Homophobic broadcaster and publisher Ian Wishart is to leave Radio Pacific next month following a reshuffle of the talk radio network's line-up that has left New Zealand's favourite gay-soy theorist homeless. The station announced last week to its staff that gay-baiting afternoon host Mark Bennett would take over Wishart's 7pm weeknight slot ("adding an exciting new dimension to talk back at nights"), ending speculation over Bennett's future, sparked by an earlier announcement that breakfast host Paul Henry would be usurping Bennett's drive show. However, Pacific had nothing to say on the future of Wishart until last Friday, when the man himself announced his resignation. A media release on the amateurish website devoted to New Zealand's self-proclaimed “best current affairs magazine” Investigate (owned, operated, largely written and self-published by Wishart), says that internal restructuring at Pacific created what our hero calls "an untenable situation” that would have conflicted with the interests of Investigate. Radio Pacific's media release, alarmingly full of misspellings and typos, has programme director Chris Gregory saying that he thinks the “recent announcement to changes to the afternoon and evening lineup allowed Ian to reassess his workload”. That workload includes launching an Australian edition of Investigate, which is apparently being backed by a group of international investors. "For eight months the INVESTIGATE office has been working on 'Project X' - today I can confirm the magazine is about to launch a fully Australian edition of the publication," says Wishart on the magazine's website. “It's a big step, but we are very excited about the publication. The magazine will require more of my time and the hours at Radio Pacific were no longer conducive to publishing deadlines,” he added as part of the Radio Pacific release. The launch into Australia will now mean our cousins across the Tasman will have access to the quality journalism of Investigate that has, in the past, been described as “warped” and “dotty” by the New Zealand Herald and the National Business Review respectively. The one time trenchcoat wearing Wishart's fundamentalist view of Christianity has permeated a great deal of his work, most evident in his writings on Prime Minister Helen Clark. In an “unauthorised biography” published last year in Investigate that was paranoically obsessed with homosexuality, Wishart alleged that Clark is a closet lesbian and that sexuality is driving Labour's agenda to socially re-engineer New Zealand society and legitimise same-sex relationships, a Freudian response to her own repressed desires. Amongst the evidence provided were quotes from anonymous “friends” of the Prime Minister and comments Miss Clark made in an essay in 1984, as well as accusations that Labour was carrying out “state-ordered brainwashing” via gay-themed programming on television. In a cursory study of TV listings that rivaled the “research” of disgraced American social scientist Paul Cameron, Wishart somehow arrived at the conclusion that gay programming on New Zealand television was as high as 30%. Herald columnist Diana Wichtel detailed and commented on the “evidence” presented: “Wishart notes the presence of an unnamed bisexual "senior appointee" at TVNZ and comments on the sexuality of the Chief Film Censor and his deputy. The spectre of Government interference in TVNZ is raised: “"The Prime Minister herself publicly called on TVNZ last year to screen its gay and lesbian lifestyle show, Queer Nation, in a more popular timeslot."” Last time I looked Queer Nation was showing at the very popular timeslot of 11pm.” Wishart used his Radio Pacific slot to further disseminate this theory, saying that Shortland Street was a taxpayer-funded programme that used a gay storyline “carefully crafted” to make homosexuality appear normal and acceptable, and this was a result of Helen Clark being in control of television. Shortland Street publicist Rachel Lorimer responded that the programme was self-sufficient and received no taxpayer funding, and that its maker South Pacific Pictures is in total control of the programme's production, which obviously includes decisions on storylines and characters. Wishart later denied alleging the programme was taxpayer-funded. But back to the Clark bio: Wishart also accused the PM of a “pathological” dislike of men, “pathological” hatred toward the idea of having children, and “hostility” toward the modern nuclear family, as well as expressing concern at gays and lesbians in positions of power. “As part of the matrix that defines who Helen Clark is and how she thinks, her gender preferences are crucial in assessing how she might approach a given social issue,” he said in his editorial. In April this year, Investigate published a similar