NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

TEDxAuckland: Tom Scott is the 11th hour optimist

By Jamie Joseph
APN / NZ HERALD·
28 Apr, 2015 02:10 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tom Scott, a political journalist of 15 years, gave up the grind of power shuffling for the daily cartoon. Photo / Supplied

Tom Scott, a political journalist of 15 years, gave up the grind of power shuffling for the daily cartoon. Photo / Supplied

If Tom Scott could go back in time to any era and cover unfolding events, he would be hot on the trail of the Beatles, conquering Liverpool, 1962. Or New York, when Bob Dylan was finding his way.

"And how is it that this man from Stratford that goes by the name of Shakespeare has such an extraordinary ability?" adds Scott. "I have a degree in physiology, and I nearly became a vet, but I wish I'd done a degree in English Literature."

The political journalist of 15 years gave up the grind of power shuffling for the daily cartoon, but his clashes with Sir Robert Muldoon became the stuff of legend. Muldoon obsessed over getting Scott fired, wrote several infuriated letters to his editor, had him kicked out of press conferences, and even had him banned from a trip to China.

Gallery:

Image 1 of 3:

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But it was during Lange's ministry in 1987 that Scott changed tracks from writing and illustrating a column each week to channelling his activist roots into the polarising and profound art of cartoons.

"I just thought everyone is enjoying this except me. It was exhausting," says Scott. "I read an interview recently with Jon Stewart who was so depressed because he had to trawl every day through Fox News and was getting increasingly despondent at the ignorance and stupidity, and so he had to chuck it in."

But looking back at his career Tom Scott is never short of highlights, and says he is most proud of the work he did during the Apartheid era, and especially during the 1981 Springbok rugby tour. It was the tour that divided a nation, with tens of thousands of keen rugby fans attending games played behind razor wire and under massive police protection. Outside the rugby grounds tens of thousands of protestors were equally loud in their denunciation. Hundreds of people were injured, but miraculously no one was killed.

"I drew a lot of cartoons during the rugby tour, and people told me that it was instrumental in tipping their views. And I just knew, with every bone in my body, that we were on the right side of history."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In 1995 Tom Scott met Nelson Mandela during his presidential visit to New Zealand and gave him two of his drawings. He reminisces and says that day of 'Madiba Magic' was a little like Beatlemania.

In 2011 Scott produced the feature film Rage, taking into account the police perspective of the 1981 rugby tour. He co-wrote the script together with his brother-in-law police Superintendent Grant O'Fee. It is the story of star-crossed lovers, a beautiful young Maori policewoman who goes undercover and falls in love with a charismatic anti tour student protestor.

We speak about war, nuclear power, and the sixth extinction. Ultimately, Tom Scott is an optimist who believes that at the 11th hour people will come to their senses.

"Anyone in 1943 could be forgiven for being a pessimist. No one would ever have believed Germany and France would share the same currency. Women and gay rights have the vote, but it is just so devastating that the environment continues to suffer."

Discover more

New Zealand

TEDxAuckland 2015: The road less travelled

05 May 08:05 PM

Tom Scott cites global warming as one of the biggest threats facing New Zealand. The ongoing industrialisation of the dairy sector is by far our biggest contribution to climate change, with emissions on the rise, and with more than half of New Zealand's waterways unsafe to swim in, the dairy industry has a lot to answer for.

"We are sitting on a potential environmental catastrophe," says Scott. "And I look at my beautiful grandchildren and I just think, What a world they are inheriting."

Tom Scott is featured on the 2015 TEDxAuckland line up taking place on Saturday 2 May. To check out all the details and read the full line up, visit tedxauckland.com. Tickets will sell out.

Like what you see? For weekly Element news sign up to our newsletter. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey briefed on death of Auckland baby

03 Jul 06:21 AM
New Zealand

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

New Zealand

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey briefed on death of Auckland baby

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey briefed on death of Auckland baby

03 Jul 06:21 AM

A baby's body was found in a wheelie bin on Renall St in Freemans Bay, Auckland.

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Premium
Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

03 Jul 06:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP