"The 20th Century has been characterised by three developments of great social importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate power against democracy" (in "Hidden Agendas", John Pilger, Vintage, 1988, p539, quoting Alex Carey, the Australian social scientist who pioneered the investigation of corporate propaganda).

"In 2004, one of us showed that scientists had a consensus about the reality of global warming and its human causes - and had since the mid-1990s. Yet throughout this time period, the mass media presented global warming and its cause as a major debate" ("Merchants Of Doubt: How A Handful of Scientists Obscured The Truth On Issues From Tobacco Smoke To Global Warming", Naomi Oreskes & Erik M Conway, Bloomsbury Press, 2010, in concluding chapter 6, "The Denial Of Global Warming", p215).

"We are on the precipice of climate system tipping-points beyond which there is no redemption", (James Hansen, Director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, December 2005).

(a) "For years, I wandered Australia with an aching heart. Everywhere I had ever travelled across the vast expanse of the fabulous country where I was born I had seen devastation: denuded hills, eroded slopes, weeds from all over the world, feral animals, open-cut mines as big as cities, salt rivers, salt earth, abandoned townships, whole beaches made of beer cans...".

(b) Yet Germaine Greer's personal experience of conservation work at Cave Creek, Queensland, and knowledge of similar work elsewhere "makes her dare to hope that it is not too late to save this most enchanting of small planets" ("White Beech: The Rainforest Years", G Greer, Bloomsbury, 2013/14, back cover & Acknowledgements).

But, tragically, if ever so predictably, global warming disaster hit Australia during the summer of 2019 (already manifest by the spring of 2019). By mid-January 2020, 29 people had died in the fires, over a billion animals had been killed, about 2,500 homes destroyed, and almost 11 million hectares burnt. Heartbreakingly, the bushfires have proved apocalyptic for so much of Australia's wonderfully unique biodiversity and wildlife. Germaine Greer's appeal for positive action is now more urgent than ever before!

"As I speak, south-east Australia is on fire. Why? Because the temperatures of the Earth are increasing", said Sir David Attenborough, in warning that the Australian bushfires signal the planetary catastrophe unfolding before our very eyes, and that we need to act now! ("David Attenborough Calls Australia's Bushfires 'The Moment Of Crisis' To Address Climate Change", 16/1/20).

"We share a common concern over the failure of the multilateral system to address the existential threats we face. From the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement (climate change pact signed in 2016) and the Iran Nuclear Deal, to deadlock at nuclear disarmament talks and division at the United Nations (UN) Security Council - our mechanisms for collaboration are being undermined when we need them most". The existential threats of nuclear war and climate crisis are compounding. We need to unite and act cooperatively and pre-emptively together (Press Release, "IT IS NOW 100 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT", 23/1/20; 2020 Doomsday Clock Announcement, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [BAS]). The Doomsday Clock is the nearest it has ever been to midnight!

In the West, including Aotearoa/NZ, in order to be able to work together cooperatively and pre-emptively, we must also overcome the danger presented by the rise of the reactionary Right in all its forms!

As the NZ general election year grinds on, lead elements of the Rightwing mainstream media are again flaunting their true colours. Their main objective is to try and unseat the current coalition Government, headed by the Labour Party and Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern. This media is now becoming a clear and present danger to democracy itself in Aotearoa/NZ! Much of the so-called "Fourth Estate", the purported guardian of democracy, is more and more inclined to subvert it. Given the compounding global problems of climate crisis, growing geo-political conflicts, environmental deterioration; increasing risk from pandemics; etc., divisions are deepening both within and between nations. Global capitalism is in growing crisis.

While in today's world, we can easily explain the reactionary media trend by the growing crisis of global capitalism and the capitalist class interests that the media represent, the reality we face is getting uncomfortably full in our faces. On the Left, we need to counter this syndrome as best we can, otherwise the future is very grim indeed. The old motto of "Organise, organise, organise!" is more urgent and important than ever.

This article was motivated by cold anger at the same old, well-worn story of the neo-liberal, foreign control media gearing up in election year again (indeed, well before!) to campaign against the Left, and help get back in power the class/corporate interests that they really root for. So, the bloody scumbag crony media are at it again! Let's fight back against this bullshit!

Targeting The Leadership Of The Coalition Government.

In pursuit of their aim to destabilise the Labour-led Coalition Government, the especial target of the mainstream media is PM Jacinda Ardern. They are trying their best to dent her image and mana, and so diminish her popular appeal going into the September 19th general election. This approach is closely tied into the Opposition National Party's continuing "Dirty Politics", with its battery of nasty attack ads on social media (for background and political context, see Nicky Hager's damning study of National Party politics in "Dirty Politics: How Attack Politics Is Poisoning New Zealand's Political Environment", Craig Potton Publishing, 2014. Reviewed by Jeremy Agar in Watchdog 137, December 2014,).

Disturbingly, a wider NZ Rightwing movement includes a grouping of hard Rightists across the political party and pressure group spectrum. These people specialise in personalised targeted messaging via social media in the style and pattern peddled by National's "Dirty Politics". National, of course, up to its excoriating exposure towards the end of 2014 by investigative journalist Nicky Hager, had been conducting its "Dirty Politics" as covertly as possible, hand in glove with the media (ibid.). Nowadays, since being outed, a lot of National's negative attack politics is very much in your face. This phenomenon has its own ugly outcome, acting to degrade the conduct of public discourse in general.

Stuff has emerged as the leading corporate media attack outfit, aiming its current campaign in particular at trying to knock the New Zealand First Party and its leader Winston Peters out of the Coalition Government; and, consequently, usher the reactionary National Party and ACT into office at the 2020 general election. I examine Stuff's campaign in some detail below and what it means in terms of our future.

Hard Right Capitalism And The Slide To Fascism

Latterly, this very nasty style of politics so manifest in our media has been drawing heavily on the fall-out from Trumpism and Brexit, and all the vicious far-Right Internet stuff (again, for background, see e.g., "Troll Hunting: Inside The World Of Online Hate And Its Human Fallout", Ginger Gorman, Hardie Grant Books, 2019). Much of the mainstream media, as intimated, were deeply tied to National's covert dirty online politics in the past ("Dirty Politics", op. cit.; check out our own record of tracking and analysing this stuff: especially in light of Nicky's book).

Similarly, their ongoing especial efforts to dent PM Ardern's image and pillory Winston Peters are not only in tune with National's attack line but are reflected in a wider social movement against the Government. Ultimately, the threat of fascism again hangs over Western capitalism, against the backdrop of world Social Darwinist competition. Indeed, more broadly, there is a widespread authoritarian trend across the world, with all its compounding dangerous implications.

This trend is likely to get more pronounced and even nastier as international problems mount in number, intensity, and interaction. Currently, plague and pestilence in the form of the coronavirus is threatening to run rampant over humankind. It is causing extensive economic angst as well as a global health crisis. We have heaps of challenging work ahead of us!

Climate Crisis And Conflict

For many years, Professor Michael Klare has tracked the vicissitudes of the American Empire and its predatory reach for resources across the planet. In his latest book, Professor Klare warns that while the US might not be anticipating to fight climate wars "as such", Pentagon scenarios paint a picture of a destabilising world due to global warming ("All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon's Perspective On Climate Change", Metropolitan Books, 2019, p90; see also his: "The Race For What's Left: The Global Scramble For The World's Last Resources", Metropolitan Books, 2012).

The US fears that climate change will undermine the stability of many countries that it considers vital to its national security (ibid.) So, the Pentagon, along with the whole battery of American power projection agencies, are already intervening - and planning far more such interventions - in lands threatened by chaos and calamity (ibid.).

Of course, ever since the end of World War II (WWII), American interventions have engendered continuing instability, and often outright chaos and calamity, in a host of tragically afflicted countries. The NZ media have cheered all this on for the most part. For certain, they have excused the most flagrant war crimes in their capacity as propaganda organs of the so-called "Five Eyes" spy/covert action club.

They have even covered up the role of NZ "Dirty Politics" in some of the worst crimes of Anglo-American geo-politics, most outrageously the case of the Indonesian Genocide 1965-70. Led by Stuff today, they are now openly applying the propaganda techniques of negativity; "fake news"; silence and selective attention; smear attacks; personalised targeting; etc., to our own domestic political scene. We are living in very dangerous times indeed!

"Nasty Nats" & Co!

Picking up on the observation above of the malign influence of Trumpism, there are various indicators throughout our society. These indicators are now so very unfortunately likely to pop up in our very presence and whereabouts. For instance, Trump slogans like "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) have been adapted locally in stickers and other ways, e.g., "Make Ardern Go Away". Note the obvious appeal here to male misogyny as so cultivated by President Trump and his far-Right supporters ("Misogyny: The New Activism", Gail Ukockis, Oxford University Press, 2019). National has been beating this drum as slyly as it can.

Over the years, I have noted the development of the macho misogynistic movement as a cultural change reflecting the underlying trends of mounting socio-economic and ethnic conflict as resource scarcity bites into the human notion of "progress". From the popularity of gladiatorial cage fighting to the emergence of the "alt Right", the writing is on the wall for sure, as famed street artist Banksy might say. There are certainly many similarities nowadays between the ancient Roman Empire in decline and the crumbling American Empire

Killing Kindness And Inclusivity!?

A personal anecdote is relevant at this point as an illustration. In recent conversation in 2020 with a middle-aged woman, I was startled to hear her talk about that "bitch Ardern"! Her next remark was even more startling, but so very enlightening as an insight into some of the conservative motivation against our PM and her Government. You see, why this woman objects to Ardern is because PM Jacinda Ardern is "humanitarian"!!

Moreover, according to this politically very resentful woman, who actually considers herself a swinging voter, and is unhappy as well with National's current leadership, Ardern is only concerned with a "minority". She then went on to echo National's line that Ardern is really only a part-time PM, allegedly tripping overseas too often. Moreover, she believes our current PM will soon follow former Labour PM Helen Clark in a calculatedly ambitious career, and go off to some UN posting, or similar sort of internationally-oriented job.

It is worth noting that in the Anglo-American sphere, many "most vociferous haters" of female politicians - as was the case with America's Hillary Clinton - can be other women ("Jacinda Ardern: The Story Behind An Extraordinary Leader", Michelle Duff, Allen & Unwin, 2019, p81; for analysis, see "Misogyny: The New Activism", ibid.).

In sum, it can be truly said, a disturbingly ugly undercurrent of NZ society is coming to the surface. Human goodness is even seen as a liability by a growing minority. Yet PM Jacinda's face has even graced the cover of the American Establishment magazine Time, ("'Know Us By Our Deeds' - A Year After Christchurch, Jacinda Ardern Has The World's Attention. How Will She Use It?", March 2/9, 2020). Our most admirable PM is portraying an ever so desperately needed message of compassion and cultural tolerance to the world.

