Michael Laws

Michael Laws (born 1957) is a politician, broadcaster and writer/columnist from New Zealand.

Laws has won several political positions, including two terms as a Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the National Party (1990–96) and New Zealand First (1996), two terms as Mayor of Whanganui (2004–2010), terms as a councillor on Whanganui District Council, Napier City Council, and Otago Regional Council, and terms as a member of Whanganui District Health Board. In Parliament he voted against his party on multiple occasions and defected to the newly founded New Zealand First party, but resigned Parliament the same year following a scandal in which he selected a company part-owned by his wife for a government contract. Laws currently holds one political position; he is councillor and deputy chair of Otago Regional Council.[1]

Laws has also been a media personality, working as a Radio Live morning talkback host and a longstanding The Sunday Star-Times columnist. In these roles, Laws caused controversy, such as calling Governor-General Anand Satyanand a "fat Indian" and comparing him to a comically obese character from Monty Python. Laws resigned all positions in 2014 to take full-time care of his youngest children, after their mother suffered a severe stroke.

Early life

Laws was born in Wairoa on 26 June 1957.[2] He moved with his parents to Whanganui where he received his pre-tertiary education at Tawhero Primary School, Whanganui Intermediate School, and Whanganui Boys' College. His father, Keith Laws, a schoolteacher, became Rector (Principal) of Waitaki Boys' High School (Oamaru) and then of Scots College, Wellington.

On leaving school, Laws spent two holidays spells at the Whakatu freezing works before entering the University of Otago, where he graduated with first-class honours in history and earned a University Grants Committee Postgraduate Scholarship. He also won an Otago University sporting blue.[3] He later obtained a Master of Arts from Victoria University. During his time at Otago he attracted controversy as a key member of a student organisation that supported the 1981 Springbok Tour.[4] He also became an accomplished public speaker and captained both the New Zealand Universities and New Zealand debating teams in the early-mid-1980s.

National Party member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1990–1993	43rd	Hawkes Bay		National
1993–1996	44th	Hawkes Bay		National
1996	Changed allegiance to:			NZ First

Having become involved in the New Zealand Young Nationals (the youth wing of the National Party), Laws worked as a parliamentary researcher for National between 1985 and 1989. Most of this time he spent as a senior researcher and press secretary, including assisting the dissident National MP Winston Peters from 1987 to 1989. In the 1987 election, Laws stood as the National candidate for the Hawkes Bay seat, but narrowly failed to defeat the incumbent Bill Sutton of the Labour Party. In the 1990 election, however, Laws wrestled the seat from Sutton to enter Parliament with a majority of 2,895 votes. In the 1993 election he retained his seat with an increased majority – despite a significant nationwide swing away from the National Party.

Renegade MP

Laws never had a good relationship with the National Party's senior hierarchy. As a researcher he had done much of his work for Winston Peters, whom party leader Jim Bolger looked upon with disapproval. Tensions persisted between Laws and Bolger after Laws became an MP, made worse by Laws' declaration that he would attempt to follow popular opinion in Hawke's Bay rather than National Party policy. Laws voted against his party on a number of issues, joining several other dissident MPs to oppose the economic policies of the Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson. In early 1991 he even organised public seminars designed to avoid his government's new superannuation surtax policies. The Bolger administration later abandoned the surtax, but Laws earned the ongoing enmity of his colleagues for his stance. He also championed the unsuccessful Death with Dignity Bill, which aimed to legalise voluntary euthanasia. The terminal illness of Cam Campion, a fellow dissident in Laws' first term in parliament, prompted this advocacy.

Throughout his parliamentary career, rumours frequently circulated that Laws planned to join a new party. When Gilbert Myles and Hamish MacIntyre, angry about Ruth Richardson's policies, founded the new Liberal Party, they invited Laws to join them, but he declined. Later, when his old boss Winston Peters established New Zealand First, rumours claimed Laws had considered changing parties, but eventually decided that New Zealand First lacked the organisation and principle for success. Finally, Laws became involved in discussions with Mike Moore, former leader (1990–1993) of the Labour Party, to establish a new centrist party. It did not eventuate, however, with Laws claiming that Moore showed unwillingness to commit to it. In the end, Laws' relationship with the National Party deteriorated to the point where he no longer attended caucus meetings, and he decided to join New Zealand First in April 1996.

The "Antoinette Beck" affair

Laws did not remain in parliament much longer, due to the "Antoinette Beck" political scandal. Laws employed a company part-owned by his wife to conduct a Napier City Council communications' poll, in his capacity as a recently elected (October 1995) Napier city councillor. This contravened the Local Government (Member's Interests) Act, but Laws claimed that "there had been no profit to either company or individuals", and an official inquiry by the Auditor-General confirmed found only a minor and unintentional breach of regulations.

