60 Minutes, the TVNZ documentary programme. In 1985 AWARE (Americans Wanting Animal Research Exposed) had this to say about 60 Minutes' US namesake: "Does it expose all corruption, or, only that which it is not involved in?" after its documentary on animal research. "Presenting it as the typical false theme of 'human health vs. animal suffering'… they failed to do their famous 'third degree' questioning of the researchers". This despite the camera crew having taped an entire rally where Hans Ruesch spoke.

In New Zealand 12 years on it doesn't seem much different. It was a week that saw the Researched Medicines Industry (membership comprised of the Pharmaceutical Industry) launch a one million dollar advertising campaign due to a relatively trivial threat to their profits from the NZ Government drug buyer Pharmac - if only the RMI would put their money into safe and effective medicines (we'll stop dreaming). By a coincidence (does anyone believe in those anymore?) 60 Minutes chose to screen a documentary that featured interviews recorded several months previously with activists from Auckland Animal Action - why didn't they come and see NZAVS, we've sent 60 Minutes press releases before? What about the internationally acclaimed AV author residing in Wellington? Nevertheless Aaron and Deidre handled the interview confidently despite the interviewer asking questions from the "have you stopped beating your wife?" category. Somehow the presenter managed to depict AVs as people-haters, indeed one of the presenters' first lines was "four-legs good, two legs bad". The 60 Minutes crew couldn't praise the notorious Auckland vivisector, Peter Gluckman, enough; describing him at one stage as a "heroic pioneer". They did all but recommend he be knighted and sainted. Gluckman's research will save babies' lives - although Gluckman himself states that he doesn't know if his results in mice and sheep will work with humans. He magically produces a figure of 90% probability from thin air with the interviewer not bothering to challenge him, well he's a scientist so he must be right. If 60 Minutes had come to NZAVS with Gluckman's statement we would have informed them of studies by Ames et al, published in Science which showed the following:

When one looks at the results of extrapolating between such 'similar' animals as rats and mice it becomes clear that there can be no correlation between mice and humans. Dr Ames, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of California, Berkeley, USA reports: "Of 392 chemicals in our database tested in both rats and mice, 226 were carcinogenic in at least one test, but 96 of these were positive in the mouse and negative in the rat or vice versa". For all practical purposes there is a 50:50 chance that a mouse carcinogen would be a rat carcinogen as well. This amounts to the flip of a coin.

It was as if 60 Minutes had come to an agreement not to challenge Gluckman on anything he said. For instance he claimed that animals used in research are anaesthetised. Surely the anaesthesia would introduce would potentially introduce a distortion in the results of the experiment, but then when you're already using a completely useless model ie. the laboratory animal, which bears no relation to a non-laboratory human, it doesn't matter so much.

Of more interest is the role of the police in the documentary. The NZ Police has set up a special department to target anti-vivisectionists. Headed by Cam Donald it was reported that in Auckland alone this year the Animal Liberation Front had caused over $200 000 in property damage. The potential is there for it to escalate, Donald said, making the point that in UK in 1992 the ALF was more active than the IRA.

Also Peter Gluckman told us that there have been vivisectors who have exited the vivisection industry due to the pressure put on them by anti-vivisectionists.

Catherine Smith, of 56 Orchard Avenue, Hamilton, was presented as an inoffensive vet. She is a lot more sinister than that. She was Veterinary Association President and ethics advisory committee member who described the video Hidden Crimes as "unethical, inaccurate, gruesome" - this sounds more like a description of vivisection. She is the convenor of the Animals in Schools Education Trust Board that seeks to provide "balanced" information to schools. She has her own Code of Ethical Conduct (using another organisation's animal ethics committee) for her manipulation of live animals. 60 Minutes presented her as an inoffensive vet but omitted to mention the parts she plays in the vivisection propaganda machine, which made her a target for campaigners.

The programme avoided the real arguments, was unbalanced, uncritical, error-riddled, sensationalist and superficial. Typical of TVNZ's lack of coverage of the vivisection debate.

Peter Gluckman, vivisector