This particular issue of Time commendably commemorates the tragedy and lessons of the Christchurch mosque terrorist attacks (ibid.). Hopefully, this further global recognition of the PM's inspiring leadership in tackling cultural conflict and racist/ethnic hatred will also resonate in election year at the domestic level too. At present, unfortunately, when we pool the available evidence from a plethora of sources, National's negativity and the general culture of neo-liberalism are taking a heavy toll on humane well-being and societal health. I go on to examine this syndrome further below. Media like Stuff are openly and unashamedly doing their best to give National and ACT a helping hand!

Past Legacy And Present Pernicious Politicisation

The political record and its legacy were damning after almost a decade of National government (2008-17). We have seen the conditions and public conduct of democratic debate surely decline and deteriorate. Remember the targeting of Labour Leader David Cunliffe by National and its crony media for saying he was sorry for being a man after hearing grim stories of male-inflicted abuse at a women's refuge meeting? Or the mostly light-hearted media treatment given to the then National PM John Key for bullying a waitress and repeatedly pulling her hair?

The hypocrisy of the National Party itself was mind-blowing! ("Minister For Women Standing By Prime Minister After Ponytail Incident" 23/4/15). Louise Upston, the Minister for Women, found PM Key's behaviour quite acceptable, as did the mainstream media for the most part. There was more or less just a bit of mild "tut-tutting". The nasty Key physically harried this waitress so much with his repeated kinky hair-pulling that she was even reduced to tearful protest! Yet the backlash against the victim here was so vicious that she was obviously intimidated into dropping the matter!

Orwellian Double Standards

These days, National MP Louise Upston waxes critical in Parliament about the lack of standards upheld for Ministers in her sniping at PM Ardern about Peters. And, in a testament to National's class warfare, Upston persists in using the term "dole" to stigmatise people on the unemployment benefit. Just another sample here of National's nasty politics!

Returning to former PM John Key's behaviour, National Party culture on gender issues has been toxic, as was the wider culture to some considerable extent. The "Roast Busters" scandal illustrated the social climate at the time. The social atmosphere was "more hostile to victims" than to male exploitation and violence ("Jacinda Ardern", op. cit., p84).

"In an interview after news of the (Roast Busters) case broke, then PM John Key minimised sexual violence and its impact on victims by saying 'these young guys should just grow up' as if rape is just a phase" (ibid., p85). Key's poisonous conduct of politics was not just covert as expressed in the "Black Ops" of "Dirty Politics". His influence was often openly broadcast too, with a smile of course and a cavalier wave!

"Key's (repeated) sexist gaffes, his persona, and his objectifying of women were all easily dismissed as small things. But these small things add up, and it's normalising of these behaviours that makes more abhorrent ones possible - and positions women, and every type of masculinity that doesn't conform, as being of lesser value" (ibid., pp88/89).

Sex And Violence!

With the ascent to power in the 2017 NZ general election of the Labour-led coalition government, a complex set of ironies were to envelop this new body. By 2017, multitudes of women in America and other English-speaking countries were on the march, rebelling against "rape culture" and sexist aggression, as typified by Trumpism, the "alt-Right", high-profile cases of sexual predation, etc. "Family violence is (recognised) as a scourge on (Aotearoa/NZ)", with "new depths of this epidemic" being revealed in a recent report ("A Stain On Our Society", Press, 18/2/20).

For many of us in this country, the most awful irony of all came to be the vicious National Party/media campaign directed ultimately at unseating our newly elected female PM, Jacinda Ardern. While, at present, the main focus of attack in 2020 of the National-media phalanx is NZ First and its leader Winston Peters, the Labour Party and PM Ardern herself were the principal targets throughout 2018/19.

The contrived objective in particular was to make the PM as seemingly responsible as possible, and even hypocritical in her feminism. Hence, the dirty media turned the theme of sexual harassment into a calculated blitz against the Labour Party. Whereas this same crony corporate media had systematically protected the National Party and former PM Key from any adverse fall-out, they unleashed a continual barrage at the Labour Party. This version of attack politics took the specific form of feigned moral outrage at alleged derelictions, including even instances of rape, supposedly rampant within the party.

Campaign Collapse And Collateral Damage!

However, this campaign failed badly in one sense. There proved, in the end, to be no case to answer in the terms in which the debate had been framed. But, in another sense, the media scored a hit in inevitably taking some of the shine off PM Ardern's image, which was the real intention anyway. Some Stuff political journalists like Andrea Vance have apparently imbibed various lessons of how to play "Dirty Politics" effectively.

"...Vance (has) commented that 'Dirty Politics' didn't hurt National - in fact, all the evidence points to a lift. But it did harm Labour" ("Dirty Politics", Wikipedia). So much of this happened in the run-up to the 2014 general election, which Labour lost, because of the way the media presented the revelations of democratic subversion.

Much of the media was up to its eyeballs in this dirty work anyway - both in the kind of machinations revealed, and then in efforts to cover up, or mislead the public! I shall look at the media treatment of the Labour Party sexual abuse case (2018/19) in more detail later. At this stage in my article, I give notice that for my scrutiny of Stuff's attack strategy in particular, I shall mostly adopt a chronological approach.

A Very Dangerous & Sinister Incipient Trend

The other potentially very "sexy" issue that the media were quick to shut down under the rule of the Key-led National government was the atmosphere of increasing physical intimidation, and even full-on violence, being fostered against political "enemies". Investigative reporter Nicky Hager first clearly signalled the threat in his book on "Dirty Politics" (op. cit.), and more was revealed subsequently. But, overall, the media deliberately played down the incidents and their implications.

To quote from Nicky Hager's blockbusting, revelatory study: "In 2013, I helped to research and write an international study about people using tax havens, an industry in which (Rightwing blogger) Cathy Odgers is a lawyer. She wrote an attack post about it for the Whale Oil blog (then National's leading "Dirty Politics" online agency), and sent ... (an) e-mail to David Farrar, Cameron Slater and Matthew Hooton" (ibid., p91). All these three men are hard Rightists and closely linked to the National Party, with Slater being the operator of the Whale Oil blog site at the time.

Lawyer Odgers wanted Hager's address so she could set him up for retaliation from the "tens of thousands of rich Chinese", whose financial misdeeds had been revealed. Odgers revelled in how "very vicious" such people could be, and correspondingly exulted in the prospect of "Chop chop for Nicky" (my emphasis, ibid., p91). Slater and Hooton complied in varying form to Odgers' request. The unpleasant Hooton still figures as a regular commentator in the media, even on publicly-owned Radio NZ (RNZ).

Internal Affairs public servant Simon Pleasants was the victim of a campaign of vicious abuse, including death threats, orchestrated by Cameron Slater. To be sure, Slater's Whale Oil disseminated an aura of intimidation to such an extent that even a journalist like the reputable David Fisher, a senior writer at the NZ Herald, became uncomfortably aware of its disturbing undertones.

"The book further recorded testimony from an associate of Slater's in which a gang member was asked how much it would cost to 'finish Matt off'. The sum quoted, according to the book, was $5000" (NZ Herald, 29/5/19). Businessman Matt Blomfield was the intended victim (see "Whale Oil", Margie Thomson, Potton & Burton, 2019).

Fascism Is Starting To Rear Its Ugly Head In Godzone!

In a foreword to "Whale Oil", Nicky Hager observes how the Police protected Cameron Slater at both Nicky's own expense, and also that of Matt Blomfield, the target of the threat just mentioned (ibid.). There were plenty of viciously maligned victims of Slater's Whale Oil. But far from campaigning to safeguard our democracy, the mainstream media have passed very lightly over all this stuff. Protecting the National Party and its poisonous leadership has been an obvious priority. Safeguarding our democracy has not been the media's prime concern, at least not for key leading elements of this media. Indeed, far from it! The current campaign to overthrow the Coalition government proves this thesis again.

In the Seven Sharp documentary (a promotional puff-piece for Whale Oil on State TV1!!) briefly showing blogger Cameron Slater's cellphone, National PM John Key was at the top of his list, along with Police Minister Judith Collins also near the top, followed by crony journalists-cum commentators Patrick Gower and Paul Henry (ibid., p41). Slater worked on a wide range of issues from defending Big Tobacco to promoting the gun lobby, the sort of issues close to National's heart, and those of its corporate and conservative backers.

At bottom, and in quite sinister style, "Slater's world view (is) underpinned... by a perspective destined, perhaps even designed, to put people off democratic politics once and for all" (ibid., p75). Hager's book "Dirty Politics" showed this goal was certainly part of Slater's agenda, and indeed that of a hardline element of the National Party (op. cit.). In pursuit of his overall agenda, Cameron Slater's Whale Oil style was one of malicious personalised attack politics. In a similar mode, mainstream media like Stuff brazenly use a very biased personal attack strategy these days to target the parties of the Coalition government.

A Rotten Record

The record on these issues, and on so many others, shows just how bad both National and the media can be. For instance, the now Sir John Key (who even jacked up his own knighthood!) can still be presented in fawning, obsequious fashion on TV3's The Project as "political royalty"; and he continues to gets a pretty easy indulgent ride from the media commentariat whatever his questionable business dealings, as with the ANZ bank.

Media treatment for National and its operatives has long been outrageously biased in this Party's favour. Currently, given the glaringly available evidence, the media's election year "hands-off" approach is stunning in relation to National's "long march" along the Chinese money trail ("New Zealand Needs To Show It's Serious About Addressing Chinese Interference", Guardian, 23/1/20).

Canterbury University Professor Anne Marie-Brady asserts that: "Between 2008-2017, the NZ National Party received at least $NZ1.3 million in political donations from figures associated with China's United Front Work Department. No other political party received this level of China-connected funding" (ibid.). The main fundraiser among the NZ Chinese community is Dr Jian Yang, who has been accused of being a foreign spy/agent (ibid.) In addition, National Leader Simon Bridges has been condemned in the West for the party's "alarming stance" on China (ibid.). If it had been the Labour Party with such links to a still nominally Communist China, this Party would have been fulsomely savaged by the NZ media attack brigade!

There is yet, at the same time, a whole other dimension to concerns about China's influence in Aotearoa/NZ. The fact is that Professor Anne Marie-Brady herself is obviously a de facto operative within the American foreign policy Establishment, lining us up for WWIII in an imperial struggle (e.g. see: "New Zealand: Anti-China Propagandist Anne-Marie Brady Speaks At Victoria University Of Wellington" 2/11/19). Aotearoa/NZ needs to chart an independent course (check out Anti-Bases Campaign's Peace Researcher).

The Bigger Political Picture Within Aotearoa/NZ

Taking a broader overview, already in 2019 - well before election year 2020 - a quite wide-ranging movement was gathering to try and sink the Labour-led coalition government's chances because of a perceived threat to "traditional" values and behaviour. This was despite the Government's avowed intention to be "transformational" sadly failing to fire yet, much to the delight of its opponents.