However, Laws' conduct during the matter attracted strong criticism, with Laws misleading the public on a number of issues, and he eventually resigned from parliament. Differing opinions exist over the whole controversy. Laws acknowledges that he did things which he should not have done, but described the scandal as a relatively minor matter which his numerous political enemies blew out of proportion. His opponents paint Laws as corrupt. Official investigations by the New Zealand Police, by the Serious Fraud Office and by the Auditor-General found he had no case to answer. The latter declared that he made "an honest mistake" in not declaring his wife Karen's shareholding in the company that contracted to the Napier City Council to conduct the poll. This poll led to the "Antoinette Beck" affair, so named after a person who did not exist signed off the poll with this name.

Two of Laws' principal antagonists in the Antoinette Beck affair – Napier city councillors John Harrison and Kerry Single – unsuccessfully sued him for defamation, and Laws personally defended himself in the Napier High Court in December 1997. The Court awarded costs of over NZ$200,000 against the joint plaintiffs, and this court victory appeared to re-ignite Laws' public career.

Although he had left Parliament, Laws remained involved in politics, managing New Zealand First's campaign for the general election held on 12 October 1996. He would later write in his political autobiography that the experience resembled nursing a stick of unstable dynamite. Later he served as an adviser to Neil Kirton, who emerged as New Zealand First's leading dissident despite his position as an Associate Minister of Health. Laws' association with Kirton irritated the National Party, which had formed a coalition with New Zealand First. Eventually, the New Zealand First parliamentary leader, Winston Peters, sacked Kirton.

Laws started his own public relations consultancy but eventually became a writer, publisher and newspaper columnist. In 2003 he became a talkback host for Radio Pacific and started appearing in television shows as a writer and presenter.

Mayor of Whanganui

First term

Laws then returned to politics in 2004 by successfully contesting the mayoralty of the Whanganui District Council. He formed and led a "Vision Wanganui" team at the local-body elections, capturing the majority of the Council seats and unseating the incumbent mayor Chas Poynter. Chas Poynter had served as mayor for 18 years but many in the community felt that it was time for change, and on election night Chas Poynter finished third behind Michael Laws and John Martin. Laws gained 43% of the total vote, with voter turn-out at 67% and the second highest for a local body election in New Zealand that year.

Michael Laws saw his victory as a mandate for change. He immediately opened the Council's finance figures to the public, introduced yearly referenda, announced management restructuring and lobbied successfully for a nil rate-increase for the district.[5] The local community newspaper, River City Press, made him its inaugural "Person of the Year" for 2005.

However, Laws' mayoralty generated controversy, with some citizens complaining about derogatory comments he made about some Whanganui residents in the wake of Laws' campaign to cancel an extension to the Sarjeant Art Gallery. An internal committee of investigation in mid-2005 found that he had not breached the council's code of conduct,[6] but his administration remained controversial. He dismayed the local arts community by canning plans for an extension to the Sarjeant Art Gallery while increasing funding for other local recreational facilities – particularly the swimming complex. Nonetheless, his "Vision Wanganui" grouping subsequently won two council by-elections in February 2006.

In August 2006, in his roles as both talk radio host and mayor, Michael Laws caused national controversy for refusing to lower the municipal flag[7] to recognise the death of Tongan king, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. On his radio-show Laws described the deceased monarch as "a bloated, brown slug" and referred to the anti-democratic leadership of the Tongan royal family.[8] Some people regarded the comments as an insult to the Tongan community residing in New Zealand, and protests occurred, including a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA). However, the BSA subsequently cleared Laws of any breach of broadcasting standards.[9] New Zealand Herald readers judged it the "worst insult of 2006".[10] Later the New Zealand Press Council cleared columns he wrote on peanut-allergy sufferers and on public-school bans.[11]

Despite his controversial style, Laws acquired the reputation of having rejuvenated the "River City" (Whanganui). Both the Herald on Sunday (Feb 2007) and the National Business Review (December 2006) credit him with having raised Whanganui's profile and having had a positive effect upon raising housing prices.

In November 2006 Laws announced he would not contest the mayoralty at the 2007 local-body elections. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his young daughters Lucy and Zoe, but did not rule himself out of standing for lesser public offices. He had previously announced he had signed a five-year contract with RadioWorks to continue his morning talkback-show on Radio Live.

