a new name. I’m not sure Damien would have any claim on any future productions anyway. If you are concerned re: the debate, pass it around. Hard to lose anything on the internet.

  34. Reading in one of Damien’s emails above that he likes to be in bed by 9pm shows exactly the sort of sad, lonely guy he is. You’d think someone as antisocial as him would relish as many opportunities as possible to be around people who he can at least pretend are proxies for friendship.

  35. ‘When you consistently bag Israel, Martyn, karma tends to catch up with you. I’ve seen it time and time again.’
    TRANSLATION FROM BULLSHIT
    Zionist bullies will use influence and power to silence critics of Israel by screaming ‘antisemite! ‘Nazi!’ ‘Terrorist Supporter!’ ‘Holocaust Denier!’

  36. When you’ve stopped crying into your whiskey start a new show. Call it something different, get a new sponsor, work with the BHN guys. Damien does not have a mandate over all podcasting in NZ.
    Let’s do this Martyn – I’ve seen your media presence rise and fall many times over the decades. You will rise again. Your voice is too important for NZ society and the political system. The comments here confirm that.

  37. Pardon me for using the language of a sibling, but Martyn! When you sober up, whatever made you think you could trust a flea like Damien?
    Like flies, they wallow in shit.
    Next, he’ll be playing victim

  38. I knew it was coming – you had been going hard on the blog!! But you stand with conviction! Good on ya Martin! Gonna miss it, great podcast/show. Really pushing the boundaries for political commentary.

  39. Sorry Martyn,
    But you have discovered who you were in bed with. They are all principled when it suits them, but when they fear losing, they pull the power move. This is the same with left/right – it is those who favour control and domination over tolerance and adaptation. Throw in the fact he is sympathetic to true spittle-flecked Zionist facism, he would not be able to forgive himself for not using his power to defeat resistance to his team.

  40. take a leaf out of the BHN, Meidas Touch Network, The Bulwark, I’ve Had It Podcast, Bryan Tyler Cohen playbooks and start a You Tube channel and monetise it with Substack, Patreon, sponsors, advertisers and Super Chats.

  42. You can just stream from hour house. Like 99% of “professional” YouTube Live Streamers (some of whom make well north of a million a year). Just subscribe to Streamyards, so you can send links to any guest you like and have them pop on. You can have up to 10 guests on a stream at once.

  43. Gutted, Bomber! Gutted for you and gutted for all of us – the open conversation, left to right, was the best thing, a ray of hope for us stuck in the radical middle.

    Lying quietly in bed on a Sunday night, secretly staying up to listen to every word of late night talkback in Channel Z, was the foundation of my politics. I’ve loved having you back!

    Totally agree about a Hooton collab. You can do it better without DG. Arohanui e hoa

  44. Never liked Damien. Stand firm on principle Bomber. The entire world needs us all to do so now. This time too shall pass. Paradigm shift is well underway! Woo-hoo!

  45. Money talks and no louder than through Damien and his fellow-travellers.
    Seriously hope you can find a way through this without having to defend your rights though the courts (what price your beloved ‘free speech’, Damien?).
    Must be election year coming up and the snowflake Right are getting worried, and so they should.
    All power to TWG minus – DG. Kia kaha, Martin.

  46. This makes me so sad, it was the best political podcast we have in NZ.
    Funny, outrageous, mind-boggling and extremely informative all at the same time. What was so special was the different takes, everyone bought to the table, whether you agreed or not. In an increasingly polarised media scape, this will be sorely missed.
    Thank you for all the hard work.

  49. So Bomber, red flag and no prisoners. Back to the basic of socialism without compromise.

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