This failure is due to a complex of reasons, including the inevitable realities of MMP politics, and the Coalition government efforts to offset National's perceived appeal, e.g., by building more roads. But the reasons also owe a lot to neo-liberal culture, organised Rightwing resistance, and mainstream media criticism! It can yet be well said that the Coalition government had by early 2020 achieved a considerable amount in the face of great odds, one way or another. For those of us wanting truly transformational change, there is at least now some sort of platform to build on for the future.

Reactionaries On The Loose!

But we can see an apparently growing reactionary movement across a number of fronts, driven by a range of motivations. Conservatism, in the general sense of resistance to changes to the status quo; tribalist self-identity; racism; prejudice against immigrants; narrowly viewed self-interest; etc., are all contributing factors to this type of reactionary mind-set and accompanying behaviour.

More and more, too, with the coronavirus pandemic, and other fears, the general sense of insecurity is inevitably increasing. Towards the end of 2019, rallies at Parliament and in Greymouth signalled the societal Rightist trend. Farming interests figured prominently in the former, while the latter was driven by mining interests in particular. The National Party, of course, played a crucial instrumental role in both rallies.

Besides the Rightwing political parties of National and ACT, activist groups span a wide spectrum - from gun lobbyists through environmentally obtuse farmers to purported free speech proponents wanting to help promote racist and hate ideology. Today, ACT's David Seymour, aka "The Weasel", specialises in this far-Right approach. His cynical opportunistic posturing fits with National's own lurch to the Right, and its similarly scare-mongering style.

Seymour let fly in a populist-style speech during the February 2020 Waitangi celebrations, even playing to Trumpism with his slogan "Make Aotearoa Great Again". ACT now represents an incipient unprincipled menace, exploiting any chance to appeal to social prejudice and antagonism. Above all, upper-class interests take pride of place. The long game is about manipulating social unrest in ways that serve elitist ends a la US President Donald Trump and British PM Boris Johnson.

Mainstreaming Rightwing Political Attack Agendas

Over the years, both domestically and internationally, the corporate mainstream media have enhanced aspects of this syndrome in a multitude of ways. Capitalist media barons and news enterprises in general, of course, have always been geared to the protection and promotion of privileged class interests. With globalisation, however, this dimension of power projection and its elitist legitimation reached new levels of scale and reach.

Globally, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire has been the leading capitalist media complex deliberately and systematically attacking the values and principles of the political Left ("Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation Of Political Power", David McKnight, Allen & Unwin, 2012). While Murdoch's malevolent influence has been "most clearly demonstrated in its campaigning on major issues such as the invasion of Iraq and the denial of global warming, it extends far wider..." (ibid., p2).

"In a modern democracy, the rich use their political contributions and the funding or direct ownership of think tanks and media outlets to purchase economic policies that benefit them: lower taxes on high incomes, bigger tax deductions, higher capital gains through tax cuts to the corporate sector, fewer regulations, and so on" (in "The Clash Of Capitalisms: The Real Fight For The Global Economy's Future", Branko Milanovic, Foreign Affairs, "The Future Of Capitalism" issue, January/February 2020, p16).

"These policies, in turn, increase the likelihood that the rich will stay on top, and they form the ultimate link in the chain that runs from the higher share of capital in a country's net income to the creation of a self-serving upper class" (ibid.). The capitalist rich and powerful aim to stay in maximum control (see, e.g. "Democracy In Chains: The Deep History Of The Radical Right's Plan For America", Nancy MacLean, Scribe, 2017).

Channelling Globalism To Hit Home!

The processes outlined above have long been very evident in Aotearoa/NZ, with neo-liberalism getting a big boost in the 1980s under the regime of Rogernomics. This was the era when the Anglo-American political agenda, both domestic and overseas, was being set by the Reagan-Thatcher combination. Today, National and ACT are the prime perpetrators of these kind of policies, along with their corporate crony media enterprises, and think tanks like the NZ Initiative and the Maxim Institute.

Indeed, since there is plenty of money sloshing around on the Right, a whole range of related interest/pressure groups line up on this side of the political divide - from the Chambers of Commerce, and other business associations, to activist outfits like the NZ Taxpayers' Union (NZTU) and the Free Speech Coalition NZ (FSCNZ) with its cultivation of the "alt-Right". Scoop NZ Political Editor Gordon Campbell ably shows just how perversely Rightwing the NZ media has become ("Gordon Campbell On Allegations Of Leftwing Bias In The Mainstream Media", 16/9/19).

Campbell points to the "effective consensus (on core neo-liberal claims) for the past 30 years, with the mainstream media doing its bit to promote these views as being the only sensible outlook..." (ibid.). Less tax, less regulation, and more incentives for "entrepreneurship" have been typical nostrums taken for granted by the media. This "free market" economic prescription is peddled too by the closely related public relations (PR) industry, and the rest of the commercialised communications sphere.

Peddling The Big Lie

In his article, as cited above, Campbell demonstrates the absolute absurdity of the claim by Rightwing pundits that the media are in fact "Leftwing". This, of course, has been a seasoned practice by Rightwing pundits, who take their cues out of the deeply skewed capitalist American culture. In the US, anything that seems likely to disturb the prevailing status quo, or to indicate dissent, must be crushed immediately - at least according to the self-prescribed mandate of its dominant reactionaries. Rupert Murdoch's Fox News sets the standard of debate to a very large degree.

The US is rife too with multitudinous media monitoring pressure groups and agencies that operate to ferret out and hunt down Leftwing dissent on both domestic and foreign policy issues. In their lexicon, the phrase "liberal media bias" is tantamount to swearing. Note that the word "liberal" in the American context actually means "Leftist", which can be confusing for comparative interpretations.

Outfits in America such as the Media Research Centre (MRC), a conservative "media watchdog", function to police dissent and enforce conformity with the dictates of the ruling class. Similarly, in Aotearoa/NZ, agents of Rightwing conformity - ranging from "Dirty Politics" Matthew Hooton to Press senior journalist Martin van Beynen - freely inveigh against what they portray as Leftist bias in the media. The charge of Leftwing bias is yet another Rightwing media propaganda tool.

Gordon Campbell, a very experienced and respected journalist, effectively and comprehensively rubbishes this absurd notion (ibid.). We can take our analysis further. The policing of the Left by corporate media monitors indicates just how extreme the shift to the Right has got. As stressed throughout my article, much of the mainstream media is now increasingly becoming a real danger to democracy itself!

Holding governments to account is an absolute duty for the media in a democracy. But the Rightwing bias in such mainstream media has been traditionally very marked. From an overall perspective in Aotearoa/NZ, the media bias in favour of National, whether this particular Party is in Government, or in Opposition (as is presently the case), has got very pronounced. Furthermore, the corporate crony media are trying extra hard to get more seats for the far-Right ACT Party.

Embracing Negativity

In recent times, the foreign-owned media have been to the fore in targeting the Left. Examples abound in multiple form. Take the Saturday edition of the Press in Christchurch, which routinely features articles by Stuff journalists very critical of our current "Centre-Left Government". One of the writers for the Press's Saturday edition is Duncan Garner, a regular attack journalist and radio talkback host, who also orchestrates the AM Show on TV3's NewsHub (MediaWorks). These days, Garner is notorious as a crony corporate media hack and National Party flunky, a reputation going back quite some time (e.g. "Duncan Garner - Asshole Of The Week Award", 2/5/11).

Showing a quite extraordinary commitment to the National Party's practice of "Dirty Politics" in its openly broadcast version, Duncan Garner has lambasted the positive approach so admirably adopted by PM Jacinda Ardern ("'Relentless Positivity' Is Just An Attempt To Stifle Debate", Press, 25/1/20). Garner, a former TV3 Political Editor, can certainly be a nasty piece of work (see "Duncan Garner - Asshole Of The Week Award", op. cit.; "TV3's Garner Confirms Vendetta Against Carter", Standard, 28/6/10).

Again, in the particular article just cited from the Press ("Relentless Positivity", op. cit.), he quite unashamedly, and even proudly, foams at the mouth in flaunting his socially destructive style of Rightwing politics (ibid.) Crudely enough, Duncan Garner in his gutter journalism wants to be "sick" about the positivity of the Government. He even calls for two "giant sick bag(s)"! Well, he certainly spouts plenty of bile.

Garner, a cynical operator if there was ever one, bangs on about alleged Governmental failures, while doing his best as usual to both protect National's poisonous legacy, and so ironically, exemplify key noxious aspects of it (ibid.). In a world where politics is becoming ever more dangerously venomous in its rhetoric as problems deepen, mainstream media pundits of the Right like Garner are only too willing to stoke the fires that could eventually consume us all.

As one of National's most prominent "glove puppets", Garner cheers on his political mates, defending his own and National's troll-like behaviour to the hilt. He scoffs contemptuously at Labour's signing up to Facebook's new political transparency code (ibid.). He even advises National Leader Simon Bridges to ignore the Facebook code (ibid.). Mind you, his diatribe gets pretty well incoherent at this point - choking and blinded by his own spittle perhaps!

Crap-Filled Garner & Co.

The sheer unbridled and stupidly ignorant viciousness of Duncan Garner is something to behold alright! PM Jacinda Ardern has led an inspirational international campaign to get the giant online corporate platforms to better control racist and hate speech in the wake of the terrorist mosque murders in Christchurch/Otautahi on the 15th March, 2019. Such speech was even being openly broadcast on the streets of Christchurch in the weeks leading up to the mosque massacres.

Labour's Facebook pledge clearly fits with the commitments that Facebook and other companies have made, as a consequence of what Ardern's Government has succeeded in doing with its ground-breaking "Christchurch Call". Incidentally, but most significantly, the obvious respect gained in the Muslim world for our Government by PM Jacinda's superb leadership in this regard must have also substantially reduced the risks of a terrorist reprisal against our country. One can only shudder at the thought of National in power at the time!

Garner's callousness in the context of the Christchurch mosque massacres and their victims is chilling indeed! Instead of celebrating the Government's positive achievements, he spits out more of his copious bile. His attitude obviously corresponds to National's own role in the emerging white racist movement, which was starting to openly mobilise in Aotearoa/NZ before the mosque massacres. National was intimately linked with the international far-Right campaign against the UN Migration Pact, and still opposes this agreement. But this kind of thing does not bother its crony media.

To be sure, Garner has been accused of anti-immigrant racism to such an extent that he vacated Twitter because of the abuse he got. But now in election year, he has upped the ante, going into overdrive with his vituperative rants against the Left, giving vent to what has been so accurately called "simplistic crap". In a Freudian slip, Duncan Garner describes his own style nicely in talking about the nature of general elections as he sees them - "nasty, dirty, full of lies, hatred and anger"!! Oh boy, you've got yourself nailed in one for sure, Duncan!

