White Noise
Hooton calls Hobson's Pledge racist: Is the tide turning?
Now here we stand
With our hearts in our hands
Squeezing out the lies
All that I hear
Is a message, unclear
What else is there to decide?
All that I'm hearing from you
Is White Noise
Lyrics: Christopher John Cheney
Is the tide turning?
Have we reached the high point of the racist hate and lies from Hobson’s Pledge, from the coalition, from the poisonous hearts and minds so emboldened by the result of the election?
Or do we await a tsunami of sputum, spouted under the guise of equality, around a Bill where wealthy white men who have so much already say it’s not enough, they don’t want Māori getting anything they can’t - as a matter of principle?
Around the country, for every racist throwback, like Craig Jepson, the Mayor of Kaipara, rubbing their hands in glee at rolling back efforts towards equality, there are those saying, “Oh hell no.”
Every other day it seems some council is saying - “Yeah nah, we’re quite happy with Māori wards thanks very much. We’ll be keeping those.”
Others look at the money and power given to Māori to compensate for so much theft and disadvantage and say - really? That’s a bloody pittance. What the hell are these angry dudes getting so excited about? It can’t be about the money or the power, there’s been bugger all of either of those given back. It can only be racism.
People who look at things objectively are starting to say, hang on a minute, this doesn’t add up. I don’t see any Māori privilege where I am. What the heck is all this white noise about anyway?
Is it just because these rich old white guys hate the thought of Māori having some of what they’ve got - actual fucking privilege? Or is it even more pathetic than that? Are they simply pretending to be racist in order to appeal to those who actually are, or are sympathetic to that viewpoint and happy to be led in that direction?
What has been reassuring, and highly entertaining, has been seeing that this is not a left/right issue. That even those firmly on the right are calling out the bullshit. Not necessarily because they wish to defend Māori but simply to say I’m not buying your smokescreen. All this white noise is just a distraction from the bigger issues facing Aotearoa NZ.
It’s a sideshow, and at least one person on the right is breaking ranks and saying I ain’t your dancing monkey grinding for you; cut the crap, and let’s get back to things that matter.
Some of you have already guessed that I’m talking about Matthew Hooton, in his now somewhat infamous, and possibly controversial, discussion with Damien Grant - ultra libertarian, partisan apologist and writer for Stuff, on the Working Group this week.
It is quite a long interview, but it is well worth watching. I only hope it doesn’t get taken down before you see it.
As the fine gentlemen from BHN point out in a subsequent video, asking whether Don Brash is about to sue Hooton for saying accurate and true things. Making Don, and his organisation, look like small-minded racists obsessed with punching down at Māori as some sort of misinformed crusade against threats to their white supremacy.
Whew. I better take a breather while you watch the video. In case it’s too long or gets taken down, I’ll summarise the highlights on the other side. I posted in on my page last night saying, “Love that Matthew Hooton - pairs well with Pears. Mmm, soapy. But so good, watch it while you can.”
Honestly, it’s a great watch and brought me much joy.
As you probably know, Hooton is closely associated with right-wing politics and has been a key figure in coups, leadership catastrophes, and even in delivering those of us in Tamaki Makaurau the gift that keeps on giving - Mayor Wayne Brown. He writes a feisty column in the Herald in which he mostly attacks the left but also, to be fair, occasionally turns his vitriol in the direction of the right.
This delights those of us on the left who are amazed to see something negative about the coalition in the Herald, let alone from one of their own.
The discussion is about Hobson’s Pledge, that collective of righteous indignation against all things Māori from karakia to customary rights. Hooton spoke about the group and how absurd it was that the whole basis of their organisation, its origin, its mission statement, is based on something that someone might’ve said when the Treaty was signed. Ignoring the words actually documented.
Comrade Hooton, as the BHN chaps called him, wasn’t taking any prisoners…
He began, “I think it’s fair to say that Hobson’s Pledge is a profoundly dishonest organisation, based on a lie.” Then Grant asked him what a lie was.
To give Damien credit, let’s assume he was asking what the lie was regarding Hobson’s Pledge, not a general question, because he was unsure of the difference between lies and truth and whether there is any difference.
He was probably experiencing a foreign feeling of empathy, given that his writing in Stuff fulfils much the same role as the recent cover of the NZ Herald produced by Hobson’s Pledge.
Hooton continued, “The whole lie that Hobson’s Pledge is based upon is that apparently Hobson stuttered somehow to the Māoris [sic] when he was signing the thing in te reo, ‘we are all one people’, apparently. Now, I don’t know whether Hobson said that or not, but it’s not in the text, and so it seems quite pathetic and indicates that the whole campaign is, in fact, based upon racism and white supremacy.”
