Duncan Garner (born 8 March 1974) is a New Zealand broadcaster and journalist.
He took over the Radio Live drive slot in December 2012 and was previously the Newshub political editor in Wellington. He moved to host The AM Show in 2017, which was broadcast on Three and Radio Live. Garner left Three on 23 August 2021, after a career of almost 20 years with the channel.
After receiving a degree in communications from AUT, Garner began his career at TVNZ in the mid 1990s, as a political reporter for veteran broadcaster Paul Holmes. He was praised in his early career for his scoop-heavy journalism, winning the 2004 Newspaper Publishers' Association award for Television Political News Reporter after exposing a $195,000 golden handshake received by then-Labour Party MP John Tamihere. After a second nomination for the award, in 2010, Three launched the weekend current affairs program The Nation with Garner as co-host.
Garner is known as an opinionated and sometimes divisive media personality, and has been described by the SBS as right-wing. He is a noted critic of Jacinda Ardern's premiership, often criticising her government's policies on his shows. He has been embroiled in several controversies to do with race and ethnicity. In 2017, Garner wrote in his Stuff.co.nz newspaper column of a "human snake" in a Kmart queue, to comment on high levels of South Asians and Syrians immigrating to New Zealand. The Press, who published his comments, found his comments to be in breach of anti-racism standards. He is also noted for his impassioned response to Taika Waititi's criticism of racism in New Zealand, and criticism of the New Zealand government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Garner went onto present a mid-morning show for the news and talk radio station Today FM, which ceased broadcasting after just over a year on air. He was retained by station owners Mediaworks to present a podcast.
Early life
Garner was born on 8 March 1974 on Auckland's North Shore, and attended Westlake Boys High School in Forest Hill. He studied for a communications degree at Auckland University of Technology.
Journalism career
He started his career as a reporter for Television New Zealand in 1995, working on the current affairs show Holmes from 2000 to 2002.
Garner then moved to rival TV3 in 2003. He broke the story of a NZ$195,000 golden handshake that Labour Party MP John Tamihere received leaving the Waipareira Trust in October 2004. The story prompted an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, which caused Tamihere to resign from Cabinet. Tamihere was later cleared of financial impropriety, and the story won Garner the 2004 Newspaper Publishers' Association award for Television News Reporter – Politics.
In August 2008, three months before the New Zealand general election, Garner broadcast audio tapes secretly recorded at a National Party cocktail party by Kees Keizer. The tapes caught deputy leader Bill English saying he would sell Kiwibank, and MP Lockwood Smith saying National had to adopt policies the party did not like in order not to scare voters. The broadcast earned Garner a nomination for Best News Reporting in the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards.
In March 2010, TV3 launched the weekend current affairs program The Nation, with Garner as co-host.
In the wake of the 2010 MPs expenses scandal, Labour Party politician Chris Carter alleged that Garner had a vendetta against him. The head of TV3 news and current affairs Mark Jennings replied saying Garner did not have a grudge, and "Carter is a serial offender on expenses ... it's Duncan's job to shine the light on that."
In 2013, Garner hosted two new current affairs shows on TV3 – 3rd Degree and The Vote.