Class Warfare!

Garner's bias is so marked these days that National Leader Simon Bridges is welcomed on to his AM Show (TV3 NewsHub) as the next PM! TV3 itself uses this sound-bite as advertising for the programme. TV3 is part of Media Works, which is entirely owned by the American transnational corporation (TNC) Oaktree Capital Management.

What Garner and his confreres stand for is the neo-liberal greed and callousness of the Right, and now increasingly class warfare to keep their privileged status in life. To date, nine years of National's exploitation is contrasted by this cohort against a couple of years to try and change conditions for the better - change which Garner and his media cronies are dedicated to preventing.

In contrast to Duncan Garner's diatribe, an editorial in the same Saturday Press issue ("It Might Be Hard To Stay Positive", 25/1/20) on the same subject of honesty and positiveness in politics, as enjoined by PM Ardern, was seemingly most reasonable, fair, and balanced. But our overall concern is with Stuff's general political line. Rightwing media commentators like Garner are free to constantly peddle the most outrageously biased material directed at the Left, the kind of stuff that would not be tolerated against the Right.

And, on reflection, the Press editorial cited above can itself be interpreted as a restrained, indirect back-up for Garner's openly nasty attack article in the same edition of this newspaper. In context, it can even be understood as cleverly coded. Tellingly enough, the editorial echoes the very angle of Garner's attack line in a specifically highlighted sentence, namely: "It could be said Labour is using transparency as a strategy" (ibid.).

Ironically, there have even been articles published in the Press, accusing the Left of being too aggressive in calling out opponents - specifically those Rightwing activists, who are childish and petty enough to turn around the biography of PM Ardern (smiling on the front cover) in bookshops. Leftists are even accused of downgrading our political culture!

But mainstream media criticism of alleged Leftist over-reaction, when set against the pervasive, calculated, and systematic Rightwing media bias, is absolutely absurd. This media bias, along with the wider reactionary movement in which the media is embedded, testifies to just another ploy against the Left. It is heartening yet to note that such media clearly fear the potential of the real Left.

Boosting Key Predictions

At the start of January 2020, Stuff's "political reporters" observed that: "Facebook 'misinformation' is a big discussion point during the NZ election" ("What Might Happen In 2020: Our Political Reporters Offer Their Take On What 2020 Has In Store For New Zealand And The World", Press, 1/1/20). These reporters next went on to give their very own opinionated prediction.

They asserted that "National refuses to sign up to the toothless tool (my emphasis) that Facebook has provided to make the spending on its site more transparent" (ibid.). In CAFCA, we certainly know how hard it is to get transnational corporations (TNCs), including media companies, to be better "citizens" as it were. But every democratically gained step forward is a plus, especially when at Governmental level. At the very least, it lays the ground for further progress and cooperation.

TNC Stuff's-contrived endorsement by its reporters for National's anticipated lack of action, and so assent for the continuance of toxic online attack ads, speaks volumes! These reporters even go on to make light of National's dirty online attacks, some of which have already been condemned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) (e.g. "Advertising Watchdog Rules National Party Ad Misleading", 12/9/19; "'Shameful' Delay On Ad", Press, 12/2/20).

National is intent on misleading the NZ public with what its leader Simon Bridges calls in Trump-style "alternative facts". Moreover, it is cynically committed to playing fast and loose with the ASA's complaint procedures ("'Shameful Delay On Ad'", ibid.). But it even gets a nod of approval from its crony media! So much then for any voiced media concerns about the state of our democracy!

Propaganda Ploys Galore!

Incidentally, however, note here another well-worn technique by Stuff's editors in this ad complaint report (ibid.). "Shameful" refers to an allegation made against National. If the allegation had been made against Labour, or its Coalition government partners, you could be pretty sure that in this election year there would have been naming of the Parties or Ministers involved.

In fact, the Press's editorial staff were so cunning in this specific case that the ad complained about was actually featured in a coloured picture right under the headline (ibid.). This picture so very helpfully, and cleverly, portrayed National's grossly misleading message, and yet it was this very ad's message that the ASA had expected to be removed according to its procedure protocol (ibid.).

The ad's picture featured a photo of the Coalition Minister Julie Ann-Genter saying there would only be a "small fee", aimed at making imported cars more fuel efficient. A black box next to her image and words instead gave National's big lie that the fee would be $6,000 (ibid.). In this way, the cursory reader could easily get the impression that Minister Julie Ann-Genter is "shameful"!! Right next to the ad complaint report in this particular issue of the Press was also an item headlined "Peters Denies Wrongdoing, Pledges Review" by the same reporter, Henry Cooke (ibid.).Wow!

The commercialised techniques of the PR industry now permeate the corporate mainstream media. It's got so bad that I am sure I could find enough material for very lengthy analysis every day. Eye-catching negativity against the Government is certainly set to be a constant for this election year as mandated by Stuff & Co. Negative headlines are endless, and I shall touch on this point again later.

Stuff's reporters cavalierly predict that: "There are mini-scandals over perceived inaccuracies in advertisements" ("What Might Happen In 2020", op. cit.). The message here is clear. "Fake news" and information are very freely and readily prevalent, as well as so very adaptable as a political weapon for the Right these days. Such then are the cynical games and sly posturing of the dirty media!

The Eroding "Fourth Estate"

Yes, in these times, it is surely hard "to stay positive" since "humanitarian", "transparent", and generally democratic actions can be so often cynically and calculatedly downgraded by the agents of the Right! Civilised behaviour gets further at risk in a downward spiral. Internationally, this trend has been rampant since 9/11, and the terroristic Anglo-American "War on Terror".

Human actions are usually driven by mixed motives. Cynicism is cheap, and it is hugely damaging when directed at eminently good policies and actions whatever might be the exact motivation. The gross bias and open class warfare demonstrated by the foreign owned/controlled media is eroding the institution of the "Fourth Estate", with all the resultant disillusion and cynicism being evinced in certain quarters.

The media propagandists of the Right operating in Aotearoa/NZ should perhaps take cognizance of a warning posted in 2008 by a leading far-Right American strategist. In the context of a wide-ranging study oriented toward future action, certain caveats were signalled. While it might be fun to run campaigns intended to undermine "liberal" leaders like former President Bill Clinton, "thus sowing helpful mistrust of Government", it was observed that "some caution was [also] in order" ("Democracy In Chains", op. cit., p224). You see the "'cynicism (engendered) may undercut some of the values needed to sustain a free society'" (ibid.). Oh dear... oh bugger!

Ironically, and portentously enough, too, the American far-Right strategy report identified "the emerging Internet" as a communication vehicle that "appears especially well suited for rumour, gossip, and talk of conspiracy" (ibid.). Conventional NZ politics are driven by American trends on multiple fronts. National now revels in its online "fake news" and misleading attack ads. And, as we have seen, they are even cheered on by Stuff & Co.

Many Media Machinations In Action

While corporate media attack operatives like Duncan Garner and his ilk rejoice in their own gross negativity, inspired by National's "Dirty Politics" and online "alt-Right" hate-filled trolls, other Rightwing journalists and commentators can, of course, be much more measured and subtle in their political line. There are indeed many media ploys in action against the Left.

On the same page as the Garner Press article critiqued above, Luke Malpass, Stuff's Political Editor, also has an opinion piece ("What Will Nats Decide To Do About Winston?", op. cit.). As another foreign control corporate journalist, it is especially noteworthy that Malpass has worked for the NZ Initiative, the neo-liberal Big Business outfit pushing capitalist globalism on Aotearoa/NZ. He opened with remarks about the political speeches at Ratana Pa's 2020 annual hui, mentioning how Co-Leader James Shaw of the Greens spoke of his Party's "achievements"; and how PM Jacinda Ardern "listed the things that Labour has done" (ibid.). Malpass next went on to discuss matters in more detail as he sees them.

Determining Success Or Failure

The media may well mention in such fashion Government representatives citing the positivity of their record as the various Ministers define the benefits gained for New Zealanders. But the reportage to date has so far strongly emphasised various alleged failures like KiwiBuild and the problem of tackling deep-rooted child poverty. There has been lots of such negativity, whereas the extensive failures for societal well-being registered during the nine years of the former National government and its legacy to the new Coalition government in 2017 were passed over lightly by the media. And this is still the prevailing rule.

The egregious failures of the previous National government ranged from run-down infrastructure, including derelict hospitals and neglected schools, to broken bio-security, as demonstrated by the very distressing impact of mycoplasma bovis disease on our dairy industry (owing to grossly lax regulation!). Badly polluted rivers and lakes have led to National being aptly labelled "The Dirty Rivers Party" by environmental activists

Inaction and subterfuge on climate change; "glove puppet" collaboration with injurious industries on public health like those pushing sugar, fat, alcohol, and tobacco; selling off public assets to overseas buyers; the flagrant failure to provide sufficient lower-income housing; etc., all add up to a very damning long list of failures and derelictions for National on our socio-economic well-being and environment.

For certain, there has been a host of issues to rubbish National about but the dirty media have mostly remained silent or superficial and fleeting in their criticisms. Instead, for example, National's media trolls have continued to condemn KiwiBuild as an outright failure. They ignore the glaring lack of action by the previous National government, and its refusal to even acknowledge a housing crisis, just leaving the market to sort things out.

Likewise, they largely ignore the fact that the Labour-led coalition government has done far more in tackling this problem than National ever did in almost a decade! Most ironically, however, the Coalition government has been praised by a visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Housing, Leilani Farha, for some "important steps" to fix the situation, such as "stepping up the public housing build" ("Housing Is 'Human Rights Crisis'", Henry Cooke, Press, 20/2/20).

Blatant Bias!

Also, most significantly, Farha "said the core of the crisis was a speculative property market that successive governments had enabled" (ibid.). She added, most pertinently, that: "It is amazing to see a Government that clearly does grasp that there is a problem" - indeed, "a housing crisis". The Special Rapporteur called for more comprehensive action to deal with this crisis, employing even "politically unpopular" options like "a capital gains tax on the sale of residential properties" (ibid.).

Again, tellingly enough, when asked "if moves like a rent freeze would be possible, given the strength of the landlord lobby in NZ, Farha said the Government should pay attention to human rights" (ibid.). While NZ First sank the idea of a capital gains tax in the Coalition government, it is the National Party which most strongly represents the landlord lobby in NZ, with many of its MPs themselves being heavily involved in this sector.

However, there was no hint of criticism of National in this media report on housing, except a qualified observation as to how "the net amount of public housing decreased under the last Government" (ibid.). Such stuff reminds me of one of the brilliantly funny episodes, "The Germans", in the classic TV Fawlty Towers series, where Basil runs around babbling: "Don't mention the war!" For the media, the tacit mantra is "Don't mention the National Party!" when bad things about the Party are stirring; or, do so, as least as possible!!

