This morning’s editorial dongs Joris de Bres’ menacing of the Massey academic and the newspaper for daring to publish a research report casting doubt on the net value to New Zealand of Pacific immigration. It does not call for his sacking, but should have, for two reasons – incompetence, and conflict of interests:

• His incompetence is maximising the damage he fears from that research. It would die as a one day wonder without his PC indignation, because most authority figures who could give it oxygen are too pusillanimous to go near immigration matters. We never debate the policy issues that are now convulsing much of Europe. But now we have Joris. Nothing is more certain to give wider publicity to the research than a heresy trial. The church could end the debate by killing Galileo, but de Bres can’t have the last word that way. If he was not so PC dumb he’d have let the allegedly shonky research become yesterday’s news with no comment.
• Joris de Bres does not only have a race relations role. He is also a Human Rights Commissioner. Freedom of speech is one of their baseline concerns . Though largely comprising PC time servers the Commission did stand up against the EFA. Joris is now giving the country a lesson on just how freedom of speech (and academic freedom) can be threatened by the state. 

Plaudits for the DomPost. It fits with their courage in publishing the affidavit material on the Tuhoe terrrorist charges, and their criticism of the EFA.

Between them the Herald and the DomPost have resurrected a proud tradition of newspapers – risking state attack to stand up for freedom of speech.