John Campbell interviews Prime Minister Helen Clark about GE plants

From 2002, John Campbell rips Helen Clark apart, (paraphrasing)"but John! You musnt speak to a Prime Minister like this!, I'm above such questioning!" :-)

Clark "I'm blaming you for not giving proper advice about the course that you wanted to follow"

Campbell "I was not in cabinet, I was not in any way party to this... its not an if... but feel free to shoot the messenger, I'm afraid I had nothing whatsoever to do with this"

Clark "what I want to say to you if i'm allowed to get a word in, is that it is a setup to invite The Prime Minister in for a general interview about genetic modification, when you give no advice that you want to go into detail about how the government handled a certain issue. I consider that unethical journalism!"

Surely she could be expected to answer such a simple question?

Other coverage of Labours "corngate"

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/genetic-engineering/news/article.cfm?c_id=220&o...


"Investigative journalist Nicky Hager's book Seeds of Distrust, published on Wednesday, claims the government covered up the planting of GE corn plants in 2000 and 2001.

Prime Minister Helen Clark continues to deny there was any coverup. She has attacked the Greens, accusing them of gutter politics, and accused a television journalist of setting her up"
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/115681/2556418.xhtml

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Helen Clark
• John Campbell
• 3 News
• GE in New Zealand
• New Zealand
• 2002 New Zealand Election

[chickee11]

Campbell has pissed me off thoroughly throughout the news. TV3 always has an agenda. Look at the bloody Rena disaster, they caused a whole lot of sensationalism and pointed fingers at parties who weren't involved in the crash (MSC, Maritime NZ, govt) when those responsible (Costamare) had already said it was their fault and apologized. They don't let anyone get a word in, interviews completely formed with leading questions putting whatever spin they want on things. I can only watch TV1 now.

[jaywontdart]

@chickee11 "I can only watch TV1 now" .... :-)

[behrenspaul]

Hi there, could you give the time stamp for when she says: "but John! You musnt speak to a Prime Minister like this!, I'm above such questioning!" I couldn't hear that at all in the clip, maybe I missed it.

[jaywontdart]

@behrenspaul hi behrenspaul, I was paraphrasing, and I've since made that clear above :-)

The general tone is that Prime Minister Clark saw herself as above such questions, she refused to answer "yes, we screwed up", instead blaming Campbell. 2m 30s odd "...the more offended I am that you want...to set the prime minister up like this..."

5m10s "you must understand, the Prime Minister is like the chairman of a board..."

Throughout the interview Clark claims "its a setup"

Hope I clarified

[jaywontdart]

I really think this is an important clip, and should be shared around. Its such a straightforward question, to explain the truth behind the Labour government and the GE tests they were involved with, the "release" into NZ food, and yet she wouldnt! She knew the topic, but claimed not to know it would be "so in depth"... yeah right... a way of saving face, not lying, nor telling the shocking truth.

[lemonadeez]

Oh lets see I will only the questions I want to answer.

She is and always will be the complete bitch that ruined the country.

[MsBurgerphone]

This is what Journalism used to be.

The media should refuse to provided pre-prepared questions. It's basically politicians trying to control the truth.

[freakboynz]

@chickee11 would that be the same TV1 that reported less than 300 people attended the NZfirst party launch when the number was more than 700. Stop watching the news, it only encourages them to lie to you!

[howahya]

Helen Clark handles it well with a controlled temperament.

If she can handle high pressure situations like this, imagine how good she'd be at handling high pressure situations with other world leaders, or leaders of large corporates, or other situations that we don't see on the TV.

[MikeHorrell28]

ah yes. this is called remaining composed while highlighting in a number of different ways why you cannot answer a particular question until your argument starts to resonate with the interviewer. We've seen today that Key has the capability to start crying under this kind of bogus entrapment style journalism.

[0nYaFeet]

Put your self in her shoes, how would you feel being mislead into an interview? I'm sure she could have commented on the specific issue but that wasn't what the interview was supposed to be about and as such is obviously not prepared. It's like being given a pop quizz, first off told that it is about maths in general, only to find when you turn the sheet over it is actually about some specific bit of mathematics that you once saw at the back of a text book 4 years ago.

[Nahooner]

helen clarke was a great prime minister, and the fact is that New Zealand has lacked a leader of this calibre since she has left, with john key oftne reduced to a bumbling idiot. Helen Clarke was snapped up by the UN and now sits in the position of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme one of the highest roles on offer, recognition of her judgement and skills. John Cambell on the other hand has gone from a once respected journalist, to...... example "moon man interview"

[AchtungBabyNZ]

Intelligent lady. Key's an embarrassment.