Pushing The Neo-Liberal Agenda

National Leader Bridges would just let the housing market rip, free of regulations, in a policy diametrically opposite to what the UN Special Rapporteur is advising. But largely ignoring and excusing the proper responsibility for National's derelictions is just par for the course for the corporate crony media. Meanwhile, socio-economic inequalities have increased, social tensions - active and potential - have multiplied, and our natural environment has substantially deteriorated.

The Press published an opinion piece by Dr Eric Crampton, Chief Economist with the TNC-funded NZ Initiative, attacking capital gains and rent control proposals as ineffectual in addressing the housing shortage ("UN Rapporteur Is Wrong On Housing Rights", 25/2/20). So, the free market outfit that Stuff's Political Editor Luke Malpass used to work for, gets a plug for Big Business and property speculators contrary to the UN Rapporteur's recommendations!

Council and central government regulations are the real problem according to Crampton (ibid.). There is not space in this article to examine Crampton's own argument in any detail but he is so "utterly clueless" (his accusation against Leilani Farha) that he would obviously let the market rip across prime agricultural/horticultural land; Maori land like Ihumatao; biodiversity hotspots; etc!

In his so-called "State of the Nation" speech in February 2020, National Leader Bridges pushed a libertarian free market agenda, tailored to the TNC prescriptions of the NZ Initiative, promising tax cuts and a big "bonfire" for regulations, among other things. Again, it was very significant that his criticisms of the Government concentrated personally on PM Ardern. It was yet another very obvious cue to his media mates to step up their own supportive criticism of the PM.

Mainstreaming Foreign Corporate Control

As Stuff Political Editor Luke Malpass moved along in his article cited earlier, his focus then became, as indicated by the title, the role of the NZ First Party in the coming general election ("What Will Nats Decide To Do About Winston?", op. cit.). MMP politics means constant compromise, posturing, and manoeuvring, with at times all the diverse and shifting bouts of "horse-trading" negotiations and controversies inevitably involved in such arrangements. The subliminal code and sub-text of Malpass's article got more interesting here in this context.

Malpass opines that: "The fact remains that, at the moment, the only credible path into Government for National involves NZ First being knocked out" (ibid.). He then goes on to more or less advise Simon Bridges to rule out going into coalition with NZ First. (ibid.). Malpass points in this connection to the possibility of NZ First being knocked back from credible contention.

In Malpass's words, "the electoral map (as a result then) suddenly looks much more interesting" (my emphasis), and so potentially very detrimental to the Labour-led Government (ibid.). He ponders such a scenario: "If the Nats can hold up their strong party vote, take some of NZ First's vote; (and) if ACT's David Seymour brings in another MP, which on current polling definitely looks possible, and if the Maori Party can gin up a seat or two... " (then it should be curtains for the present Government! [ibid]). Oh boy, eh!

Make no mistake! The general strategy of the mainstream media is to facilitate and expedite this scenario as outlined by Stuff's Political Editor Luke Malpass. They will target NZ First as much as possible - or at least tailor their approach in accordance with National-NZ First interaction. A highlighted sentence in another article by Malpass revealingly points up Stuff's underlying strategy: "NZ First's return to Parliament is more important to the Government's re-election prospects than if the Greens lift their party vote a bit" ("Labour's Power Play", The Press, 30/1/20).

Mind you, Stuff and the rest of the corporate foreign control media will also continue to do their utmost to keep down the countrywide share of the Greens' vote. So much for their touted concerns about the climate crisis, and general environmental degradation. As well, in particular, they will do their best to promote the far-Right, climate change sceptic ACT Party, and its current lone MP, "Weasel" David Seymour. As we have seen too, the latter is now even striving to give his Party a neo-fascist edge.

Malpass Shows His Hand For Stuff & Co

Sure enough, by February 2020 Stuff and National were openly and shamefully on song together! Luke Malpass fulfilled his corporate function in another Press article, titled "Peter's Kingmaker Crown Has Slipped Now Bridges Comfortable In His Own Skin" (8/2/20). Malpass demonstrates clearly in this particular article the gross extent to which he operates as a National Party "glove puppet" and Rightwing corporate journalist (ibid.). He even opens with a statement about how: "Simon Bridges has been touted as a potential PM since he was elected to Parliament in 2008 at the age of 32" (ibid.). The rest of Malpass' article amounts to a puff-piece for Bridges and National, and an onslaught on Winston Peters and NZ First.

According to Malpass, Bridges has finally got "comfortable in his own skin", by announcing that the "National Party would not form a Government with NZ First after the September 19 election" (ibid). Malpass proceeds to openly and unashamedly congratulate Bridges on this move, and to promote its accompanying strategy as much as he can.

In fact, it was well observed (e.g., in TV commentary) how uncomfortable Bridges seemed to be in his very politicised speech at Waitangi. Most tellingly, he was a "no-show" the very next day when the expectation had been of his continued attendance. Kelvin Davis, the Labour Party's Deputy Leader and a fluent Maori speaker, remarked in Parliament just how "uncomfortable Simon Bridges was in his skin" (Parliament TV, 13/2/20).

National Party cheerleaders like Luke Malpass aside, critics could aptly say that: "Bridges' (Waitangi) speech was a train wreck" ("The MPs Go To Waitangi", 5/2/20; for some mainstream comment, see "Simon Bridges Defends Waitangi Speech After Heavy Criticism", RNZ, 5/2/20).

Perverted Journalism Running Amok!

For certain, Stuff's Political Editor Luke Malpass shows how he is blatantly "comfortable in his own (blue) skin" as a National Party glove puppet! He is even exultant as he assesses the new situation, following Bridges' rejection of cooperation with Winston Peters and NZ First: "Despite NZ First talking up its chances, this will seriously dent them" ("Peter's Kingmaker Crown Has Slipped", op. cit.).

In his view, NZ First can now only make its pitch "entirely negative" (my emphasis) as a prospective Labour/Green partner. Peters has to redouble the Party's efforts in portraying itself as a purported "handbrake on the mad-Labour Greens, who wish to kill all of NZ's traditional industries..." (ibid.). Damningly, Malpass is such a corporate propagandist in pushing his own negative interpretation for the Coalition government that he quite cunningly, yet obviously enough, employs this purported NZ First line for Stuff's "not-so-hidden" agenda. In this way, he endeavours to paint the Government as flaky as he can.

Thus, Malpass proceeds to do so by picturing the Government's goal as "some sort of post-modern economy powered by solar panels, NGOs (non-government organisations), and identity politics", conveying in conventional fashion a rather wacky image (ibid.). He actually reinforces this sly sort of stuff by saying that "NZ First has the advantage that its argument is true: it has been a handbrake on Labour..." (ibid.).

Knocking Out NZ First And So The Government!? (With Some Media Help!!)

While Malpass then reviews some knotty contentious issues at the heart of the MMP electoral mix, he gleefully concludes that Bridges "may well have achieved one thing: changed the nature and political potency of NZ First forever" (ibid.). So, the Stuff Political Editor sees fit to declare his own political condemnation for a Parliamentary Party. The aim is to keep NZ First below the 5% threshold for Parliamentary seats. Well, Luke, your foreign corporate paymasters must certainly like your kind of flunky journalism!

Another National Party cheerleader and former Stuff Political Editor Tracy Watkins is now Editor of the Sunday Star Times (SST). She chimed in with some scathing criticism on Winston Peters and NZ First in a couple of editorials ("Is It The Beginning Of The End Of The Winston Peters Political Era?", SST, 26/1/20; &, SST, "Heroism In Africa, Cynicism In NZ", 16/2/20).

Like Malpass, Watkins cleverly appeals to those of "his supporters (who) voted strategically for Peters in 2017, believing he would give National a leg up into Government?" ("Is It The Beginning Of The End..." ibid.). She concludes her editorial in these words: "But even soap operas (Peters' performances) eventually have their day" (ibid.). And with a helpful National crony media boot to propel them on their way!

Her other editorial complained about Winston Peters' endorsement of the secret photo-taking of two journalists, RNZ's Guyon Espiner and Stuff's Matt Shand only "doing their job, seeking to uncover the truth about NZ First's secretive funding trail" ("Heroism In Africa, Cynicism In NZ", op. cit.). She alleges attempted "intimidation" of the media by the publication of the photographs (ibid.).

Giving Relevant Context Can Be So Very Important

Putting things in proper context and background can be crucial in understanding unfolding events. A very common technique for the Western media, indeed a standard routine practice in the presentation of foreign affairs, is to constantly neglect such factors when the obvious evidence is embarrassing, or worse, morally damning.

As an example, take the oil-driven illegal invasion of Iraq by the imperial Anglo-American axis in 2003. One of the multiplicity of pernicious outcomes was the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But in the coverage of the resultant war against ISIS, silence is normally kept on the causes of this Muslim extremist movement. Another example is the history of the Taliban in Afghanistan. They arose out of the US's "Vietnam-trap" for the "godless" Soviets there, and the Central Intelligence Agency's recruitment of the most religiously motivated and fanatical fighters.

The same sort of calculated failure to provide context and background can also pervade the media's treatment of domestic politics, according to the hidden, or not so hidden, corporate class agendas. In the case of one of NZ First's members taking photos of journalists and posting them online, the context conducive to explanation is the media's obvious vendetta against NZ First and Winston Peters. More seriously, and indeed of the utmost gravity, is the obvious media campaign, as documented in my article, to try and knock this Party out of electoral contention in order to unseat our Coalition government. Stuff the bloody media!

Protecting The Public's Right To Know!?

Comically enough, the Murdoch-trained Andrea Vance comments in connection to the photo-taking that Winston Peters "exploits public mistrust in the media" ("Attack On Public's Right To Know", SST, 16/2/20). She adds: "If Winston Peters likes you, you aren't doing your job properly" (ibid.). She spends the rest of her opinion piece slagging off Peters as much as possible (ibid.). Never mind, Andrea, I am sure that National MPs like Paula Bennett think that you are fine!

Vance actually says that "good journalism and a free press is an essential part of a functioning democracy" (ibid.). She concludes with a call to "both Labour and the Greens" to condemn the photo-taking by NZ First as "an attack on the public's right to know about who is secretly funding their Government partner" (ibid.). Oh right, Andrea. Well, when you and your confreres start systematically exposing National's "Dirty Politics", and the tangled Chinese money trail with all its overseas-manipulated implications, one might lend an ear to your feigned Murdoch-schooled sense of righteousness!

