Sean Plunket reads and comments on Chris Hipkins' ex-wife's social media post
Sean Plunket of The Platform NZ reads aloud a since-deleted social media post by Jade Paul, ex-wife of Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Summary
Sean Plunket opens his morning show by addressing a breaking story involving Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins and a social media post made by his ex-wife, Jade Paul. Plunket reads the post in full — which alleges Hipkins was absent during two pregnancy emergencies, refused to help with groceries for their children, and had an affair with a former intern — and notes that Hipkins has since threatened legal action, causing Paul to remove the posts. Plunket frames his decision to read the post as a journalistic duty, arguing there is a clear public interest given Hipkins' former role as Prime Minister and his ambitions to hold that office again. He observes that mainstream media have published Hipkins' denial without publishing the underlying allegations, and argues that had the subject been a politician from the other side of the aisle, coverage would have looked very different.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sean Plunket's decision to read the post on air
Sean Plunket: I've been following the story breaking around Chris Hipkins, and I must admit I spent quite some time yesterday pondering and reflecting on what this story means and how to cover it — involving as it does allegations about the domestic life of a senior New Zealand politician from his ex-wife. I don't know if they're allegations in any formal sense. No crime is being suggested.
When I first saw the social media posts yesterday, I thought two things. Someone needs to verify that these posts are from Jade Paul, the ex-wife of Chris Hipkins. And if they are, the best thing Mr. Hipkins could do is shut up and this will go away. Well, he didn't. It would appear that Mr. Hipkins has threatened legal action against his ex-wife if she continues to say the things she said. Those things she has removed from her social media, but they have already been shared and distributed to the point where the cat is out of the bag.
Given that, I did want to start this morning — without passing judgment — by doing something that no other media, as far as I know, have done. I make this call because I believe there is a matter of public interest here. I'm not going to pass judgment, and I'll read you later what I wrote yesterday on my Facebook page about this. But wherever we proceed to now, this is a matter of public interest involving a person who has been Prime Minister of this country and who would seek to be Prime Minister again. Therefore, there is a public interest here.
I make these statements in the knowledge that someone may come after me for them in a legal sense, but I am a journalist and I am a publisher — not a suppressor.
The social media post, read in full
Sean Plunket: So, in case you missed it, I'm going to read the social media post that Jade Paul made about Chris Hipkins on social media over the weekend.
"I don't often speak about my private life, but man, I'm a bit over it. Apparently the Labour campaign is about health, houses, and jobs this year.
"Health. Chris let me drive myself home in a hospital gown after I miscarried our baby because he was too busy to visit me and bring me clothes. I was covered in blood. I also had a placental abruption at 21 weeks with Charlie and he sent his mum to come and sit with me because he was too busy.
"Homes. I nearly lost my house when I was unemployed in 2023. I was absolutely broke. I asked Chris to help with fruit for the kids' lunches. He told me the kids were my financial responsibility on my weeks and he wouldn't help me. His dad offered to help me and the kids with groceries. All I wanted was him to help me with some apples for the kids' lunches and he told me to fuck off.
"Jobs. I have had to leave three jobs because of conflict of interest issues with Chris. Jobs I have had and loved, but the perception of conflict was an issue and I have had to walk away.
"Let us not even talk about the intern and the affair. The reason men in power get away with terrible behavior is because women are not allowed to talk about it."
Context, denial, and the question of public interest
Sean Plunket: That was the social media post — now redacted — from the ex-wife of Chris Hipkins. He has issued a statement saying all those allegations are untrue and without basis. In any case, none of them, were they true or not, constitute what could be called a crime. But you as an individual may make a moral judgment — if you believe them to be true — about Mr. Hipkins in regard to his candidacy as leader of the Labour Party at the next election.
I am not going to pass moral judgment on him. That is not my place. But I do believe it is my place as a journalist to make sure the public are as well informed as those inside the Wellington beltway and inside the Labour Party.
In a broad context, two children are involved, which I think we must all hold uppermost in our minds. Mr. Hipkins became Prime Minister roughly a year after he and Jade Paul had separated. They had kept that quiet until he was elevated to Prime Minister following the departure of Jacinda Ardern, and then it was revealed that he was in a relationship with his current partner, who had at some stage been an intern in the Labour Party. It is not clear whether he continued a relationship with her while he was still married — whether it was an extramarital affair — or whether it began while she worked for him or the Labour Party in some capacity. I think those are important issues when we consider the consequences for someone like Bill Clinton in regard to his political career and office relationships.
Breakups are tough for all parties involved. The main thing we've got to do is care for our kids. I am the child of a broken home. I was a solo dad and a father for a child in that situation. This is tough territory for everyone. The only innocents often in these things are the kids themselves, and I'd ask you to be conscious of that as you engage on this issue — as you have every right to as a voter in New Zealand and as a member of the public. You have every right to have an opinion about this. I'm not telling you what your opinion should be. I am simply giving you the facts.
I would also observe that had this involved Chris Luxon, we would have seen a very, very different reaction from the mainstream news media. They seem to be falling over themselves to publish Mr. Hipkins' denial of the allegations, while not publishing the allegations themselves — which is why I made the decision this morning to do what I have just done.