Laws campaigned vigorously against gangs and in April 2007 campaigned for a Yes vote in a Whanganui referendum to outlaw gang-patches and regalia in the Whanganui District. As a result, the Council drafted a local bill which the Whanganui MP Chester Borrows introduced into Parliament in 2008.[12] Parliament's "Law and Order" select committee considered proposed anti-gang-patch legislation and reported back positively on 24 September 2008. The Bill passed its third reading in Parliament in May 2009 and became law as the Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Act 2009. Local Police report ['Dominion-Post' 24 November 2009] that the legislation is having a beneficial effect in policing gangs, while the mayors of Timaru, Whakatane, Opotiki and Palmerston North are reportedly considering similar by-laws.

Second term

Citing public pressure, Laws changed his mind about retiring from the mayoralty and on the last day for local-government nominations (24 August 2007) announced he would stand for a second term for mayor and as part of a "reformist" 'Health First' team for the Whanganui District Health Board.

On 13 October 2007, the voters re-elected Laws as mayor with an increased majority; he gained about 33-percent more votes than the next candidate, John Martin, and won 54.1-percent of the total vote ['Wanganui Chronicle' mayoralty election figures 15 October 2007] – the first time since 1995 that a winning mayor has gained a majority of the total vote. However, his "Vision Wanganui" team lost its one-seat majority around the council-table, winning five of 12 seats. Laws also won election to the Wanganui District Health Board, as did two of his "Health First" team.

In 2008 he created a new power-sharing plan by making his councillors "mini-mayors" and giving them responsibility for areas of council policy. He also championed the council's successful search for "soft water" for the Whanganui community, describing it as "a personal crusade", and the construction of the Abelard and Heloise water bores at Westmere. The district council has estimated the savings at $240 per household, and the switch-over is planned for late 2009.

Laws returned to the national headlines in 2008 for saying that pit bull owners "look like their dogs" and for labeling pub charity gambling chiefs as "selfish morons" after they protested a council decision to restrict gambling outlets in the city.

In 2009 he campaigned for the spelling of Whanganui to remain unchanged after local Maori, Te Runanga o Tupoho, petitioned the New Zealand Geographic Board to change to the Maori spelling of 'Whanganui' with an 'h'. The council consequently endorsed his actions and a 2006 referendum showed 82% support for the retention of the traditional spelling, which dates from 1837 (when "wh" was not yet recognised as a distinct consonant in written Māori).

A referendum concluded on 22 May 2009 found 77% support for the status quo. Over 19,000 Whanganui citizens, 61% of the electoral population, voted.

During September/October 2009, the dispute escalated when Laws was accused of "bullying" school pupils who had written to him, in Maori, asking that he cease opposition to the Maori spelling. He wrote back that they should concentrate on "the real issues affecting Maoridom, especially child abuse and child murder". Most mainstream internet opinion polls, though (TV3 News, YahooXtra, The New Zealand Herald), sided with the outspoken Mayor.

And two scientific public opinion polls, undertaken by UMR Insight and TVNZ News in October 2009, also recorded strong national majorities in favour of the status quo.

On 18 December 2009, Lands Minister Maurice Williamson visited Whanganui to deliver the Crown's decision on the spelling of Whanganui City. It was that both spellings – Wanganui and Whanganui would be formally gazetted, but that Crown agencies would adopt the Whanganui spelling. The Whanganui council, local newspapers and most local businesses have indicated that they will continue to adopt the 'h'-less spelling. The legislation to mandate the change has still not been introduced to Parliament after the Green Party objected to its inclusion in a 2010 omnibus parliamentary bill.

Laws announced in June 2010 his retirement from the mayoralty for family reasons.[13]

Attempted third term

In the 2013 Local Body Elections, Laws stood for both Mayoralty and for a position on the Whanganui District Health Board.[14] However, he suspended his campaigning during 2013 after his former partner suffered a serious stroke. He was re-elected as a district councillor and district health board member.

Election record

List of elections won/lost in Michael Laws' political career:

Year	Election	Result
1987	Hawke's Bay constituency (New Zealand Parliament)	Lost
1990	Hawke's Bay constituency (New Zealand Parliament)	Won
1993	Hawke's Bay constituency (New Zealand Parliament)	Won
1995	Napier City Council (council seat)	Won
2004	Mayoralty (Whanganui District Council)	Won
2007	Mayoralty (Whanganui District Council)	Won
2007	Member (Whanganui District Health Board)	Won
2010	Whanganui District Council (council seat)	Won
2013	Mayoralty (Whanganui District Council)	Lost[15]
2013	Whanganui District Council (council seat)	Won
2013	Member (Whanganui District Health Board)	Won[15]
2016	Councillor (Otago Regional Council)	Won[16]
2019	Councillor (Otago Regional Council)	Won[17]

Other information

Laws has written three books which have sold well – all featured in Booksellers New Zealand's "Top Ten" fortnightly surveys. The first, The Demon Profession, released in August 1998, comprised a political memoir that Laws characterised as an inside view into the real workings of politics. The following year he released a mystery novel entitled Dancing With Beelzebub. His third book, Gladiator – the Norm Hewitt story, became the New Zealand No 1 bestseller over Christmas/New Year 2001 and sold over 35,000 copies.