Vance actually has the egregious cheek to say to both Labour and the Greens that: "If we are to believe their exhortations NZ politics should be transparent and fair" (my emphasis), they should get stuck into Peters and NZ First (ibid.). You've got to be kidding, Andrea?! Similarly, SST Editor Tracy Watkins concludes her editorial: "Yet so far Peter's Labour allies have stayed silent. Where are the conviction politicians now" ("Is It The Beginning Of The End?", op. cit.).

Well, maybe, Tracy, just maybe, "the conviction politicians" are absolutely cynical about Stuff's stinking, hypocritical politics, and its long, systematic protection for National against any close scrutiny of this Party's own secretive funding trail, plus a host of other matters. For years, this sordid money trail has been rotten with corporate Chinese largesse; and even Communist/capitalist State manipulation! Let alone, ironically as well, US Republican Party schooling in dirty tricks!!

Not So Hidden Media Agendas

The neo-liberal globalist media, led by TNC Stuff, want to kill off any old-fashioned "nationalist" independence, along with Leftist resistance of course. Our own record over the years in CAFCA, Anti-Bases Campaign, and in other capacities and roles, certainly shows that we do not hold any candle for Winston Peters and NZ First. In fact, most of us on the Left surely want an entirely Labour/Greens government. But we are dealing with the realities of the MMP political system.

For certain, my own personal concern here, besides the issue of fair, transparent, and balanced journalism, is to try and help preserve a worthwhile, decent Government over the dire prospect of a National/ACT return to power, with their reactionary baggage. Stuff, however, is brazenly leading the globalist corporate charge for more foreign control of Aotearoa/NZ! The pseudo-nationalism it wants to encourage is a type tightly under neo-liberal TNC control and that of their elitist comprador mates.

Fostering The Far-Right

ACT's Seymour has long been the prime beneficiary of the NZ corporate media, who have ensured him enormously inordinate largesse in free publicity. For example, besides all the gratuitous TV promotion, NewsHub Radio (MediaWorks NZ) regularly parades his sniping "sound-bites", along with National's criticisms of the Government.

According to Stuff's predictions for 2020, the referendum on euthanasia (to be included like that on cannabis with the general election vote) will be a win for "David Seymour's quest to legalise assisted dying... five years after he started it" ("What Might Happen In 2020", op. cit.). In light of ACT's continuing assault on the Welfare State, one could well be very cynical about Seymour's real motivation behind his euthanasia bill. I remember a tobacco company executive once opining that his industry did society a service by reducing health costs with tobacco-caused cancers killing off people earlier than their normal life-span.

Given his vacuous opportunistic barking rhetoric at every passing car and his regular venting of neo-liberal shibboleths, Seymour has little of any real substance to contribute to public discourse. Damningly, he even opposed the Zero Carbon Act implemented by the Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the only MP to do so. But the neo-liberal climate assiduously cultivated by the media continues to work well for him.

Contradictions Galore!

Stuff is riddled with contradictions and hypocrisy on the environmental and climate crisis. It is supposedly giving extra attention to information and action on how to combat global warming. Indeed, Stuff now trumpets itself as deeply committed to education and action on the vastly important and urgent climate crisis. Yet, on these grounds alone, if it had any integrity it would dismiss Seymour and ACT to the political dustbin pronto, as it has decided to do with Winston Peters and NZ First.

It would indeed do the same with National, whose record shows an outrageous failure and climate crisis scepticism. In practical, meaningful terms, National would clearly do bugger all to combat global warming. However, Stuff's very friendly treatment of National, along with Seymour and ACT, demonstrates its real bottom-line - the globalist upper class interests it really represents! Mind you to be fair, Stuff did acknowledge - again ever so ironically! - hypocrisy by editorial staff in their socio-economic behaviour when it first announced its new policy on climate change.

In fact, Stuff's two-faced position and general hypocrisy on the climate crisis - given its ongoing promotion of global capitalism and how to be "super-rich" etc., as well as the practice of dirty attack politics - reflects its own past record. In previous years, this was regularly illustrated in the Press, which continually featured articles by notorious environmental and climate crisis sceptics like Bjorn Lomborg, Matt Ridley, and NZ's own Bob Brockie.

After all, greed and inequality, manifest in Social Darwinist competition and environmental vandalism, are ultimately what global capitalism and its crony media really represent! The capitalist media are truly riddled with contradictions in these times!! Yet, having said this, Stuff can still publish a lot of very important and relevant material on climate change and other problematic issues challenging humankind.

We can agitate for the publication of more of this information and opinion, delivered in ways that truly address the global crisis. Such media might then earn more respect more widely in society. For sure, we must always constantly badger and press the mainstream media to help encourage genuine international cooperation, sustainability, and fairness for all.

Putting The Boot Into Winston Peters!

We need, however, to examine Stuff's opening shots in election year against NZ First in a bit more detail because this episode is such a revealing case of the foreign control media at work. To stress our line of analysis and argument, we need to look closely at what got published around the end of January and early February 2020. The arsenal for the campaign against Winston Peters had been strategically triggered in October 2019, when "databases that contained the personal details of NZ First members were sent to Stuff, along with other media outlets, (National's) Simon Bridges, Paula Bennett, and (ACT's) David Seymour" ("NZ First Prepares To Go To Police", Press, 10/2/20).

Stuff editors and journalists mounted a coordinated attack on Peters in particular. But, again, they have been aiming to put pressure as well on PM Ardern and make her look weak for not demanding that Peters give up his Ministerial portfolio (e.g., "The Real Reason For NZ First Slush Fund", Press, Luke Malpass, 22/2/20). They had already heralded their attack strategy on NZ First with their prediction that: "Simon Bridges will rule out working with Winston Peters early in the year, much as John Key did in 2008. The personal animosity between the pair will only increase" ("What Might Happen In 2020", op. cit.). So, Stuff certainly set out to make this prediction come true.

In an article exploring various scenarios for the outcome of election year 2020, reporter Henry Cooke opines about the decision of Bridges to rule working with Peters out of the equation ("Parties On Start Line For Drag Race", Press, 4/2/20). Cooke spells out the hope for a National/ACT win. "Unlike in 2017, we should be able to tell on election night who is going to be PM. If Peters is again the kingmaker he will, in fact, only have one option: another Labour-led government. But the path there is anything but certain" (ibid.). Stuff & Co. will try and make their own chosen path as certain as they can!

Nurturing Neo-Liberalism

The neo-liberal media have long disliked Winston Peters since he represents a conservative nationalism oriented to the domestic economy, which goes against their grain. There are other reasons too, of course, including the fact that Peters can so often play them like fiddle, outsmarting their vitriol, and doing it with a grin and humour!

It is true, of course, that Peters can be frustratingly evasive and posturingly gameplaying. He has had a long, torturous interaction with the media. But he has been deadly in verbal exchanges in Parliament, mostly prompted by self-defence for the Government. In general, the media do their best as usual to protect National and ACT instead of showing any embarrassing moments. Overall, it should be acknowledged that Winston Peters has had a very chequered political career. He has been, at times, too clever for his own good. The media have registered some hits in the past with glee!

As this year 2020 proceeds, Stuff is stepping up its onslaught. So, Rightwing Murdoch-trained attack journalist Andrea Vance follows the same line as that of Stuff's Political Editor Luke Malpass. She quite unashamedly hopes that "there is a chance Simon Bridges could save us from (the) triennial soap opera (of matchmaking either with Labour or National) and rule out a deal" ("Winston & Simon: It's Deja Vu All Over Again", SST, 26/1/20).

Venting Spleen On An Old Media Opponent

Note here that Stuff & Co are still openly cheering on the long corporate campaign against MMP in favour of "First Past the Post" politics. Indeed, they have gone up a gear! Andrea Vance, in glove puppet fashion, weighed into Peters' credibility on several fronts. So, not a disparaging word for National and Bridges, but Peters certainly keeps getting the works. Vance actually opines that: "National (bless its dirty soul!) is pragmatic to forget, if not forgive, Peters' bad faith bargaining during the 2017 negotiations over power-sharing" (ibid.).

Vance goes on to declaim that "professional grudge-holder Peters can't seem to let the acrimony go, suing former National Ministers over a leak..." (ibid.). It does not matter to "Dirty Politics" attack journalists like Andrea Vance that the damaging leak (about a superannuation overpayment) against Peters just before the 2017 general election tallied precisely with National's previous behaviour.

There was an obvious prima facie case given a bunch of conspiratorial politicians with a proven track record of nasty personalised targeted strategy and tactics. After all, these things can easily be done with a "wink, wink, nod, nod" gambit. But Vance's bias in favour of National can be extreme. Most ironically, the only "dirt" mentioned by Andrea Vance is a possible "dirty deal" between Labour and NZ First in the Northland electorate i.e. Labour not putting up a candidate to give the latter a free go.

This is the sort of "dirty deal" that the media have long been happy with in the Epsom electorate, where National lets ACT's far-Right David Seymour weasel his way into Parliament. But Vance still thinks, all things considered, that National would still have the edge here. To be sure, one of her heroes, Sir John Key - that maestro of "Dirty Politics" and "black ops" - scored a successful hit in the past. "Freezing out Peters is a gamble that paid off for (Key) a decade ago" (ibid.).

Unprincipled Journalism Runs Rife!

So, the Murdoch-trained and National glove puppet journalist Andrea Vance is frank in her conclusion: "Better to rip off the sticking-plaster, and prevent NZ First exploiting their position as kingmaker. It sends a strong message to Centre-Right voters that a tick for National is the only way to change the Government. And it would save us all from an entire year of Peters' tiresome equivocations" (ibid.).

Vance is certainly a strident voice of the reactionary Right, in the same mould as Duncan Garner, Mike Hosking, and other like-minded corporate "journos". She gleefully agrees with Garner that: "Ardern's unity and kindness prayer hasn't got a hope in this election year" (SST, 9/2/20). And Vance, Garner & co are going to do their very best to be as nasty as possible in support of their favoured parties!

Andrea Vance worked for seven years for Rupert Murdoch's notorious British tabloid the News of the World. She clearly thrived on this kind of dirty journalism. Indeed, she "loved it. It was so much fun..." ("Twelve Questions With 1News Political Reporter Andrea Vance", NZ Herald, 12/9/17).

News of the World "was shut down in 2011 when it became public that employees were engaging in phone hacking and police bribery and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of news stories" ("Reporter's Last Straw In Climate Ethics", Peter Cullen, Press, 29/1/20). "Stake-outs" and contrived confrontations were however a buzz for Vance. But such journalists have made it very clear that they do not like any close scrutiny of their own public role!

With the announcement by Bridges on 2nd February that he had ruled out electoral cooperation with Peters and NZ First, National and its crony media were enthusiastically and brazenly on song together! Meantime, National's close collaboration in its "dirty deal" with ACT continues. Labour at present rejects any such deals with its Coalition partners. Yet it may need to be flexible and pragmatic according to the unfolding shape of the election.