expose on gay MP Tim Barnett entitled “Queerly Beloved”. It compared Barnett to Lenin and accused him of ulterior motives in pushing civil unions. The article, penned by far right journalist Bernard Moran, made sinister connections between Barnett's involvement with lobby group Stonewall in the UK and paedophilia, and suggested that civil unions were a backdoor for polygamy and group marriage. The appointment of openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson in the United States did not go unnoticed by Wishart. He condemned Robinson on his Radio Pacific show, and said that if anyone openly defying teachings and calling themselves Christians were calling themselves such to suit their own ends they would be “a long time roasting” on Judgement Day, and may “God have mercy” on those who were genuinely confused. The madness didn't stop there. In answering a reader's letter on gay bishops in the Helen Clark issue of Investigate, Wishart made reference to “some fascinating scientific research that indicates the massive increase in the use of soy milk over the past four decades has contributed to increased levels of homosexuality among men”. The allegation that soy consumption was turning New Zealand men gay caused a mixture of amusement and bewilderment among health and nutrition experts and child-care professionals. Wishart didn't provide details of the gay-soy research in Investigate, and when asked to by GayNZ.com, he responded promptly with Googled links to articles on lesbian seagulls and gay fish, along with a link to a website run by Northland bird-breeder Dick James, whose “Soy Online Service” believes in an international soy industry conspiracy and cover-up. The website quotes the fictional Star Wars character Darth Vader in support of their claims, while James himself believes that cross-dressing in Polynesian culture is attributable to heavy taro consumption. Anyway... by this stage, Wishart wasn't too happy with GayNZ.com's coverage of his anti-gay outbursts on radio and in print. In a spontaneous piece of correspondence, Wishart emailed us to say he had “written essays on the nature of Hell” and extensively quoted Biblical passages that condemned homosexuality and affirmed heterosexuality. One stated that those engaging in any sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage should cast out their eyes, lest they be “cast into hell fire”. Wishart absolved himself of responsibility for the comments by telling us these were “Jesus' words – not mine”. Hell hath no fury like a born-again scorned – the following month Wishart spent most of his editorial in Investigate slamming GayNZ.com and labeling its contributors “tragic creatures”. He seemed surprised that GayNZ.com had not replied to any of his emailed correspondence. “It's always amusing to see people pretending to be journalists,” he wrote. “That's the problem these days – anyone can set up a webpage and call themselves a reporter." Radio Pacific says the launch of Wishart's self-published magazine into Australia will boost Investigate's circulation to around double the size of the Auckland-centric Metro magazine. Wishart is deluding himself if he thinks printing more copies of his magazine alone will increase sales, however. Investigate does not even figure among the most popular 50 magazine titles currently on sale in New Zealand. Despite both Radio Pacific and Wishart claiming there is no animosity between them, it is clear that Wishart's departure is part of an attempt to rebrand the network, which has a negative public image as a redneck station for old people. The station came under heavy fire last year for Mark Bennett's comments comparing homosexuality to paedophilia and necrophilia, and his false allegations that a function at Premier House hosting Sir Ian McKellen and organised by Wellington gay business group GAP was taxpayer-funded. The employment of the socially liberal Michael Laws to fill the morning slot last year, the sidelining of the retrograde Mark Bennett to nights, and Wishart's departure are all pointers to Pacific's desire to refresh its audience. And as for Wishart? The Australian edition of Investigate sadly will not entail a move across the Tasman for him, but one feels it would be grossly unfair to inflict such a thing on gay and lesbian Aussies. They've got enough problems with John Howard and Mark Latham trying to ban gay marriage. No, for Wishart, there's plenty on his plate with a magazine empire to grow, and a movie release to look forward to; acclaimed Kiwi director Geoff Murphy has helmed Spooked, a movie based on Wishart's popular book The Paradise Conspiracy. Wishart apparently has a cameo in the film, setting his roots firmly in a world where he is obviously most comfortable – the world of fiction. Chris Banks - 27th July 2004