ACT MP Cameron Luxton has described as “disgraceful attacks on Nicole’s character and integrity” by cartoonists in main centre newspapers after Police Association president Chris Cahill claimed the minister had shut the Police Association out of consultation on firearm laws.
“Yet the media gave him (Cahill) a free pass,” said Cameron Luxton.
“It’s a ridiculous claim. Every New Zealander will be able to have their say through the legislative process, including at select committee,” he said. “It’s also ironic given he (Cahill) supported a three-day select committee process in 2019 by the Ardern government following the tragic mosque shooting by an Australian terrorist, which shut out just about every affected New Zealander.”
Cameron Luxton – Police failed in
giving terrorist a firearm licence
Even more alarmingly, Cahill and certain journalists have suggested Nicole is somehow responsible for the events of March 15.which shut out just about every affected New Zealander, he added.
Cameron Luxton said the only person responsible for the mosque murders was the shooter.
Police Failure
“If Cahill or the media want to cast blame further, they should look at the Police’s own actions in approving a firearms licence for the terrorist based on an endorsement from one his on-line gaming buddies.”
Nicole McKee previously worked as a firearms safety consultant, even under contract to the New Zealand police.
“So it’s a bit rich for Cahill to challenge Nicole McKee’s background.”
As Minister, Nicole McKee is strengthening Firearms Prohibition Orders to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and gang members.
“This is the important life-saving work that Labour never took seriously, instead punishing every licenced firearms owner for the actions of a single evil Australian on March 15, 2019,” said Cameron Luxton.
Mediocre Cartoonists
Tony Orman author of hunting books and former chairman of CORANZ said the cartoons were inaccurate in their commentary and showed ignorance of issues around firearms within society. He rued the current low standard of cartooning both in caricatures, often vague in their meaning and often insensitive and in poor taste.
“Oh for the days of past top cartoonists such as Minhinnick (“NZ Herald”), Neville Lodge (“Evening Post”), Eric Heath “Dominion” and Garrick Tremain (“Otago Daily Times”).
The current cartoonists are a bad joke,” he said.
He also had criticism of TV One’s Jack Tame who interviewed Nicole McKee on QandA.
“Tame displayed utter ignorance on firearms, failed to mention police failure in granting the Aussie terrorist a firearm licence despite glaring irregularities in the application and in asking a question then rudely started talking over the top of the reply,” he said. “Tame’s arrogance has put me off watching QandA again.”
The problem with the academic and media “intellectuals” like Tame is that they are afflicted with the delusion that they are THE CONSCIENCE OF THE PEOPLE.
In reality they are just omnipotent moral busybodies who assume that they are superior to the rest of us.
Accusing Nicole of being complicit in Tarrant’s crime is totally false and unjust.
Tame obviously has no understanding of the firearms related issues. He probably shares the delusion that prohibiting the legal ownership of guns will magically make them all disappear. Nicole does understand the issues and is trying to address them in a sane and rational manner.
Labour’s political exploitation of the tragedy in a Christchurch only increased the illegal possession and use of prohibited items.
Nicole handled herself with decorum. Jack Tame handled himself with hostility, incivility and utter rudeness. What a “super brat”!
Having watched the interviews with Hugh Devereux Mack, Chris Cahill and Nicole Mckee on the Platform this week, all good, professional interviews in which the individuals were allowed to speak and give their points of view uninterupted, I was keen to hear more from Nicole McKee so tuned in to watch her interview with Jack Tame.
Imagine how disappointed I was to be treated to the spectacle of Jack Tame, who admits he doesn’t own a firearm and is obviously ignorant of both the technical and legal aspects of firearms ownership in this country, indulge in a series of clumsy “ambush” style questions designed to trap Nicole into a number of pathetic “gotcha” moments. Respect to Nicole McKee for keeping her cool in the face of such rudeness.
There’s only two things wrong with these cartoonists; they can’t draw and they have no sense of humour.
And meanwhile, real cartoonists like Tremaine are excluded by the newspapers.
There is nothing as awful as ignorance in action. Remember, journos pride themselves on NOT being experts, they proudly claim to be ‘generalists’.
In my view, incompetence, pre-conceived ideas and skill at leaving out relevant detail (it is not what is included in a story, it is what is left out that matters) are the standard practice of many journo-flacks. Mr. Tane badly dented any positive reputation which remained among journos.
