The Prime Minister shares his insights on the current state of news journalism, social media polarisation, and the rainbow community’s continued fight.
It’s Wednesday 2 August when the Prime Minister’s smiling face appears on my laptop, beamed in from his Beehive office.
It’s been a little over a week since the resignation of Justice Minister and Rainbow Labour MP Kiri Allan following her arrest, an incident that many predicted would be a fatal blow to the current government’s election hopes, but all things considered, Chris seems relaxed and jovial.
“People just have to hold their nerves a little bit in these sorts of situations. There’s a long way to go until the election,” he tells us optimistically before acknowledging, “It’s been a really bumpy start to the year!”
Since then, fellow Rainbow Labour member Tamati Coffey has stood up to fight for Kiri’s old electorate seat, while fellow openly gay MPs still hold positions of significant responsibility, including Minister of Finance and Health.
“Over a long period of time, the Labour Party has worked to create a culture where people can just be who they are. They don’t have to be defined by their sexuality, gender, or ethnicity,” Chris surmises, pointing out by contrast, “If you look at some of the voting decisions that they have taken, it’s clear that there is still an element within the National Party that does not embrace that view of the world.”
Even if Tamati Coffey is unsuccessful in his bid for the East Coast electorate, Chris assures us that his Adoption and Surrogacy Amendment bill will remain, “very much a live topic here.”
“It is an area where the law has not kept up with what’s actually happening in society. So there’s no question that law reform is required.”
While the bill is a goal that Chris intends to pursue, he tells us that he believes the biggest issue facing our rainbow communities is not losing the rights that we already have won.
“We are seeing, in New Zealand and around the world, a backlash against the rights that have been hard won by the rainbow community… We’re seeing elements of the protest movements, the Posie Parker type stuff, coming over from abroad, and that is something that we need to be very mindful of and guard against here.”
Anti-trans activist Posie Parker will return to New Zealand this month to hold another rally outside the court hearing of Eli Rubashkyn, who infamously emptied a carton of tomato juice over Parker during her last Auckland visit.
“The best thing that we can do in these circumstances is to make sure that we convey our disagreement, and I support people who are expressing their disagreement with her views. The vast bulk of people who were protesting were doing so peacefully and respectfully. So we shouldn’t allow that particular visual imagery to define a group of people who I think were exercising their right to free speech respectfully.”
Parker’s return will likely add to the country’s political polarisation in the run-up to the election, an issue that social media algorithms continue to exacerbate.
“If we want to avoid, in New Zealand, the sort of polarisation of politics that we’ve seen in other countries, the best thing everybody can do is continue to interact with family members and have friends who they disagree with,” the Prime Minister advises.
“I’ve got friends who are members of the National Party, but Facebook will never present what they’re doing in my newsfeed. The algorithms have decided that these are people who I don’t need to hear from. The way we use social media to keep in contact with people, it’s actually leading to more polarisation in our opinions because we’re not hearing alternative views anymore.”
This concerning problem is worsened by many people using social media as a news source, citing that media outlets don’t fairly represent whichever side of the political spectrum they sit on. It’s a complaint the Prime Minister is familiar with, having heard it both outside and inside parliamentary walls.
“There are broader issues now around where the line exists, if in fact it even does still exist, between opinion and news.”
“It’s quite difficult to tell whether media coverage is the opinions of the media who are doing the covering or whether they’re trying to relay the news component of it. I don’t think that’s a left-right divide, just a general way media has drifted over several decades. It’s driven much more by clicks now, and we know that some things generate more clicks than others. Advertising revenues are directly related to the number of clicks you get on a story. So there’s a need to soup up stories and make them a bit more sensational in order to try and get more people to read them. That’s just the nature of the world we live in.”
While the world is ever-evolving, Chris assures us that Labour’s vision for the country remains the same.
“We want New Zealand to be an inclusive society where everybody feels valued, respected, included, and who they are. That’s our overall vision, and it is one that the Rainbow community features prominently in because many haven’t felt that way in the past. Conversion therapy, the work that we’re doing around the elimination of transmission of HIV, are just some of the areas we’ve worked closely with the rainbow community on that we’re incredibly proud of.”
To find out more about Chris Hipkins and his team visit labour.org.nz
Article | Oliver Hall
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