Articles by Graham Adams

Dr Garth Cooper has devoted his career to helping fellow Māori but he now finds himself in the gun over his opinions about science and indigenous knowledge. Graham Adams reports from the front lines of the culture wars. New Zealanders like their heroes talented and modest and preferably devoted to public service as well. Sir Edmund Hillary is the exemplar of that breed and very…

David Lange is one of the most tragic figures of our modern political history. Highly articulate and entertaining, he was ushered into power in a landslide in 1984 during an economic and financial crisis. Feted as the youngest Prime Minister of the 20th century, he dazzled the nation with his wit and intellect. By the time he resigned in 1989, however, he was seen as a weak and…

The Prime Minister’s politics — including her stance towards the Mongrel Mob and the Taliban — can be baffling. Graham Adams reckons answers lie in her past as a Mormon. Whether it is from politeness or a lack of curiosity, it is rare for journalists or commentators to dwell on Jacinda Ardern’s religious history and how it might have shaped her politics. When the Prime Minister…

A distinctly curious feature of the backlash against the letter published in the Listener titled “In Defence of Science” is that none of its most prominent critics have actually defended mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) as being scientific. Yet the main point of the letter by the Auckland University professors — and the main point of contention for its critics — was…