Henry's suspension - readers respond

Paul Henry, left, and Sir Anand Satyanand. Photos Greg Bowker, Simon Baker

Hundreds of Herald readers have responded to Breakfast host Paul Henry's comments about Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand "not looking like a New Zealander" and his subsequent suspension.

Many slammed his comments and welcomed the suspension, while others called for TVNZ to go further.

"It doesn't matter if he was the first man to climb Everest. There are consequences for everyone great and not who are overtly racist and derogatory to others," Ethan commented on nzherald.co.nz. "Fire him tvnz! Have some decency."

In an email to nzherald.co.nz, Russell Bird said "Paul Henry's latest is the final mockery of anyone I will ever witness, my family have been regular watchers of this show but today was the last time, Paul Henry has to be replaced, he is a loose headed cannon and not a good representative of the true Kiwi."

Sumita Paul also called for Henry to be sacked. "Paul Henry is racist and does not have a vision for the country. People of such calibre should not be given the exposure or opportunity to propogate such views, especially through the nation's main television channel.

"Paul can have his own views but someone who has no respect for others should not be given the responsibility of hosting such a major show.
TVNZ should fire him."

Sunesh wrote "Henry is an idiot. An ignorant, disrespectful rowdy. Enough is enough - TVNZ HAS to remove him."

But Henry still has his die-hard supporters, many who reckon his suspension is another sign of "PC gone mad".

On our Facebook page, Charisa Rachael McEldowney said: "I was born here and my family name and their predecessors have been here over 100 years. I just have an issue with people who have been here five minutes deciding they are right to run NZ when they have no history with NZ. Does Anand Satyanand sound like a kiwi name? Put Paul Henry back on TV."

Doug Flash Sumner said "Bring back Paul, yet agin a lot of Kiwis have no sense of humour! PC gone mad", while Julie Baird wrote "BRING BACK PAUL, breakfast is nothing without him. Suspension is over the top, bought on my narrow minded people with tunnel vision."

On Facebook, two "Bring Back Paul Henry!" pages and two groups have already emerged. The most successful currently has 31 members.

The "F*** you Paul Henry" group has 1074 members and the "I am boycotting TVNZ until they sack Paul Henry" page has 769 fans.

- NZ Herald staff