Paul Holmes (broadcaster)

Sir Paul Holmes KNZM
Holmes in January 2013
Born	Paul Scott Holmes (1950-04-29)29 April 1950 Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Died	1 February 2013(2013-02-01) (aged 62) Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington
Occupation(s)	Radio and television broadcaster
Years active	1972–2012
Known for	Broadcasting

Sir Paul Scott Holmes

Owing to his success, Holmes picked up a celebrity-like status and often made appearances in other media such as long running soap opera Shortland Street.

Holmes underwent treatment for

Early life

Born in 1950 as the first son of Chrissie and Henry Holmes, a mechanic,

Holmes had a particular interest in radio, and by sixth form he was practising announcing into the family tape recorder, auditioning at the local radio station, and acting on stage.[5] At high school, Holmes became close friends with Mike Williams (future President of the New Zealand Labour Party) and Peter Beaven (future CEO of Pipfruit NZ). The trio remained friends for the rest of Holmes' life.^[7]

In 1968, Holmes left his family home

Holmes began his career on radio in Christchurch in the 1970s. He then worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands before returning to New Zealand to take up a morning slot on Wellington station 2ZB.

In March 1987, Holmes took over from 1ZB host Merv Smith, who had been breakfast host for many years. This coincided with a change in format from community radio (middle of the road music, news, community notices, etc.) to Newstalk. The change was controversial, as many long-standing Smith listeners did not like Holmes or the news, interview and talkback format with no music. 1ZB fell to seventh position in the ratings and it took over a year before Holmes' show eventually rose to number one in the ratings for the programme's time slot.

In 1989, Holmes became part of the younger, new-look revamp of

In the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, Holmes was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting and the community.^[9]

After 15 years anchoring Holmes, he was reportedly disgusted to have been offered a six-month contract instead of an annual alternative and subsequently on 2 November 2004 he resigned from the show.

His new show, Paul Holmes, launched on Prime on 7 February 2005. The new show was up against two new competitors,

However, these small changes were not enough to save the show, the timeslot change proving fatal. On 8 August 2005, almost six months to the day after the show launched, it was axed by Prime Television, with Prime chief executive Chris Taylor citing poor ratings and inability to attract viewers from the traditional primetime news strongholds of TV One and TV3. The show returned in a weekly format in late 2005 and in 2006 was revamped into an hour-long chat show similar to the popular UK show hosted by Michael Parkinson.

In 2005, Holmes was dropped from the New Zealand Listener's 50 most powerful people list largely because of his TV show's poor ratings and influence.

He appeared on

In the 2013 New Year Honours, Holmes was appointed as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to broadcasting and the community.^[18][19] His investiture was conducted on 16 January 2013 at his residence, earlier than originally scheduled due to his failing health.^[20] Just a week later, Holmes was admitted to hospital.^[21] He was held under observation for two nights and was then released back into the care of his family.^[16] Many of those who had previously clashed with Holmes released statements making peace with the broadcaster, but a notable refusal to comment came from Dennis Conner (the American skipper who walked out of the first Holmes episode).^[22]

Holmes died on 1 February 2013 at his family home in Hawkes Bay.^[23][24][25] His public funeral was held on 8 February.^[26][27]

Personal life

Holmes' personal life was highly documented in the

In 1991, Holmes became a father when his partner, Hinemoa Elder, gave birth to a son, Reuben Holmes.^[24] Elder had a daughter from a past relationship, Millie, whom Holmes was very attached to and who openly described herself as a "daddy's girl".^[33] Holmes later stated one of the proudest moments in his lifetime was when Millie referred to him as "dad".^[34] Holmes married Elder the following year but the marriage only lasted 5 years.^[24][35] Towards the end of the marriage, Holmes began a short-lived affair with co-worker Fleur Revell that eventually saw him leave his wife and children.^[8] In 1998, Holmes started seeing real estate agent Deborah Hamilton.^[24] In 1999, the two moved in with each other, and in 2003, married.^[24]

In 2007, Holmes' stepdaughter, Millie Elder-Holmes, was arrested on charges of possession of methamphetamine.^[36][37] Holmes stood by Millie and ended up campaigning against the drug.^[33][38] Holmes' public addressing of the issue and opposition to Millie's boyfriend led to the two falling out for over a year. In January 2010, they reconciled.^[33] Charges were eventually dropped.^[39] In 2014, Millie's boyfriend, Connor Morris, was killed in a fight in Massey, West Auckland.^[40]

Controversies

Holmes gained media attention for a number of controversial remarks about prominent individuals and issues, including a comment made in 2003 about wahi tapu (Māori sacred places).

• In 2001, the
  New Zealand Business Roundtable, which Holmes was reputed to have known about but did not disclose.^[41][42]
• In September 2003, he repeatedly referred to then-
  Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a "cheeky darkie" during his radio show.^[43] There was an international outcry following the comments, but Holmes kept his job after making several emotional apologies, claiming he had been "tired". The major sponsor of his TV show, Mitsubishi Motors, withdrew its support.^[2]
• In March 2004, he called the then-Israeli Prime Minister the "butcher Sharon." Later that year he described Tariana Turia as a "confused bag of lard", "a bully" who "folded under pressure" and who did not have the "guts to vote", as being "all mouth and no trousers, all talk and no walk" and a "complete fool".^[44]
• In November 2010, TVNZ announced it would investigate official complaints regarding Holmes' performance on the current affairs show Q&A during an interview with various players in the Hobbit film project controversy.^[45]
• In February 2012, Holmes wrote an opinion piece for The New Zealand Herald strongly criticising Waitangi Day and Māori people. He labelled Waitangi Day as "loony Maori fringe self-denial day" and described a "hopeless failure of Maori to educate their children and stop them bashing their babies."^[46] The piece resulted in a number of formal complaints,^[1] which were upheld by the New Zealand Press Council.^[3]

See also

• List of New Zealand television personalities

References