The decisions and back tracking on some electrial promises, not allowing the public knowing what policies regarding treaty crap. Gun laws a other disaster waiting to happen, many put there trust in this government and mostly getting an empty plate without the eggs
This is the letter I sent to the Prime Minister.
Sir,
I write in regard to the despicable actions by Police Association Chris Cahill and his personal attack on Nicole McKee.
The banning of the semi automatic weapons was a knee jerk action by then Prime Minister Ardern who conveniently forgot that it was her changing of the law on 17 December 2018 that made it much easier to obtain Firearms Licenses online and how Brendan Tarrant obtained his firearms license without any checks and balances. It was sickening to watch the hypocrisy displayed by Ardern with her hijab and false grief when she was the one who changed the law to assist people like Tarrant get around the law.
It was entitled Arms (Electronic Transactions) Amendment Regulations 2018.
Cahill also didn’t advise that it was the Police, quite possibly one of the Police Association members, who approved the purchase of 2320 rounds of ammunition by Tarrant. When the issue of Police approval of Tarrant buying this very large cache of ammunition was raised at the inquiry into the Mosque Tragedy by the Aoraki Ammunition Company, Greg O’Connor quickly had the Chairperson shut it down.
Nicole McKee does a very professional job and should not have to put up with being disparaged by Cahill and his emotional outbursts and personal attacks. Registering of firearms is a complete waste of tax payers money. The percentages of firearms on the register have always been low historically and trying to introduce a register now only provides an inconvenience to those honest persons who have a firearms license as the crooks won’t be lining up to register their firearms. Like many Labour/Greens ideas, setting up the firearms register was a headline grabbing exercise when it was known it would be a failure.
Nicole McKee should carry on being the Minister and Cahill should be reminded that he is a union representative who doesn’t even represent all Police, wasn’t elected by the people of New Zealand and should keep his comments objective and not make personal attacks.
Whilst Tame displayed groping ignorance about firearms in general (harping on about magazines for instance) he did raise some interesting points – why trust a register just for E-Cat MSSAs but not for firearms generally? If he allowed Nicole to expand on her answer (that E-Cat required a much higher level of scrutiny and security) it would have usefully advanced the debate. And how about Tame teasing out the fact that the Police screwed up on the vetting of the Aussie terrorist? Lessons learned etc. If the correct vetting procedure had been followed and/or Nicole/COLFOs recommendation to Police of recategorizing MSSAs etc had been adopted when suggested, 51 people might well be alive and well. That is a scandal Mr Tame deserving of attention.
Newspaper editors risk shrinking subscriptions if they show this level of bias.
I cancelled my subscription to the ODT a while ago because it no longer reported the news. All it has now is woke opinion pieces and misleading government BS.
I hear repeated advertising for the New Zealand Broadcasting School, “The New Zealand Broadcasting School is the premier national provider of applied education in screen, journalism, radio and digital media.”
NZBS seems highly appropriate acronym!!
https://nzbs.com/
.
Nicole McKee to me is one of the more sane politicians that we have seen and listened to for quite sometime as for Jack Tame he is one of the more arrogant journalists ever.
I wonder how the ratings are for upstarts like TV One’s Jack Tame and TV 3’s Jenna Lynch plus a few others on TV of similar ilk. Tame’s interview made one annoyed because he interrupted the reply. Make the questions probing by all means but then let the person reply. Viewers want to hear the answer.
Nicole McKee comes across as a sincere, able MP — arguably rare qualities in MPs.
And she knows her subject. Tame so obviously didn’t and failed to ask a key question, just how did Tarrant get a firearm licence with no creditable referees plus why did he apply in Hamilton when he lived in Dunedin, in addition a few other short-comings.
Whose incompetency led to the deaths of 51 on March 15, 2019.
Who (plural) was held accountable?
Agree with the above reply. The three cartoonists like Tame on Q+A, showed their lack of understanding. Murdoch’s cartoon in particular was a poor, frequently hers are. Remember the days of quality cartoons such Minhinnick in our “NZ Herald”? There is one quality cartoonist – Garrick Tremain – but he’s not acceptable to the woke culture because he so often brillantly spells out the realities.