RETURN TO ALL
The past twelve months as a regular on RNZ’s The Panel with Wallace Chapman have been a genuine privilege. Few gigs let you spend an hour discussing the spiritual importance of a good Kiwi shed and the next untangling the Gaza Israel conflict without missing a beat.
The magic of The Panel is its expert ringmaster, Wallace Chapman, and its range. One minute you’re talking power tools, the next you’re knee-deep in geopolitics, wondering how on earth Wallace got us from sandpaper to sanctions.
The other magic is the people you meet along the way. This year brought everyone from experts in their fields to everyday New Zealanders with extraordinary stories. A recent favourite was nine-year-old Baxter, possibly the country’s youngest and most charming wood whittler. On the heavier end of the spectrum, Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris joined us to talk about the cessation of funding for a global vaccine study and the very real human consequences of government cuts.
Being a regular voice in the public square is not something I skate through. It takes preparation, listening, and the sometimes courage to offer a view knowing that not everyone will thank you for it. It also comes with a responsibility to speak plainly when topics turn thorny. That is why I rate The Panel so highly. We need places where disagreement doesn’t require dehumanising each other, and where complexity is allowed to exist without being squeezed into slogans or 280 characters.
This year also served up a reminder that saying what you think can come with a side-order of drama. Some of my views were considered controversial enough to spark a protest outside RNZ and a Broadcasting Standards Authority complaint. I remain entirely confident it will be dismissed, not least because a fellow panellist presented the opposite view.
Respectful disagreement and putting different perspectives is the whole point. I stand by informed, principled commentary, even when it is not universally applauded.
To everyone who has listened, written in, challenged me, or simply disagreed without turning feral, thank you. It has been a privilege. I look forward to another year of lively exchanges and the reassurance that public debate in New Zealand can still be thoughtful, generous, and human.
Here is just a selection of this year's sessions when I was on The Panel
24 February: Hon Andrew Bayly, retail hours, public libraries any more
4 November: Firework sales, PE in the draft curriculum, machine knitting and more
24 November: Building regulations, Mayor Mamdani wood whitling and more
16 September: Gaza – Israel, The Chateau, The THC and more