Laws hosted a nationwide morning talk radio show on Radio Live[18] until 2012,[19] has hosted his own weekly rugby media show on SKY Network Television from 2004 to July 2009, and writes a weekly column for The Sunday Star-Times newspaper which won him the Charles Southwell Prize in 2003.[20] He has also appeared on various "celebrity" and "reality television" shows.

In June 2008, the New Zealand Police prosecuted Michael Laws for contempt of court in relation to a breach of a suppression order on his Radio Live talkback show in December 2006. The Court discharged him without conviction. In January 2009, the Broadcasting Standards Authority rejected a complaint from Children's Commissioner Dr Cindy Kiro relating to alleged unfair criticism by Laws. He has repeatedly derided the commissioner as "the worst public servant in the country." Kiro resigned in March 2009.

Michael Laws has five children – two from previous relationships: James (born 1978) and Rachel (born 1979). He has three children with his partner, Leonie Brookhammer – Lucy (born 2004), Zoe (born 2006) and Theodore (born 2008). They separated in March 2009, attempted reconciliation, but separated again in December 2009.

In April 2007 Television New Zealand selected Laws to participate in the television series Dancing with the Stars with dance-partner Lauren de Boeck. Prior to the competition he broke a bone in his foot while practicing, but vowed to continue, saying that Wanganui would benefit from the nationwide coverage. In his Sunday Star-Times column he classed himself as "a dancing duffer", and he did not survive the third episode of the competition.

In February 2008, doctors diagnosed leukemia in Laws' 3-year-old daughter Lucy; they gave her a poor prognosis due to other infections.[21] However she survived that initial scare and Laws' mayoral website provides weekly updates as to her health.[21][22] She was readmitted to hospital in March 2009 and spent 22 days overcoming viral infections. Laws has spent time in both 2008 and 2009 on leave from his mayoral duties because of his daughter's health.[23]

TV3's 'Nightline' programme named Laws as its 'Person of the Year' for 2009. He has twice been a finalist in the NZ Radio Awards for 'best talkback host' in 2010 and 2011. He left Radio Live in March 2013.[24]

In August 2011 it was announced that he would fight high-profile Maori activist Ken Mair in a charity boxing contest on 3 December to raise funds for victims of the Christchurch earthquake. Laws broke a bone in his right hand in his first sparring bout but still met the charity boxing obligation.

In early 2014, Laws moved to Timaru to take up a development manager's role at Craighead Diocesan School, citing the need to spend more time with his children as a solo father.[25]

By 2016 Laws had moved to Cromwell and stood as a candidate for the Otago Regional Council which he said had the "reputation for being a rest-home for burned out local body politicians" [26]

In October 2016, after the counting of special votes, Michael Laws was elected as an Otago regional councillor by five votes, reversing an election night defeat by 79 votes.[27] He had been resident in the region for only six months.

At the 2019 local body elections, Michael Laws topped polling in the same Dunstan Ward, being the first candidate to record over 10,000 votes in that ward since the Council's inception in 1989. (Source: http://www.electionz.com/LGE2019resource/LGE2019results.html). He was then elected as deputy chairman of the Otago Regional Council.[1]

Governor-General controversy

In 2010, Laws became the second broadcaster from New Zealand (after Paul Henry) to be accused of making "racist" remarks against Governor-General Anand Satyanand.[28] In an October 2010 broadcast, Laws compared the governor-general to an obese Monty Python character and said that Satyanand's weight seemed "incongruous on an Indian. I mean, we don't all expect Indians to be begging on the streets of New Delhi, but it's like Anand discovered the buffet table at 20 and he's never really left it."[29]

The comments were followed by outrage and condemnations from New Zealand politicians. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who said "I find Michael Laws' comments offensive because they're deeply personal and they're aimed at the governor-general in a way that I don't think is appropriate for that office".[29][30] Key also said that Satyanand (who is of Indo-Fijian ethnicity) was doing a good job as Queen Elizabeth II's representative in New Zealand and that should be the only standard on which he was judged. "I don't rate people on their physical weight, their height or their religious beliefs, and I don't think it's appropriate to take pot shots at the governor-general on that basis,"[28]

Initially, Laws refused to apologize for his remarks, telling the New Zealand Herald: "I just said he's a fat Indian man, which is true. He's a fat Indian."[28] However, Laws backed down from his position following the resignation of Paul Henry over his hostile remarks and racial slurs against Indian politician Sheila Dikshit,[28] saying "I apologise to the governor-general for comments which were, upon reflection, uncharitable and inappropriate."[28] He also said that while he reserved "the right to be controversial and outspoken", his "off-air comments, in particular, crossed the line from puckish to insulting."[30]

Radio Live management publicly backed Laws for his on-air comments, saying that they were made in jest.

