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The two National party officials involved in the NZ on Air debacle over the poverty documentary, Stephen McElrea and Alistair Bell, really should have known better how this would play out politically. Their ham-fisted efforts have allowed the opposition to get an early start to the new election cycle and get headlines that could have easily been avoided.
With Bell putting his name to the complaint it can now be safely dismissed as politically motivated rather than a real complaint from Mr and Mrs Jones of Warkworth….and Stephen perhaps could have got another board member to raise the issue and then recused himself from deliberations due to his perceived conflict of interest.
Instead Alistair Bell rightly faces accusations of ineptitude that a Board member would lay a complaint, allowing the complaint to be ignored. And Stephen McElrea faces accusations of political meddling. Both situations could and should have been easily avoided.
The ninth floor will be rightly indignant and probably a bit short with these two for a bit. It may well have upset Alistair Bell’s tilt at the presidency this year with such an inept performance and lack of political smarts.
What amazes me is that Bell came out of the murk, shadows and fog of the back rooms where he prefers to operate and stuck his head above the parapet. It may well be the first time he has done this, usually preferring to mount deniable whispering campaigns. More the pity is he got his head shot off.
