Duncan Garner | |
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| Born | (1974-03-08)8 March 1974 (age 51) North Shore,Auckland, New Zealand |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
| Employers |
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| Television |
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| Children | 4 |
| Website | Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief |
| External image | |
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 Duncan GarnerThe Press |
Duncan Garner (born 8 March 1974) is aNew Zealand broadcaster, journalist and podcaster.
He took over theRadio Live drive slot in December 2012[1] and was previously theNewshub political editor inWellington. He moved to hostThe AM Show in 2017, which was broadcast onThree and Radio Live.[2] Garner left Three on 23 August 2021, after a career of almost 20 years with the channel.[3]
After receiving a degree in communications fromAUT, Garner began his career atTVNZ in the mid 1990s, as a political reporter for veteran broadcasterPaul Holmes.[4] He was praised in his early career for his scoop-heavy journalism, winning the 2004Newspaper Publishers' Association award for Television Political News Reporter after exposing a $195,000golden handshake received by then-Labour Party MPJohn Tamihere. After a second nomination for the award, in 2010, Three launched the weekend current affairs programmeThe Nation with Garner as co-host.[5]
Garner is known as an opinionated and sometimes divisive media personality,[6] and has been described by theSBS asright-wing.[7][8] He is a noted critic ofJacinda Ardern's premiership, often criticisingher government's policies on his shows.[9][10][11] He has been embroiled in several controversies to do with race and ethnicity. In 2017, Garner wrote in hisStuff.co.nz newspaper column of a "human snake" in aKmart queue, to comment on high levels ofSouth Asians andSyrians immigrating to New Zealand.[12]The Press, who published his comments, found his comments to be in breach of anti-racism standards.[7] He is also noted for his impassioned response toTaika Waititi's criticism of racism in New Zealand, and criticism of theNew Zealand government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
Garner went onto present a mid-morning show for the news and talk radio stationToday FM, which ceased broadcasting after just over a year on air. He was retained by station owners Mediaworks to present a podcast –Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief.[14]
Garner was born on 8 March 1974 onAuckland'sNorth Shore,[15] and attendedWestlake Boys High School inForest Hill.[16] He studied for a communications degree atAuckland University of Technology.[15]
He started his career as a reporter forTelevision New Zealand in 1995, working on the current affairs showHolmes from 2000 to 2002.
Garner then moved to rivalTV3 in 2003. He broke the story of aNZ$195,000golden handshake thatLabour Party MPJohn Tamihere received leaving the Waipareira Trust in October 2004. The story prompted an investigation by theSerious Fraud Office, which caused Tamihere to resign from Cabinet.[17][18] Tamihere was later cleared of financial impropriety, and the story won Garner the 2004 Newspaper Publishers' Association award for Television News Reporter – Politics.[19]
In August 2008, three months before theNew Zealand general election, Garner broadcast audio tapes secretly recorded at aNational Party cocktail party by Kees Keizer.[20] The tapes caught deputy leaderBill English saying he would sellKiwibank, and MPLockwood Smith saying National had to adopt policies the party did not like in order not to scare voters.[21] The broadcast earned Garner a nomination for Best News Reporting in the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards.[22]
In March 2010, TV3 launched the weekend current affairs programmeThe Nation, with Garner as co-host.[5]
In the wake of the 2010 MPs expenses scandal, Labour Party politicianChris Carter alleged that Garner had a vendetta against him. The head of TV3 news and current affairsMark Jennings replied saying Garner did not have a grudge, and "Carter is a serial offender on expenses ... it's Duncan's job to shine the light on that."[23]
In 2013, Garner hosted two new current affairs shows onTV3 –3rd Degree andThe Vote.[24]
In December 2017, Garner wrote a column forStuff.co.nz entitled "Dear NZ, how do we want to look in 20 years?" in which he advocated against liberal immigration policy. In the column he claimed he saw a "massive human snake" of immigrants "crawling its way around the self-service" at the low-cost supermarketKmart, which he attributed to heightened rates ofIndians,Pakistanis,Sri Lankans andSyrians immigrating to New Zealand.[12] He also claimed the scene was a "nightmarish glimpse into our future" that "could have been anywhere inSoutheast Asia" and that "by 2038... there'll be moreAsians thanMāori... Does it matter? You bet it does."[12] Garner's comments caused widespread debate and outrage among many, and he was accused of being, among other things, aracist and awhite supremacist.[25] Garner categorically denied the claims, which he attributed to "self-appointed wannabe intellectuals that believe they're truly superior". In his defence he pointed to his Māori former partner,Mihingarangi Forbes, and the education of their children in akura kaupapa Māori.[25] The council forThe Press newspaper, who published his column, unanimously found that he had breached its principle on discrimination and diversity. The panel wrote that "despite the writer's protestations to the contrary, his approach can only be seen as gratuitous racism".[7]
In April 2018, Garner angrily responded toTaika Waititi's blunt description ofracism in New Zealand inDazed and Confused. Garner claimed Waititi's comments were "sabotage", and called Waititi a "clown" who was "getting on the world stage and denigrating this country". Garner even suggested the comments amounted totreason, given Waititi had won theKiwibank-awarded2017 New Zealander of the Year.[13] Garner's response was criticised as being against "the voice of reason", and Waititi taunted him on social media in response.[7][13]
In December 2018, Garner lashed out after aMāori Father Christmas made an appearance at a Christmas parade inNelson, saying on his show that "Māori don't have to own everything".[26] The character's appearance at the parade was subject to jeers and racist backlash across New Zealand from Pākehā.[27][28][29] Garner's comments were criticised as emblematic ofrace-baiting by to-be-Māori Development ministerWillie Jackson.[30]
Garner was a noted critic ofJacinda Ardern's premiership, and has claimed her "big promises have failed spectacularly".[10][9] In July 2020, he promised to becoming a vegan for a year if Labour were to win enough votes in the2020 general election to govern alone. On 17 October 2020, Labour was the first New Zealand party to reach this achievement under theMMP electoral system.[31] On 20 October, Garner wrote an article where he acknowledged his commitment and indicated that he would attempt to fulfil it.[32] In August 2020, he criticised the lockdowns enforced by Labour to control the COVID-19 pandemic as "ultraconservative".[33] After a spell at his home after contracting COVID-19, he claimed theCOVID-19 managed isolation system a "failure" and a "multi-agency trainwreck".[34]
In November 2020 he was named Supreme Man onDavid Hartnell MNZM's Best Dressed List.[35]
On 23 August 2021, Garner announced that he was leaving TV3 with immediate effect, after a career of almost 20 years with the channel. He cited personal and family reasons as the cause of his resignation.[3]
He went onto presentDuncan Garner Today, a mid-morning news and talk show forToday FM, which launched on 21 March 2022.
Just over a year later, on 30 March 2023, Today FM ceased broadcasting, shortly after breakfast presenterTova O'Brien interrupted Garner's show to announce the station's closure.[36] Both Garner and O'Brien, who had addressed the station's future during the 'Tova' breakfast show, went onto criticise station owners Mediaworks until the show was abruptly taken off air and replaced by automated music.[37] The station's closure was confirmed later that day.
In May 2023, it was announced that Garner would be retained by Mediaworks and present a new daily podcast,Duncan Garner: Editor in Chief,[14] which launched on 8 May 2023.[38]
Garner was in a relationship with television journalistMihingarangi Forbes for nine to ten years until 2008 and they have two daughters. Garner also had a child from another relationship.[40] Garner was married to Deanna Delamere for six years until they separated in 2018, and they have a son.[41]
