The Daily Blog 7 NZ Heroes of 2019
2019 was year of pain and suffering with only tiny infant steps of progress but there were amongst us people who led fearlessly and with courage. If we are to seek meaning from the last 12 months around our Sun, let’s do that by saluting those of us who led by example and hope we can attempt to emulate their strength.
Pania Newton – Led protests at Ihumātao in 2019
Her passionate defence of Ihumātao and articulate attack on colonialism has made her a leader worth following. Her confidence, kindness and refusal to back down has shown a backbone of courage that is rare.
Settler Nation NZ won’t accept what is happening at Ihumatao – private property that has been stolen from Māori never being returned is the central plank of our economy, so watch for the backlash especially aimed at attacking her the way the establishment have attacked Greta Thunberg.
Pania is a role model and she should be celebrated.
Matthew stood up to the most venomous cyber bully Troll NZ has ever known, Cameron Slater, and Matthew won.
Despite Slater colluding with Blomfield’s business partners to destroy him and despite Slater magically receiving a stolen computer with all Blomfield’s personal emails details, despite a violent home invasion that saw Blomfield beaten and his house shot at, despite the humiliation and torture Slater forced upon him, Matthew Blomfield refused to back down.
He refused to be intimidated.
He took Slater to Court for defamation and despite all the legal tricks and delays Slater could muster, Matthew won and in the most delicious karma ever, ended up owning the entire Whaleoil blog.
In an age where online bullying is rife and septic Trolls like Slater usually triumph, Blomfield stood up and showed real courage and tenacity.
That kind of bravery deserves recognition and should be celebrated.
Arthur Taylor is a civil rights hero.
Yes, he has committed crimes. Yes he has hurt people. Yes, he paid his price for those crimes by being in prison most of his life.
I won’t detail the cruelty and abuse that infected much of Arthur’s early live while in state care (Keith Locke did an amazing job of that in last weeks blog), and I’m not here to make excuses for his actions, but if we try to understand why people become criminals, we need to explore their past…
When Arthur Taylor was eleven he was sent to the Epuni Boys Home for skipping school. It was a brutal institution (and Arthur later received a government apology and compensation for being mistreated there). Like most such institutions the Epuni Home was a school for crime, so it was no surprise that Arthur committed his first crimes, for burglary and car conversion, after he escaped from the Home. He was in and out of prison from that time on and has spent two thirds of his life, around 40 years, behind bars.
…but it’s Arthur’s ability to go beyond the trauma of his childhood that makes him civil rights hero.
From behind bars he legally challenged the Government repeatedly on its actions towards prisoners.
He successfully beat the Government over their hypercritical prisoner smoking ban.
He successfully beat the Government using the deeply corrupt jailhouse snitch system.
He successfully beat the Government over their abusive mass strip searches policy, and most recently, he has overturned the Governments unjust prisoner voting spitefulness.
That he has managed 4 significant legal victories for the rights of the most despised amongst us makes him a civil rights hero. He has stood for the rights of his fellow prisoners in a way the rest of us should but don’t.
He reminds us that even though prisoners have wronged us and must be punished, they are still human beings with human rights.
Mark Law, Jason Hill & Tom Storey, the Helicopter pilots who flew into an exploding volcano and the Tourism boat that saved lives
Perfect picks, Bomber! Up to – and including! – Jacinda. You put the pompous NZ Herald to shame. And your choice of Herbs’ superb anthem to round it off shows why Labour should put you in charge of their 2020 election campaign. Not just “sensitive to a smile”, Comrade, but super-sensitive to the mood of this wonderful country.
Will the real Chris Trotter please step forward?
The N.Z. Herald proudly sponsored by the National Party.
Yes we would concur with the list of “NZ Hero’s”.
BUT; – but we think Martyn Bradbury should also be added to the list;
So we propose that you ‘good sir’ be added to that “NZ Hero’s list too” “as the supreme NZ battler for “our right to free speech”
Take a bow please Martyn.
I nominate NZs Muslim community too ,,,,
They did themselves and NZ proud ,,,,, as a living example, refuting the worldwide anti-Islam Hate speech ,,, Their humanity in the face of a monstrous crime ,,, Is something we should all try to step up to ,,,, in a common peoples solidarity.
“Hello Brother ”
“Terrorism has no religion. Let us unite and stand together against violence against any race or belief. ”
“Hello Brother”
https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1110170205748187136
Superb list Martyn!, a scarce quality among bloggers–modesty–perhaps explains the absence of Bomber Bradbury from the list. You, and your legal team’s successful resistance to a real world invocation of Franz Kafka, with authoritarian antics of the NZ State, deserves to be celebrated and remembered for a long time.
Plus, you killed it-in the musically impressive sense-with the inclusion of Herbs vid.
Moving, eloquent tributes. Thank you Bomber.
The visuals with Herbs’ song added to the song – those boys on their horses part of a real A/nz.
Thanks. Just thanks, to the heroes of Aotearoa, those listed and those unsung (many hospital workers, and others). It’s quite challenging to not be dragged down by the amount of sadness and grief out there. Whakaari – White Island is a permanent presence where I live. You can’t ignore it. I don’t see it as menacing, but certainly, commanding our respect.
2019 hasn’t been the best of years, but yes, it has brought out the best in some of those who live here. Courage, endurance, kindness, selflessness, as well as inspiration, optimism and hope for the future.
Thanks too to Martyn, as there are few places out there on the ‘Net that I can turn to and read and still feel sane, as in, human values and the human spirit still counting for something. Let’s hope, 2020’s a better year.
Arthur Taylor had other significant legal successes too .
(1) He was the first litigant to obtain a Declaration of Inconsistency from the High Court under the NZ Bill of Rights Act ; removing 25 years of doubt over whether such a remedy was available and clearing the way for it to be used by others in many different spheres of claim .
(2) He successfully prosecuted a false jailhouse snitch for perjury. Roberto Harris received an 8 1/2 year sentence – the longest ever handed down in New Zealand for perjury. I believe it’s rare for someone to get landmark decisions in both the civil and criminal spheres .
(3) Taylor vs District Court North Shore is often cited to limit unsuccessful “public interest” litigants having full costs awarded against them. His influence thus extends to areas such as environment law – well removed from prisoner rights.
(4) A “judgement” of a different sort – when Arthur had a personal message recorded in Hansard by having it read out in Parliament by then MP David Clendon.
Most of Arthur’s cases can be found on http://www.nzlii.org under “Taylor vs Attorney General” . Maybe this would be a good title for a book .
Yes, Arthur Taylor’s received very little recognition for his many successes. The declaration case was hugely significant.
Although in 2019 she is no longer here, I would also like to mention Helen Kelly. Her spirit lives on and the effects of her life are evident, even in current legislation. She was and is truly inspirational.
She said, “Instead of ‘Winner takes all’, it needs to be “It takes all of us to win”.