Churnalism from Garth George

The Herald's Garth George has already got a reputation for plagiarism, and he's at it again, lifting the core of this morning's column on the evils of the Greens from a press release from Right To Life head Ken Orr. Compare and contrast: here's "George":

As a pro-life mate of mine reminded me this week, in 2008 the Greens in the Victorian Parliament voted for the decriminalisation of abortion. This meant that it was no longer a crime to kill an unborn child and Victoria now has the most permissive abortion law in the world. It provides that any woman can demand an abortion for any reason.

The Greens in Australia also support same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption, and an education system which teaches that homosexuality is normal.

Last year the Greens promoted bills to legalise euthanasia in the New South Wales, Western Australian and Victorian Parliaments. Senator Bob Brown, the leader of the Greens in the Australian federal Parliament, has said that passing euthanasia laws is a top priority.

My mate reckons that the New Zealand electorate ought to recognise that in our Parliament the Greens represent a threat to the protection of the right to life of unborn children, the elderly and the ill and to the institution of marriage as exclusively between one woman and one man.

He points out that the Green Party in Germany has similar policies.

And Orr:

The election of 14 Members of Parliament from the Greens Party is a matter of grave concern. The electorate should be aware of the hidden agenda of the Greens Party.

In 2008 in the Victorian Parliament the Greens voted for the decriminalisation of abortion which meant that it was no longer a crime to kill an unborn child. Victoria now has the most permissive abortion law in the world. The law provides for abortion on demand and a woman can now demand an abortion for any reason.

The Greens in Australia support same sex marriage and same sex adoption. The Greens also support the education system teaching that homosexuality is normal.

In 2010 the Greens promoted Bills to legalise euthanasia in the New South Wales, Western Australian and Victorian Parliaments. Senator Bob Brown the leader of the Greens in Australia has said that passing euthanasia laws was a top priority.

The electorate should recognise that the Greens represent in our Parliament a threat to the protection of the right to life of unborn children, the elderly and the ill and to the institution of marriage as exclusively between one woman and one man. The Greens Party in Germany has similar policies.

This is pure churnalism, a word-for-word regurgitation of PR with no additional research or journalistic work. While its par for the course for time-pressed hacks, its a bit odd to see it in an opinion column. Surely the Herald is paying George for his opinion, not that of whichever press release last crossed his desk?

The giveaway was that he used Australian examples. Ironically, he didn't need to - there are plenty of examples of the New Zealand Greens supporting equality and human rights for all. They put up a bill for same-sex adoption in 2006, they support same-sex marriage as a matter of party policy, and they recognise the danger of homophobic bullying in our schools. While they don't seem to have policy on it, they've overwhelmingly supported death with dignity and abortion rights. If George had bothered to spend five minutes with Google, he would have learned all that - and avoided looking like a lazy plagiarising hack in the process.