THE BRADBURY GROUP: 'UNASHAMEDLY LEFT'

The Bradbury Group aims to provide a progressive view of New Zealand politics.

MARTYN BRADBURY, other than some brief forays into the mainstream media, has been working in what can be characterised the 'alternative media' for some thirty years. In that time, the media landscape has changed considerably, perhaps no more so than in recent times. The media industry has been in crisis with several media outlets closing (Newshub)  while others have made severe cuts (TVNZ). Hundreds of journalists and media workers have lost their jobs.

So the launch of Bradbury's new project, The Bradbury Group, comes at a tine when the mainstream media is providing a limited diet of local news and current affairs. TVNZ, for example, despite being the country's supposed national public television broadcaster, can only boast one current affairs show in its weekly schedule. Q+A is buried away at 9am on a Sunday morning.

The Bradbury Group, with a nodding acknowledgement to talk shows of the past like The Ralston Group, delivered a heavy hitting trio of panellists for its first show: CTU economist Craig Rennie, Te Pati Maori President John Tamihere and NZ Herald columnist Matthew Hooton.

Although Bradbury says that The Bradbury Group will be 'unashamedly left', it can't be said that either Tamihere or Hooton fall neatly into that category. However, they are both iconoclastic in their views and don't just parrot  government narratives. That, thankfully, is being left to the likes of Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis Allan on Newstalk ZB and Sean Plunket on The Platform.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins also made a guest appearance on the show. He offered nothing in the way of an economic alternative. When he should be uniting Labour behind a pro-worker agenda, Hipkins was evasive when asked by Bradbury if Labour would abandon the 'neoliberal paradigm'. Chris Hipkins is a timid Labour leader who, unfortunately, will spurn the opportunity to lay out a bold and ambitious vision for Labour in preference for more tinkering around the edges of a fundamentally broken system.