Dubious Achievements 2019
The Godwin’s Law Monocle-and-Jackboots Award for Bringing Up Hitler goes to John Tamihere.
Would failed Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere have got the trains to run on time? Maybe, with the help of his 18-lane harbour bridge, as imagined in those plans that looked like they came with a Meccano Starter Set. But we’re really just trying to think of any upside to having a would-be mayor who thought it was okay to say “Sieg Heil” in an election debate. Tamihere argued he was making a point about his opponent Phil Goff acting like Hitler (in supporting a ban on visiting right-wing figures speaking in Auckland Council-owned venues). And we’re assured he didn’t click his heels for emphasis. But the uber Westie has form on the dumb, Nazi-related remark front, dating back to his infamous “front-bums” interview in 2005, when he declared himself “sick and tired of hearing how many Jews got gassed” in the Holocaust. We’ll accept that he’s a serial attention-seeker rather than an actual Nazi