At this point, we can note the final Stuff political prediction for 2020 (no. 20 in "What Might Happen In 2020", op. cit.). This prediction is that: "Winston Peters will again hold the balance of power after the next election, having scraped into Parliament" (ibid.). One can readily, however, get the over-riding impression - when taking all else into account! - that this prediction is only meant as cynical camouflage!

Growing Corporate Media Menace

Corporate hacks like Andrea Vance and Duncan Garner now constitute a real menace to the conduct of democracy and public discourse in Aotearoa/NZ. Their role is to serve the cause of global capitalism as orchestrated by the agents of foreign control. Overseen by the puppet masters and agents of TNC propaganda, they are undermining the democratic capacity in Aotearoa/NZ to properly evaluate and choose political alternatives to the globalist capitalist agenda. And these alternatives are so desperately and urgently needed today.

Stuff itself is just an overseas offshoot of: "Nine Entertainment Co., an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and TV broadcasting, newspaper publications, and digital media" (Nine Entertainment Co, Wikipedia.). It stems from a Packer family enterprise, which merged with Fairfax Media in 2018 (ibid.).

During late 2018 and the whole of 2019, the mostly foreign-owned mainstream media indulged in an ongoing roasting of the Labour Party for an allegedly sexist culture. They pretty well accused the Party of allowing sleazy and grossly manipulative male predators in the mode of former Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and financier Jeffrey Epstein to roam unfettered at will. For Andrea Vance & co, the Labour Party culture was "toxic". In comparison, the bullying, sexist behaviour towards a hapless waitress by Key was evidently just all good trichophiliac fun! (Trichophilia - hair fetish. Ed.).

In Labour's case during 2018/19, there was a continual beat-up theme of "moral panic" by the media about sexist bullies running rampant in the Party! According to the long-running portrayal by Vance & co in cahoots with National operatives like Deputy Leader Paula Bennett, loudly beating together the drum of the "MeToo" movement, Labour Party culture was rotten to the core with such derelictions.

The National Party, incidentally, had succeeded - thanks a lot to the connivance of its crony media! - in keeping its own derelictions under wraps to a very considerable extent. Ever so comically (and there is heaps of such stuff for satire!), Paula Bennett has admitted that she was not even interviewed with regard to National's own tightly managed report into issues of sexual/sexist misconduct! For decades, the mainstream media have abjured any investigative journalism with regard to the National Party, instead so very selectively reserving such research for the scrutiny of National's opponents.

Murdoch-Style Malicious Media Witch-Hunt

Let us be clear about all of this. Charges of sexual abuse by Labour Party volunteers certainly needed to be addressed and treated properly. This is a given, above all in a Party founded on the principles of equality and social justice. In fact, the Labour Party itself has confessed to shortcomings and failures in this capacity, and has consequently taken remedial action and made improvements. The Party President resigned.

But the whole media case, as based on allegations by some Labour Party volunteers, was, in the end, proven to be very shonky on any real substance. It disintegrated under an officially appointed inquiry ("Labour: Report Finds No Sexual Assaults, Harassment", Newsroom, 18/12/19).

This inquiry was conducted by lawyer Maria Dew, QC. Lies and misinformation prevailed in the charges made against Labour. Dew's investigation did not even find the "bullying" charges to hold up (ibid.). In perspective and hindsight, her report's findings testify to yet another damning indictment against our neo-liberal media and their perverted bias.

Purveyors of the sexual abuse charges relayed in the public arena quickly shut up, albeit in certain instances signing off from this particular set of issues with some grossly perverse and self-defensive remarks (e.g. Media Watch: "Can A Spinoff Conspiracy Destroy Jacinda Ardern In 2020 And Andrea Vance's 'Apology' Has To Be Read To Be Believed", Daily Blog, 22/12/19).

Malign Spin

For instance, Andrea Vance cynically - and in the most unprincipled fashion - defended her crusade by trying to casting aspersions and doubt on Maria Dew's report ("Damaging Conclusion For Camp Scandal", SST, 22/12/19). Despite the obvious contradiction of established facts, Vance appealed to time-worn problems of ascertaining the evidence in sexual abuse cases. She actually wrapped things up to the effect that: "The Labour abuse scandal concluded in the same sorry way most sexual assault cases wind up" (ibid.).

So, this supposed journalist covers her own egregious failures to properly ascertain the evidence by hypocritical cant. In actuality, Andrea Vance had an axe to grind but got cut by it! She has to admit that: "Dew's investigation, which had access to all parties, has identified major discrepancies in the accounts of the main complainant . . ." (ibid.). Oh dear.

Vance & co, intent on their own political attack agenda, missed these glaring discrepancies. Stuff and the Spinoff got crucial facts wrong in their campaign against Labour. So much then for good investigative reporting! Andrea Vance, however, actually has the gall to say: "It's hard to imagine a more damaging conclusion. The Party's image is tainted" (ibid.). This, of course, was the main aim of the Murdoch-style gutter attack "journalism" unleashed at the Labour Party.

Get Jacinda And The Left!

It is all so very evident, once more, that the key target was PM Ardern herself. To emphasise the crucial political point, the real intention was to try and pin the charge of hypocrisy on Jacinda since she has been an out-spoken supporter of the international MeToo movement. Most ironically, the supposed feminist concerns of journalists like Andrea Vance became a cover to try and subvert the genuine feminist integrity of Ardern (who is the best PM we have had for many years!).

Outrageously, the very obnoxious Deputy Leader of National fronted for the estranged Labour Party volunteers and their complaints of sexual abuse. Again, it is highly significant that Bennett is one of Andrea Vance's favourite politicians (e.g. see "Media Watch: Does Andrea Vance's Defence Of Paula Bennett Lead To Neo-Salem Witch Trials?" Daily Blog, 28/9/19).

There may have even been a deeper game afoot. Unfortunately, except for the estimable Nicky Hager, any investigative journalism probing into the murky and devious machinations of the National Party (to also reiterate!) is strictly off limits in Aotearoa/NZ - i.e., as defined by the agents of foreign corporate control and their compradors! Crony corporate attack journalist Andrea Vance has had a string of negatively-oriented articles aimed at Winston Peters and NZ First, as well as the Coalition government in general (e.g. "Overlooked ChCh Will Punish Labour", SST, 2/2/20; "Attack On Public's Right To Know", op. cit.).

Battling The Odds!?

Let us return to the article by Stuff's Political Editor, Luke Malpass, on the outlook for the general election. Ironically, Malpass himself proclaims: "Make no mistake. National is battling against the odds here" ("What Will Nats Decide To Do About Winston", op. cit.). He pictures the Government in a good position, but concludes that "(the electoral system) MMP is not a two-horse race" (ibid.).

Whatever the "odds" that National is supposedly "battling against", these factors are due to be delivered a heavy dose of ongoing Rightwing media reportage and commentary during the run-up to the September 19th election. We can be sure that Malpass and his mates will kindly continue give those "Kiwi battler" Nats a helping hand! Malicious media attack trolls like Duncan Garner and Andrea Vance will be unleashed to spearhead the charge, coordinated and backed by foreign corporate control.

The mainstream media, like National, were clearly miffed at the result of the last election in 2017 when Winston Peters and his NZ First Party decided to go with Labour and the Greens, instead of with National as the Party that got the most votes. This was portrayed by National and its crony media as all so very unfair as if a coalition of parties was not entitled to the winning votes. And the moaning went on for weeks! And, as we have seen, it still does.

In actuality, the 2017 election result was a very big win indeed for democracy since, thankfully, the "Dirty Politics" Nats & co did not gain another term to entrench their rule and tighten their authoritarian grip! In the past, the corporate brigade had fought bitterly and hard to try and prevent the institution of the MMP electoral system in Aotearoa/NZ. You see, the old and substantially less democratic system of "First Past the Post" had been much easier for Big Business to manipulate.

Being Politically Blinkered!

Sometimes the contortionist crap of editors and journalists can get absolutely hilarious. For instance, former Stuff Political Editor and now SST Editor, Tracy Watkins, claims she is strongly opposed to the media being politically partisan ("Why This Newspaper Is Staying Neutral", SST, 23/2/20). Sorry, Tracy, like certain other journalists, you have always stood out for your Rightwing bias.

Most ironically, she points to her "long stint in the Press Gallery, where there is a tradition of journalists being expected to be politically neutral" (ibid). Yeah, right! We certainly wish this purported tradition had been honoured properly. Watkins opines that you cannot be "ideologically blinkered and think of party politics as a case of the good guys versus the bad guys" (ibid.). She then goes on to say that the media like the SST will explain and provide information, as well as presenting opinions "from across the political divide" (ibid.).

Evidently, this is why, along with reporters like Andrea Vance, the SST can even feature opinion pieces by former senior National Minister Steven Joyce, purveyor of "fake news" and the Nazi-style "Big Lie", to link up with its far-Right regular columnist ("greed is good"!) Damien Grant, plus the various bank economists, etc. SST is decidedly Rightwing. Neo-liberalism is running rampant ...okay!? As repeatedly indicated, the posturing and ploys of the foreign control corporate media are endless.

Protecting National, And Ensuring That Winston Peters Out

Tracy Watkins concludes her editorial with the remark that: "keeping the politicians honest is the greatest service we can do our readers" (ibid.). Apparently, this is Watkins' explanation for Stuff's long-term protection of the National Party, and its current campaign to try and knock out Peters and NZ First in election year 2020. Stuff's bias was clearly exemplified in a Press editorial, following the revelation that the National Party, like NZ First, is under the gun of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ("Songs, Jokes - But It's Serious", 20/2/20). In fact, unlike NZ First at present, the National Party is actually under the scrutiny of the court system, albeit indirectly.

The Press editorial gave most of its space to further criticism of Peters, calling for his resignation as Deputy PM and implying that PM Ardern looks weak for letting him stay in power (ibid.). This angle was even highlighted in the phrase: "To have Peters continue in his role ... would seem improbable" (ibid.). As almost an after-thought, the editorial mentions that: "While the SFO investigates the NZ First Foundation, charges have been brought against four men (of whom three are NZers of Chinese ethnicity) over donations to the National Party. This means two out of five parties in our Parliament are now being investigated for fraud" (ibid.).

To its credit, the Press's editorial concludes that Bridges is also in the gun. It observes that: "More importantly for voters in 2020, it will be hard for Bridges to plausibly claim he had nothing to do with the donations. He too is under pressure" (ibid.). But, so far in glaring contrast to the treatment of Peters and NZ First by Stuff and other media, critical and investigative journalism have been abjectly absent.

Instead, the crony media and National have been working hand in glove, viz "National is calling for funding decisions made by NZ First Ministers to be audited by Treasury" to ensure donors to NZ First do not influence taxpayer funding for Coalition government allocations ("Nats Demand Audit", Thomas Coughlan, Press, 13/2/20). I have not seen or heard any similar media-backed calls yet for Bridges to resign as the Opposition Leader, despite a damning and self-incriminating record!

