Mark Mitchell is Kim Hilled on National Radio

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, August 29th, 2022 - 35 comments
Categories: crime, law, law and "order", mark mitchell, national - Tags:

National should learn.  They should never send an MP into an interview with Kim Hill unless they are completely prepared.

The latest example occurred this morning.  Mark Mitchell was send in to discuss youth crime with Hill.  He should have realised from the start that he was being set up when Kim started with a very innocuous question, is youth crime increasing?

He managed to get all his talking points out at once.  Of course it was,  he had been doing meetings throughout the country and everywhere communities were facing a “tsunami of youth offending”.

Kim then remarked that she knew that agitation about youth crime was increasing but she repeated her question, is youth crime increasing?

Mitchell’s response left no room for ambiguity.  “Absolutely” and “without a doubt” were two of the phrases used and he then talked about primary school kids misbehaving and how there needs to be mentoring.  He was asked how he would achieve this and in response to an example he provided was asked if youth crime in Warkworth, where the example is sited, is decreasing.

He then uttered the phrase “moral compass” and said that things were different when he was young.

Kim then licked her lips and asked Mitchell if National selecting Sam Uffindell as an MP made moral compass a bit of a dodgy expression to wheel out.

He claimed that Kim was mixing completely different issues.  Apparently assaulting younger students with bed legs is not youth offending.

It all went south then for Mitchell.  He basically said that Uffindell should be treated differently.  The sense that the rules are different for rich kids is strong.

And Minister of Justice Kiri Allen had something to say about the issue.

And she did provide the information in Parliament.  From Hansard:

There’s been a 4 percent national decline, but actually in the Auckland area we’re seeing quite an increase of 16 percent. So that was the concerning part that I was just highlighting.

She makes a good point.  Shouldn’t political discourse be based on reality?

In Parliament Mitchell tried to say that there was under reporting.  I can confidently say that the incidence of under reporting of ram raids is zero.

The interview highlights another issue relating to Uffindell.  The Dew report was announced on August 10, 2022 and was expected to take two weeks.  That time is up.

Christopher Luxon has said that he will not be releasing the terms of reference or the results.  This must be untenable.

35 comments on “Mark Mitchell is Kim Hilled on National Radio ”

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  1. AB 1
    29 August 2022 at 11:24 am

    Dishonestly-induced moral panic for the purpose of political gain is on page one of the right-wing playbook.

  2. Tiger Mountain 2
    29 August 2022 at 11:40 am

    “Sell sword” Mitchell was once a natzo leadership contender! They really do have a thing about ex coppers.

    Kim Hill remains a national treasure. I recall in the 90s, in media presence, it was virtually her alone versus the “Tight Five” and other duplicitous politicians on a daily basis.

  3. joe90 3
    29 August 2022 at 12:09 pm

    Buggered if I can find it in the archives but Kim Hill won me when she eviscerated Agnes-Mary Brooke. It was glorious.

    https://www.bsa.govt.nz/decisions/all-decisions/brooke-and-radio-new-zealand-ltd-2000-001/

  4. Mac1 4
    29 August 2022 at 12:30 pm

    "Tsunami", "crisis", "shambles". Who else is getting tired of this exaggeration in National's political rhetoric? It surely is part of AB's point at #1 above.

    Why cannot more media people query the extent of the rhetoric, as Kim Hill did?

    If people know the truth eg. youth offending is decreasing, then they will know that pronouncements like Mitchell's are dishonest, and discount him accordingly as someone who does not use "absolutely" and "without a doubt" meaningfully.

    You get this answer at the very end of this article. https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300576087/is-youth-crime-really-a-growing-problem-and-what-can-be-done-about-it

    "Overall, is youth crime on the rise? The short answer: No."

    In fact, "doubt" should be a first reaction to National's doom-saying hyperbole.

  5. Sacha 5
    29 August 2022 at 1:46 pm

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/investigation-into-national-mp-sam-uffindell-delayed-more-time-requested/HMNNMIGOJN6VAKPMDS4XRXV2WE/

    It is understood the independent investigation, led by Maria Dew QC, might not conclude until mid-September.