Comments on theft by man with special needs

In 2011, Laws made written and spoken comments on an incident in Christchurch, involving a young man with Asperger syndrome who was arrested for minor theft in the aftermath of the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. He was widely criticized for his unsympathetic remarks about the case, saying that the 25-year-old was "bloody lucky that he received only a black eye" whilst in police custody.[31] Laws refused to back down on his comments arguing that "Asperger's is not an excuse to commit crime". Despite numerous complaints, both Mediaworks and the Broadcasting Standards Authority found that his views had not breached broadcasting guidelines.

In November 2011 he was suspended by Mediaworks after critical comments of journalists and the media in their coverage of the 2011 general election, and especially their role in the so-called "teagate scandal". No explanation was provided by either Mediaworks or Laws, but in late December 2011, Mediaworks announced Laws would resume broadcasting his talkback show from 9 January 2012.[32]

References

1. McNeilly, Hamish (23 October 2019). "Three former MPs push for change with Otago Regional Council chair vote". Stuff. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
2. Temple, Philip (1994). Temple's Guide to the 44th New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: McIndoe Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 0 86868 159 8.
3. "Celebrating century of excellence". Otago Daily Times. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
4. Fisher, David (7 March 2010). "Police called to mayor Michael Laws' home". New Zealand Herald.
5. Mayor Michael Laws – e-column Archived 22 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
6. Audit & Administration Committee, Whanganui District Council (24 June 2005). "Code of Conduct Investigation into alleged breaches of the code" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
7. "Let's not honour the despots, says Laws". Dominion Post. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
8. Locals attack Laws over 'brown slug' slur. New Zealand Herald, 22 September, 2006
9. "Michael Laws' 'fat brown slug' jibe okayed". New Zealand Herald. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
10. "Summer poll: Laws' Tonga King insult voted worst of the year". New Zealand Herald. 27 December 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
11. "Case Number: 1078 COMPLAINANT AGAINST SUNDAY STAR-TIMES". New Zealand Press Council. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
12. "Bill proposes banning gang patches in Wanganui". 3 News. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
13. "Laws will not stand for Wanganui mayoralty again". New Zealand Herald. 4 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
14. Wannan, Olivia (6 September 2013). "Michael Laws takes aim at mayoralty". Dominion Post. p. A5. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. "Michael Laws snatches Otago Regional Council seat by 5 votes". Stuff. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
17. "2019 Local Elections Results". electionz.com. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
18. Michael Laws on RadioLIVE
19. Radio Live – ON-AIR: Michael Laws leaving RadioLIVE: "Time for something new"
20. "NZARH Awards". New Zealand Association of Rationalists & Humanists. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
21. Little Lucy's courageous cancer comeback
22. Mayor Michael Laws Archived 6 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
23. Herald on Sunday 29 March 2009
24. 3news.co.nz (24 October 2012). "Michael Laws leaving RadioLIVE". Retrieved 24 December 2013.
25. "Michael Laws moving to Timaru".
26. MCKENZIE-MCLEAN, Jo. "Laws to stand for ORC seat". Central Otago Mirror. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
27. McKenzie-McLean, Jo (14 October 2016). "Michael Laws snatches Otago Regional Council seat by 5 votes". Stuff. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
28. Sands, Neil (11 October 2010). "Second NZ broadcaster in race row". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
29. "New Zealander sorry for calling official 'fat Indian'". BBC. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
30. CNN Wire Staff (11 October 2010). "New Zealand DJ apologizes for "fat Indian" insult". CNN. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
31. 3news.co.nz (17 March 2011). "Michael Laws defends 'outrageous' Asperger's comments". Retrieved 24 April 2011.
32. Powley, Kathryn (31 December 2011). "Host a Laws unto himself". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 November 2019.

Laws, Michael (1998). The Demon Profession. Auckland: HarperCollins (New Zealand). ISBN 1-86950-257-4

External links

• Official website (Broken link)
• Council website (Broken link)
• New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists. The Open Society, Volume 76 No. 3 Spring 2003 (PDF, 272 KB) Page 17 (PDF 19), brief biography