Ironies Abound!

Even though the donors charged in court in National's case, including the former National MP and now whistle-blower Jami-Lee Ross are accused of electoral fraud, the Party and its Leader are so very obviously involved. Even in the paper's own report of the court charges in the same issue of the Press, the information given is damning for Bridges ("MP Ross Named In SFO Donations Case", ibid.).

A big irony here is that Peters maintains he does not need to step down from his portfolio since he is not directly implicated by the SFO case against the NZ First Foundation. But the media, led by Stuff, have been relentlessly hounding him while for all intents and purposes leaving National's Bridges unscathed. In the Press report just cited above, in a secret taped recording made by then National MP Jami-Lee Ross, Bridges shows his hearty approval (saying "fantastic!") for an illegally large $100,000 donation which would have had to be broken down into smaller amounts to meet the requirements of electoral law (ibid.). There is also another such donation at issue.

The Chinese money trail and other corporate funding in National, with all its globalist and neo-liberal implications, both domestic and in foreign policy, has been hugely evident for years. But, as emphasised, this stuff is not the media's concern, or only minimally so! We want even-handed media treatment of political donations. Yet another irony here is that the Australian government made it very clear (albeit tacitly) in February 2020 that China represents its greatest perceived security threat. By the end of February 2020, the cut-off point for this article, the country was in the middle of a whole set of donations scandals - involving NZ First, the National Party, and also the Mayors of Christchurch and Auckland.

Global Warming Contortions

Climate crisis denial has long been a fundamental cause on the Right ("Losing Earth: A Recent History", Nathaniel Rich, Picador, 2019). It has been integral to the National Party, as personally confirmed by my own long close scrutiny of the Parliamentary process (courtesy of Parliament TV). Yet, according to Stuff Political Editor Luke Malpass, NZ is avoiding the "climate culture wars that have consumed Australian politics" ("How NZ Staved Off Aussie Climate Wars", SST, 19/1/20).

He pontificates that: "While there are differences in speed and priority, all major political parties more or less agree on the framework to tackle the problem" (ibid.). What utter bull! The reality is that National and ACT would do bugger all in real terms, as demonstrated by their deplorable record, and even by their rhetoric to date. Moreover, NZ First is also acting as a very problematic handbrake on the Coalition government's policies. We sure have lots of problems and challenges down on Earth, Houston!

It is certainly ironic that Luke Malpass's own obvious hope for NZ First taking on a more critical line towards the Labour and Green parties in the Coalition government has come to pass with NZ First stupidly joining National in a concerted attack on the "clean car feebate" (Generation Zero). Stuff us all, eh?! Oh well done, Luke & co!

Perversely, the media have assiduously protected the climate scepticism aspect of National, as they have done on so on many other things detrimental to the Right. Any criticism is always just fleeting or superficial. National and ACT constitute a continuing threat to the existence of all of us, while NZ First is still locked in its own type of stupidity. We have to somehow deal with the realities of politics while working for far better outcomes.

The "Aggro" Of National's Dirty Politics

Nowadays, in Aotearoa/NZ, the far-Right spans a wide spectrum indeed - from anthropogenic climate change scepticism to white supremacy. Within the broader neo-liberal cultural sphere legitimated by the mainstream media, there is ACT, the so-called NZ Taxpayers' Union, the NZ Initiative, and other groups that comprise the political cutting edge for the rich and powerful, and the globalist corporate interests in which they are embedded. National itself fits into this sphere while appealing to the Centre as well.

On the far-Right fringes, as intimated, there is a potentially violent racist set who remain backers of the Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant who, in March 2020, pleaded guilty to all of the nearly 100 charges that he faced arising from the March 2019 Christchurch mosques' massacre. While these people remain still on the social fringes at present, some of their sort of sentiments have yet considerable resonance with more conventional opinion in one way or another, as manifested, for example, in National's campaign against the UN Migration pact.

While National backed down from its campaign a bit after the mosques' murders, it unashamedly persists in opposing the UN Migration pact. It even does so on quite demonstrably spurious grounds, falsely alleging this UN pact is intended to be legally binding. Such has been the scaremongering of the racist far-Right. But for the corporate media like Stuff the prime target of coordinated criticism is almost always the Coalition government. Headlines continually sheet home the National Party/crony media attacks (e.g. "Stop Making Excuses For PM - Bridges", Press, 13/2/20; & "PM Must Stand Peters Down, Says Bridges", Press, 19/2/20).

The general tone is expressed to some extent even by the more moderate journalists, e.g. "Far from the usual bluster which he normally directs in Bridges' direction (my emphasis), Peters instead ..." ("PM's Message: 'Progress Not Perfection'", Press, Thomas Coughlan, 4/2/20). The constant tactic is to treat Peters with disrespect, but boost up Bridges wherever possible.

Most significantly, National and its crony media have been working on Andrea Vance's dictum that "Dirty Politics" hurts the Labour Party and its allies most ("Dirty Politics", Wikipedia, op. cit.). In 2014, the media made sure of this ("It Was The Media Wot Won It!", Better Public Media NZ). We must act pre-emptively this time!

But A Bit Of A Glitch In The Crony Media Campaign

By the start of March 2020, the National/crony media attack vehicle was yet showing a few wobbles. Oh joy! Such fun!! You see, the legal process is catching up with the "Nasty Nats". Even the Party's friendly "journos" were starting to notice that the track to election victory might not be so straightforward as they had been hoping to engineer. In the words of Andrea Vance: "National - savagely critical of NZ First - has its own problems. (Whistle-blower MP) Ross might be the one in the dock over a foreign donations scandal, but the court case has raised some uncomfortable questions, particularly over a second $100,000 gift" ("The Big Money Issue MPs Avoid", SST, 1/3/20).

Very evidently, as we noted earlier, the influence of domestic industries in Aotearoa/NZ dear to Winston Peters like the horse-racing sector are seemingly of more importance to journalists like Vance than the influence of the Chinese Communist Party! After all, secret donations were supposedly a fundamental reason for her own savage criticism of Peters and his Party. While certainly the lobbying by Peters for the NZ fishing industry demands close scrutiny, the media's continuing protection of National's crony overseas-connected Chinese funding prevails in all its outrageous contrast and pernicious bias.

But even the crony corporate media can find it hard to ignore legal proceeding under way in such politically connected cases now in the public arena. In the circumstances, Andrea Vance commendably calls for more transparency and accountability around political donations (ibid.). But she would still let private capital and so ultimately big money call the political tune (ibid.).

Sustainability Under Zombie Siege

As stressed throughout this article, the mainstream media are riddled with contradictions. In terms of journalistic ethics, some seem rotten to the core. Conventional commercialised news, Rightwing dirty politics aside, is similarly riddled with zombie stuff. Sometimes the contradictions can be immediate and gobsmacking. A recent example highlighted for me just how bizarre and crazy this syndrome can be.

TVNZ1 on 15th February (2020) commendably presented an up-to-date scientific report warning that more and more animal species are struggling to cope with climate change (6pm 1 News). Lamentably, the rate of extinctions is growing fast. A million species are at rising risk. Humans are killing off Earth's vital biodiversity. Yet the very next item on the same night's news was a story about how a young Texan had caught a monster alligator garfish. This species of fish is extremely endangered but the horrible irony of this particular news item was very obviously lost on the "brain-dead" TVNZ!.

Growing Global Crisis

Currently, the Coalition government is trying to better safeguard our very endangered native fish species, but Stuff will run with headlines like "Whitebait Bans 'Disgraceful'" (Press, 15/1/20). It is so very pertinent to note at this point how the increasingly rare and so sadly persecuted pangolin, the most trafficked wildlife animal, is suspected of being the ultimate source of the coronavirus. The horrible plunder of wildlife is now particularly driven by the perverted appetites of rich Chinese but other peoples are deeply involved ("Calls For Wildlife Ban Grow", Press, 16/2/20). The imperial capitalist West, of course, set the modern momentum in motion.

"Ongoing destruction of species' habitats was likely to bring people into closer contact with animals and their viruses, said Raina Plowright, a University of Montana researcher who studies how diseases spread from wildlife to people. 'We are inevitably going to be exposed'" (ibid.). Human-engendered devastation of Earth's biodiversity is taking its toll in multiple forms of Gaia's revenge! ("Losing Earth", op. cit.). Currently, with the spread of the coronavirus, even conventional economists can feel worried about the future prospects for humankind ("Globalisation In Early Stages Of Unravelling" Cameron Bagrie, SST, 1/3/20). Given all this, the politics of reaction are set to grow.

Organise!

The political Left needs to organise much more ably. For example, the Right can even organise itself to spoil and make a farce of TV3's show "Dancing With The Stars" by block-voting for far-Right ACT MP, "The Weasel" David Seymour. To be sure, the hard Right was keenly active with people like Auckland City Councillor Christine Fletcher and far-Right businessman and SST columnist cum radio commentator ("Greed is good!") Damien Grant involved in this particular project. The three judges on the show pretty consistently rated David Seymour the worst dancer but he hung on in the show long after his use-by-date was up.

John Key was even a participant in this project to help Seymour and his Party raise their profile as National's coalition partner. In countrywide political opinion polls, ACT had not been getting even 1% but the crony media get excited now at the prospect that they can apparently help ACT grow its constituency to get more MPs in Parliament!

NGOs and other groups, as well as the Left in general, who want a truly just and sustainable future must certainly strive harder for greater and more meaningful change. We have to both work with the current Government, and build up a wider and more active support base that can drive real change for genuine transformation.

If the Coalition government's programme can be seen as timid and too conciliatory to corporate interests, we have to dig deeper. Ideally, too, we need an activist group constantly monitoring the mainstream media. Such a group would hold the media's Rightwing bias, especially its worst machinations, to democratic account. As we have seen, media serial abusers do not like the spotlight being cast on them.

Onwards To Real Socialist Sustainability!

In a world under siege from the environmental and climate crisis, along with compounding geopolitical competition, there is only one hope for saving humankind. It is the willingness to cooperate and share resources, both domestically and internationally. As we have seen throughout this article, globalist capitalism and its reactionary crony media are in essence opposed to such humanitarianism.

My own exposition of this thesis has illustrated the issues involved by the example of how corporate interests, Rightwing political parties, pressure groups, and (with especial attention in this article) the mainstream media are operating in Aotearoa/NZ. In certain key ways, the trends to reactionary control are worsening. So, the Left must get far more pre-emptive and assertive.in its strategy and tactics. Otherwise, we face the fate of yore! We must certainly take on board the lessons of history in the struggle to forge a better future than that currently looming in front of us.