The political demise of Metiria Turei: “fraud, liar, cheat, ugh leftie”

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I describe a three-week analysis of newspaper articles from three major New Zealand newspapers relating to a statement made by New Zealand politician and Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. Using a “figurative methodology” I argue that the emotionally-charged language used by the media to describe Turei during this period linked her to the affective figure of the welfare mother and, in the process, constituted her as deceitful, lazy and unfit to hold political office. I consider the welfare discourse featuring in articles that not only portrayed Turei negatively but also those that appeared to present Turei in a neutral or positive way. My interest is a consideration of the negative emotion implicit within such rhetoric that works to weaken sympathy for women dependent upon the state for support. I argue that the media reliance upon this language works to constitute welfare mothers in a specific and limiting way, and ultimately led to the end of Metiria Turei’s political career.