Boom! The BHN boys were loving it, and so was I. The right calling the right out for white supremacy and racism, are you kidding? That never happens. Hooton looked quite pleased, too, and was starting to hit his stride.
“Instead of even beginning from the text of what was signed on that day, we’re going to go to some legend that the white guy who had been in New Zealand for four days, five days, apparently stuttered in Māori that we are now one people and we’re going to base our whole organisation, our whole political position on that?
The only reason you would do that is if you were dishonest and you were wanting to, in a Trump like way, create racial division and hatred in New Zealand for your own personal gain. Which does seem to be what Don Brash has done sadly since I made him leader of the National Party.”
Bomber was in seventh heaven, helplessly waving his arms around like a baton-less conductor, just letting the glorious dialogue run. Damien Grant jumped in with the sort of feeble tactics you see from online trolls saying it was all just opinions and we should respect people even if we don’t like them.
What he didn’t say, but was glaringly obvious, was the implication that we should respect people - even if they’ve spent decades spreading stupid racist lies to the detriment of our society.
Our BHN hosts couldn’t believe what they were seeing, asking - is it real? Remarking, quite accurately, that “Chlöe couldn’t have said it better”. Yep, we weren’t in Kansas any more, folks - our champions of the left were comparing Hooton with Swarbrick, and they weren’t wrong. The things he was saying could have easily been found in the mouths of the most vociferous opponents of racism.
Offsider Chewie said, “Has he been reading my notes? He’s gone off the fucking chain here. ‘Despicably racist’, ‘Liars’, ‘White Supremacists’ - ‘Yes, Mate’”
It was bloody glorious. Seriously, watch the whole thing later on if you haven’t time now. I’m watching it for a second time as I write this and it makes me want to jump to my feet and cheer. I’ll leave the rest of the video there, but Hooton calling Grant a “dickhead” was a personal highlight.
Hooton, of course, is not some bleeding heart liberal overly concerned by fairness or Māori issues. I wouldn’t expect to see him on a protest march any time soon. His driver in attacking the absurdity of Hobson’s Pledge, and beyond that, the political parties in coalition pushing their racist agenda, is to lose what he deems a distraction from the real task at hand - neoliberalism.
There is a lot more money to be gained than worrying about the small amount given to Māori. Hooton wants the government to focus. Don’t just screw Māori over; this is the chance to deliver the neoliberal agenda of privatisation fully, slashing both services and taxes - for goodness sake, don’t waste it with petty bigotry.
So let’s take the idea of Hooton being an ally of the left with a grain of salt but welcome his highlighting of the dumb racist lies of Hobson’s Pledge and their proxies in parliament for what they are.
As the BHN lads pointed out, racism is not a left/right issue. We can disagree on how much money the government should spend, or over privatised vs public services - and we bloody well will. But if we can find some common ground with those who have different economic solutions but share our disgust at racism - then that’s a good thing.
For that, I welcome the words of Matthew Hooton.
More than that, I’m delighted to see councils around the country rejecting the call to ditch Maori wards and proudly saying, “We’ll be keeping these. Thanks very much; they serve our community well and are no threat to anyone.” Anyone except racists.
That conversation with a neighbour over the merits of tax cuts vs government spending might be a hard one in which to sway people, but if you can come together and agree that Māori have no privilege in this country, that we’ve just been righting some wrongs and we should cut all this crap - then I’m all for it.
Have a bloody great day all of you, whether you’re left or right, and keep raising your voice, for whatever reason, to say - Fuck Racism and those using it to divide us and make people afraid when there is nothing to fear.
I remember seeing these guys at the Big Day Out back in 2009, the year Neil Young and Prodigy headlined. Following in the tradition of many fine Melbourne bands - it’s the Living End with White Noise.
Thanks for the balanced assessment of Hooton on Hobson's Pledge, Nick.
I'm very pleased at the numbers of local authorities voting to retain their Maori wards. But they are not safe yet. Councils only have two options AFAIK - disestablish or hold a referendum. I wonder how many will exist after the 2025 local body elections (one has to 2028)?
Cornerstone of a progressive, liberal Democracy is free speech and tolerance. Fine. However, along with the megaphone that is the social internet, there is an urgent requirement to recognise where the line is between opinion which, is to be tolerated or not. Hate based opinion that causes harm such as racism, misogyny and violence must be called out. Opinion that denies factual reality is not an opinion, it is a lie. Liars need to be called out also.