    …

    On August 9, National leader Christopher Luxon said he expected the investigation would take two weeks.

  6. roblogic 6
    29 August 2022 at 3:30 pm

    Mitchell's rhetoric plays well to the Nactoid base of closet racists and old farts on talkback radio. They conveniently forget that National ordered the Police to stop reporting Crime statistics, and cut recruitment to the bone. (Alongside all the other stats that National routinely lied about and covered up)

  7. Bearded Git 7
    29 August 2022 at 5:27 pm

    The interview was best when Kim Hill asked Mitchell several times what exactly National was going to do about yoof crime … Mitchell repeatedly floundered.

    Of course earlier in the interview it had been established that yoof crime was going down outside Akl.

    • Finn McCool 7.1
      30 August 2022 at 11:56 am

      I'm not so sure about youth offending if im understanding this right.

      https://youthcourt.govt.nz/about-youth-court/before-the-youth-court/

      Do the statistics only report those youths who came before the courts? If that's the reality, what's the number of youths not coming before the courts who committed crimes that were dealt with by police and community groups?

      I think we need to forget about Mitchell being hammered by Hill. The more pressing issue is one of perception that youth crime is increasing. And that Labour is failing to address the issue adequately.

      • Incognito 7.1.1
        30 August 2022 at 6:21 pm

        I’d be more than happy to provide you with a link to show stats on youth crime (probably the same stats that Kiri Allan gave Mitchell a week ago) but it would be pearls before swine. Your prejudice and confirmation bias would simply cause you to reject anything that didn’t fit your perception. Suffice to say, Labour will never be able to address this issue adequately. Do you vote National or ACT, by any chance?

        • Finn McCool 7.1.1.1
          30 August 2022 at 7:54 pm

          No, I don't want the stats, just a simple answer to the question I posed.

          'Your prejudice and confirmation bias would simply cause you to reject anything that didn’t fit your perception.'

          Don't know what brought that on? Maybe the same critique could be applied to you?

          . 'Do you vote National or ACT, by any chance?'

          Not at the moment, but im disillusioned with our present Labour government. They have steered this country onto the rocks with the most idiotic actions I have ever seen a government make. They could have enjoyed another term if they would just have listened and thought their actions through. Two recent examples are the Cost Of Living Payments and making Mallard ambassador.to Ireland. The Tories will love recalling him. Just plain dumb stuff. I can never vote for the Tories. Same with the Greens and Maori Party. So that leaves ACT or not voting. I have yet to make my mind up. I'm guessing you have voted left all your life? It shows.

          • Incognito 7.1.1.1.1
            30 August 2022 at 8:46 pm

            No, I don’t want the stats, just a simple answer to the question I posed.

            Thank you for proving my points so saliently.

            I’m guessing you have voted left all your life? It shows.

            You guessed wrong and it shows your bias, again. In any case, not voting is a cop-out.

            • Finn McCool 7.1.1.1.1.1
              31 August 2022 at 11:34 am

              'Thank you for proving my points so saliently.'

              Don't be shy to cast your pearls before swine. They are probably cheap Chinese knock -offs to start with.

              It was a simple question. Either a yes or no answer was all that's required. I'm not good at reading reports given my limited education. I am trying to contact the youth court, but their contact page has gone missing.

              ( I'm guessing not only Hipkins is feels the heat from our declining youth crime numbers?)

      • LibertyBelle 7.1.2
        30 August 2022 at 8:20 pm

        The Youth Justice Indicators Report is a comprehensive review of data for youth offending that tracks offending rates back 10 years by age range, gender, ethnicity and by police district. By pretty much all measures, youth offending has consistently tracked down over the past 10 years (this is to December 2021).

        The data for full year 2022 will be interesting, and will confirm whether National are on the money or dog whistling, particularly with the increase in ram raids:

        "Figures released to RNZ show a 400% increase in ram raids over the past five years, with 76% of those caught under the age of 18. Over the past 12 months alone there have been 436 raids recorded by police – more than double the 191 over the prior 12 month period."

