Dominic George: Holidays end with nasty dose of reality

We should applaud the fact we can write freely in this country on any subject within reason

It was nice to hear that Farming Show host Jamie Mackay was reduced to an overworked wreck in my absence over the last month or so. He was reportedly brought to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably around the office as he had to deliver his own show by himself and also fill in on my show, Farming First.

You'll see no such schoolboy behaviour from me when I have to cover his sorry ass as he swans about the globe under the guise of work at regular intervals this year. At least I lived up to Mackay's own mantra regarding the value of one's work; namely, if you were to go away for a week or two would anyone even notice you're gone? Apparently I can rest easy.

But a return to work also means a return to news consumption; I wrote a few weeks ago that I block all that out when on holiday. Suffice to say most of the news on my return hasn't been pleasant, particularly around agriculture. We've obviously got drought-like conditions around certain parts of New Zealand as this wonderful summer continues virtually unabated. There's also been a spate of quad bike injuries and deaths, with the latest being the tragic death of a 6-year-old girl at a Wairarapa charity event at the weekend. And then there's the story of Rachel Stewart and her column.

The former Federated Farmers Wanganui president writes a fortnightly column for Fairfax-owned newspapers and took aim last week at farmers whose whinging, she claims, has recently "taken on a whole new level of screech". It's a fairly standard opinion piece and she backs up her various claims with examples of recent media coverage of certain topics and quotes from those in the farming sector. Although, curiously, she makes the spurious claim she's seen nothing to convince her farmers are better represented in suicide statistics than other professions. Statistics New Zealand figures reveal 16 people per 100,000 commit suicide in rural areas, as opposed to just over 11 in urban areas. When you factor in the road toll, which stands at 8.9, it's not hard to understand why the issue receives attention.

As with most opinion there are those for and those against " nothing too shocking there. But alarmingly there are now two investigations being undertaken after a threatening hand-written message was left in Stewart's letterbox and threats to rape and kill her were posted on social media (my God, how I've relished its absence in my life these past few weeks!). Apart from the tawdry and illiterate nature of the hand-written letter, which is now being investigated by the police, the irksome aspect of this story is the inherent hypocrisy and stupidity of these actions. You can almost guarantee the perpetrators were vociferous opponents of the outlandish executions at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris following the publication of a few cartoons they didn't like. It's only ink on paper after all ...

We should applaud the fact we can write freely in this country on any subject within reason. A Saudi blogger by the name of Raif Badawi has had this week's instalment of his 1000 lashes, administered at the rate of 50 a week, delayed as a doctor has deemed the injuries he received from last week's lashings still haven't healed. He apparently wrote about why the influence of clerics in the community should be limited. Exactly.

Last week I tried to debunk the popular theory that all farmers are moaners, while Rachel Stewart wrote that farmer whinging has reached a sort of crescendo. Who's right? Who's wrong? Who cares. It's simply a matter of points of view. But because of the actions of a few over-zealous half-wits, Federated Farmers president Dr William Rolleston has had to launch an internal investigation as Stewart says she received sexual insults on Twitter that were "favourited" by several elected officers of the Feds.

This must be particularly galling for Dr Rolleston, who put pen to paper last year suggesting Ms Stewart ignored a Federated Farmers media statement issued to correct claims made in the NBR relating to accusations of financial impropriety, which, he says, she merely repeated.

Regrettably I'm already forgetting my summer holiday. However, there's been one story that's cheered me up. It was on 3 News and concerned advancements in bicycle technology. Apparently in 1997 it was discovered that old-fashioned seats restricted blood flow and were causing erectile dysfunction. Cyclists are an odd breed so this came as no surprise, but given Mackay's insufferable lycra-clad bike-riding escapades for charity last year, which seemed to correlate with an increasing agitation towards me, I think it's safe to say he was riding a pre-90s model.