The latest Paul Henry incident: questioning whether Governor-General Anand Satyanand is a New Zealander:
On the Breakfast programme this morning Henry asked the Prime Minister about who he was looking to replace Sir Anand with when his five year term ends this year.Satyanand of course was born in Auckland - he's as kiwi as you or I (and indeed, as kiwi as Paul Henry, who was also born there). But because he's not pakeha, he doesn't count in Henry's eyes. According to him, only white people are true kiwis, and everyone else is an interloper."Is he even a New Zealander?" Henry asked.
Mr Key said he was.
"Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time... Are we going to go for someone who is more like a New Zealander this time?"
These are the sorts of views I'd expect to hear from a member of the National Front, not from a New Zealand TV broadcaster. But TVNZ is already making excuses for him, willing to put ratings before basic decency again. While we can complain, they're pretty much signalled that they're unlikely to do anything about it - which calls the entire broadcasting complaints system into disrepute.
As for Key, I know its difficult when confronted by these sorts of attitudes to overcome the shock, but would it have killed him to stick up for the kiwiness of non-pakeha New Zealanders? Or did he do the calculation and decide to go for the joke to avoid getting offside with any rednecks in the audience? Someone should really ask him.
