Winnie the poop, again

I wasn’t intending to post on Peters on consecutive days — better on the whole to ignore his stupid antics. But his comments reported this morning are irresistible. Then again, they’re intended to be.

He asks why there are so many “useless” Pacific men in power positions in the Pacific and not enough women. Also, he says there are too many Maori men “parading around the maraes as peacocks doing no work”.

First, this week’s award for complete lack of self-awareness combined with breathtaking chutzpah goes to… I mean, when you read the words Maori men, parading, peacocks, who comes to mind?

(Not surprisingly, the Herald’s cartoonist couldn’t resist.)

Second, is this merely racism dressed up with a spurious concern for the position of women in Maori and Pasifika communities?

Clydesdale: a drain on academia?

Went to the taping of Media7 last night. The episode, which screens tonight, deals mainly with the Massey University lecturer’s paper that claims that Pacific Island immigrants are a drain on the NZ economy, and reporting of Pacific communities’ affairs generally. The panel is DomPost editor Tim Pankhurst, Barbara Dreaver and Oscar Kightley.

I can confirm that the episode is bloody good, tackling hard questions on important issues in an entertaining way. It’s well worth catching tonight on TVNZ 7 at 9.30pm (if you have a Freeview box — I’ll be getting one now) or downloading tomorrow. It’s also worth watching out for an invitation at Russell Brown’s blog to a recording session on a Tuesday evening at The Classic.

I’ve already posted on the Clydesdale paper, though without having a copy at hand. A pdf file of the paper is now available — not that I am suggesting that it is worth the effort of reading. And it is an effort. But I thought I should take a look myself having blogged on it, and my fears were confirmed.

Does “study” merit so much attention?

It really is a good week for media beat-ups. Hot on the heals of Phil Goff’s revelations that his Party could lose the election (see previous post), we have a beleaguered academic struggling against “PC bullies” to raise issues about Pacific Islanders’ economic contribution in NZ, according to the NZPA.

First, just what are we looking at here? The Herald refers variously to a “report” and a “study” by “economist” Greg Clydesdale, of Massey University’s management and international business department. The DomPost even labels it a “discussion document”.