        • Incognito 7.1.2.1
          30 August 2022 at 8:53 pm

          Dog whistling is all National do and it has no good ideas let alone good solutions to offer.

  8. Robert Guyton 8
    29 August 2022 at 6:19 pm

    Thanks, Kim.

  9. Jackel 9
    29 August 2022 at 11:19 pm

    Too small so she let him go.

    • Incognito 9.1
      30 August 2022 at 7:35 am

      Too small for what exactly?

      • Barfly 9.1.1
        30 August 2022 at 3:45 pm

        Maybe an undersized fish reference /shrug

      • Jackel 9.1.2
        30 August 2022 at 5:35 pm

        Ok, so Mr Mitchell is putting himself forward to be the Police Minister, we can assume he thinks he has some contribution to make to the portfolio. From the interview with Hill what contribution do you think he intends to make?

        All of the things he mentions as solutions, amongst his politician's waffle and evasions, are hardly new and, I don't know, probably all 101 stuff to someone familiar with the subject. I'm sure they are all already being tried and if more human capital were available to do more of them then I'm sure Labour would be only too glad to fund them.

        Look I've been there, it can be a long hard road to the other side for young people especially today. And we need to be there for them when they need us and when they reach out to us.

        Look, I'm sure Mr Mitchell is a typical salt of the earth national party type and has done his yards on the beat, but Kim Hill is excellent at what she does so he needs to show he has something to bring to the table if he wants to be Police Minister. Otherwise you can go now Mr Mitchell which is how she seemed to end it.

        I would just say, sometimes you get more out of ambiguity than having things explained to you.

  10. Powerman 10
    30 August 2022 at 8:27 am

    TV1 News allowed Luxon to give unsubstantiated anecdotal "evidence" RNZ National Radio asked for facts which reduced Mr Plod to waffle and avoidance.

    • newsense 10.1
      30 August 2022 at 3:48 pm

      Well, with Kim Hill. Itinerant interviewer. Suzie is going before the election.

      But the biggest take away from this interview was the difference between NZ then and now.

      We were an incredibly secure, well fed, white focused country.
      Now we’re inundated with pay day loans, fast food, junk food, discounts at past the date shops, our best food sent overseas, gig economy, high housing costs, high transport costs and other thing that have broken down the social fabric…leaving aside that many Maori were punished for speaking their own language and certainly didn’t have much input into what was going on in policy. There were dawn raids and social cohesion was great for visible whiteys.

      The social contract that a job entitled you to have a life has been broken. You worked, you could have a family, go to the park or beach on the weekend and own a house. Perhaps Mark Mitchell is advocating the return to half day Sundays and double time payments for working Sundays to ensure families spend time together.

      20 years ago I was working with some great people, but I was a student and they were on rotating shifts 7 days, driving an hour or more each way just in order to work. Because of the unsociable hours public transport wasn’t an option and there weren’t many possible serviced anyway. Housing has only got astronomically worse since then.

      Perhaps Mr Mitchell is suggesting industry standards so parents have the time to be parents and raise their children?

  11. Mike the Lefty 11
    30 August 2022 at 5:31 pm

    Kim Hill is sharp as a knife, as well as being very witty.

    I enjoy her Saturday morning RNZ radio show.

  12. Peter 12
    30 August 2022 at 8:22 pm

    "Shouldn’t political discourse be based on reality?"

    Surely the interview was based on reality. The reality is that Mitchell (and Luxon) can burble out their bullshit. The reality is the take away from today for many will be "National is tough on crime, youth crime is out of control and National/ACT are really going to deal it."

    The reality is that people are dumb and facts don't matter.

  13. Ad 13
    30 August 2022 at 8:41 pm

    Lordie Labour are so off base with crime narration but then National come along and just make Labour coherent.

  14. RP Mcmurphy 14
    31 August 2022 at 10:04 pm

    mitchell is a stupid horrible little man and a lowbrow simpleton to boot. he is used to bullying and threatening and is probably dangerous if pusehed too far. how many guns does he keep at his house?