Sir Paul Scott Holmes (29 April 19501 February 2013) was a New Zealand broadcaster who gained national recognition through his high-profile radio and television journalism. Holmes fronted one of first major prime time current affairs shows of the 1980s, Holmes, which ran on TV One from 1989 to 2004. Holmes hosted the Newstalk ZB breakfast show from 1985 to 2008, and the Saturday morning show from 2009 to 2012.
Holmes' other ventures included several notable hosting slots, including a short-lived weekly show on Prime Television in 2005, two stints as the anchor of This Is Your Life and from 2009 until his retirement in 2012 the Sunday morning political talk show Q+A.
Due to his high-profile appearances and controversial manner, Holmes' personal life was often documented alongside his charitable efforts. He spent much of his career in the spotlight, including his campaigning of the Paralympics, the birth of his son, the collapse of his marriage, his daughter's drug problems and his death. Holmes was also credited with bringing AIDS awareness to New Zealand, after featuring a story on a young girl with the disease, Eve van Grafhorst, on Holmes. However, he was criticised for his offensive views on people of colour, specifically of Māori and Black people.
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 cancer in 1999 and heart surgery in 2012. He retired shortly after the latter treatment and in 2013 was knighted by the Governor-General of New Zealand. Just two weeks later, Holmes died at his Hawkes Bay home.
Early life
Born in 1950 as the first son of Chrissie and Henry Holmes, a mechanic, Holmes grew up in Hawke's Bay and attended Haumoana Primary School and later Karamu High School in Hastings whilst the family lived in Tuki Tuki Road on a small agricultural property. He and his younger brother Ken were involved in rowing and debating, and Paul became a prefect.
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. and began studying law at Victoria University of Wellington.
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. Shortly after this he moved to rival TV company Prime Television, which had offered him a three-year contract.
His new show, Paul Holmes, launched on Prime on 7 February 2005. The new show was up against two new competitors, John Campbell's Campbell Live on TV3 and Susan Wood's Close Up on TV One, in a three-way competition that had previously never been seen on New Zealand television. The scare was reportedly the return of the cancer. In June he underwent open heart surgery and was placed into an induced coma to heal. In November 2012 a television blog posted a story claiming Holmes only had weeks to live due to congestive heart failure. Holmes rejected the rumor. Holmes broadcast his final interview in November 2012, with Kim Dotcom as the subject. Following their interview, Holmes and Dotcom became friends and in Holmes' final days, he was visited by him. Holmes had left his breakfast show on ZB at the end of 2008, to be succeeded by Mike Hosking, instead doing daily phone-ins to Hoskings show. These also ended when he retired.
right|thumb|Holmes being knighted by the governor-general, Sir [[Jerry Mateparae, on 16 January 2013]]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. His investiture was conducted on 16 January 2013 at his residence, earlier than originally scheduled due to his failing health. Just a week later, Holmes was admitted to hospital. He was held under observation for two nights and was then released back into the care of his family.
Holmes died on 1 February 2013 at his family home in Hawkes Bay. His public funeral was held on 8 February.
Personal life
Holmes' personal life was highly documented in the media in part due to his celebrity status measuring up to those he interviewed. In 2004, he had two crash landings piloting his vintage Boeing Stearman biplane, on 14 January southeast of Tūrangi, and on 31 December at Bridge Pa Aerodrome near Hastings. Holmes also survived numerous health scares, including overcoming prostate cancer in 1999, and the heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Holmes later stated one of the proudest moments in his lifetime was when Millie referred to him as "dad". Holmes married Elder the following year but the marriage only lasted 5 years. 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. Holmes stood by Millie and ended up campaigning against the drug. 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. In 2014, Millie's boyfriend, Connor Morris, was killed in a fight in Massey, West Auckland.
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 Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled against Holmes for lack of balance and journalistic integrity in a series of news stories covering a campaign dubbed 'A Generation Lost?' The campaign, led by Auckland-based marketer Richard Poole, blamed the then Helen Clark-led Government for a brain-drain of 'young New Zealanders', a key political issue at the time. The campaign was later exposed as politically motivated and financially backed by the New Zealand Business Roundtable, which Holmes was reputed to have known about but did not disclose.
- In September 2003, he repeatedly referred to then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a "cheeky darkie" during his radio show. 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.
- 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".
- 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.
- 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." The piece resulted in a number of formal complaints, which were upheld by the New Zealand Press Council.
See also
- List of New Zealand television personalities