Kevin Milne

Christchurch-raised Kevin Milne is best known for a single television show: his 26 year run as a reporter and presenter on popular consumer affairs show Fair Go.

Milne's father died the day Kevin turned 15. Soon after, his older brother Brian was killed in a car accident, while studying in the United States. Largely disinterested at high school, Milne found confidence during compulsory sessions at the debating club. Although normally reserved, he soon found himself representing the college in public speaking and debating competitions. Milne argues that all secondary schools should include public speaking in their curriculum.

Although he auditioned to become a radio announcer, Milne's defiantly Kiwi accent did not fit the then accepted style of Queen's English. For two years he did elocution lessons on Saturday mornings while working as a bank teller, then won a place on the journalism course at Wellington Polytechnic.

In 1970 he was invited to join the NZ Broadcasting Corporation as a general reporter. Milne tried to resign after six months, to avoid being sent to a radio station in Invercargill. He got lucky; instead he was transferred to the television desk, where he learnt much about the basics of TV news from news editors Doug Eckhoff and Lindsay Shelton. Milne was one of the only staff on hand the night Israeli athletes were taken hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Thanks to some frenzied phone calls Kiwi sports commentator Lance Cross was able to phone in a report that night from Kiwi Olympics headquarters, which was located close to the crisis.

The same year Milne headed to London. He was unblocking toilets when he scored a six-month contract with the BBC, writing for high profile news show News Extra. The BBC supplied a chauffeur-driven limo after the late shift, but Milne felt underconnected compared to his public school-educated colleagues. Then  he fluked a dream job handling orders for an oil firm owned by the Shah of Iran, where he met his wife Linda.

When Milne arrived back in New Zealand in late 1976, television had doubled to two channels. After a short stint in Auckland, he was sent by Doug Eckhoff to the Wellington newsroom of new channel Television One. Milne's first attempt at live newsreading went so badly, one executive argued he should never go on live television again. Eckhoff gave him another chance. Milne went on to report on the 1978 Kaikoura UFO story, which went global, and found himself in newspapers after breaking a story about plans by Railways to shut down some services. 

When TVNZ was created in 1980, Milne was astonished to learn of a new, amalgamated news centre being established in Auckland, despite Wellington's "immensely more successful and popular TV One news" team. He moved sideways into general and special interest programmmes, starting with Production Line, which showcased new innovations. He was dipping his toes into the world of "so-called television celebrity". For the first time hair and makeup got mentioned, and a producer was on hand to help him perform in front of the camera. "It was the first time there were clapper-boards and people yelling 'Action'. This was the difference between being a news reporter and fronting a production."

With producer Peter Morritt, he helped create whatever-happened-to style show Then Again, tracking down the Lawson quins and interviewing comedian John Clarke. In 1982 he began "the toughest work year of my life", as Wellington editor of a new mid-evening show, Eyewitness News. Milne was leading a team of talented  but "high maintenance" reporters, who were soon fiercely competing with the same channel's prime time news for the best stories. At one point Milne helped out by interviewing the "scarey" Rob Muldoon (as he describes early in this video interview). He argues that Eyewitness News was ahead of its time, and in its early years New Zealand's "best news programme".

But after a year of five one-hour shows each week, Milne was exhausted. It was perfect timing to take up an offer to join Fair Go, the hit show which investigated consumer complaints, from the tragic to the farcical. By 1984 it had already run for seven years. Milne learnt a lot from both the show's "outstanding" co-creator Brian Edwards and Philip Alpers, who joined the Fair Go team when Edwards left after Milne's first year.

For a long period the show had been introduced by the particular reporter handling that night's opening story. In 1993 it was decided that permanent hosts were needed. Milne and the "wonderfully analytical" Rosalie Nelson got the job (after initially being told that others were taking on the role). When Nelson left, Anna Thomas joined Milne as co-host. Milne continued to contribute as a reporter until 2009. In 1996 he cameoed on Shortland Street, busting Karl Burnett's character; in 2000 he hosted the short-lived Kev Can Do, where he solved problems and granted viewer wishes.  

Milne’s Fair Go investigations have produced some of the biggest payouts seen on the programme, including $350,000 to a former prison officer who failed to get an insurance payout after slipping over on the job. Milne's two-part investigation into Auckland car dealer Tony Radisich (one of the only Fair Go cases to go to the Court of Appeal) won headlines before it was finally allowed to air.

Milne writes in detail about some of Fair Go's most memorable cases and contributors in his 2010 book The Life and Times of a Brown Paper Bag. Among them are stories on hidden cameras, occasionally violent English roof painters, a likeable hoarder, and an epic defamation case (later dropped) over the merits of Maxicrop fertiliser.

Along the way Milne turned himself from an employee into a contractor. When Fair Go was off-air he did stints on travel show Holiday and dabbled in public relations. Offered an episode of Intrepid Journeys, he recalled that the beachside episodes of Holiday were often the dullest; so he picked Ukraine over warmer climes. Shortly before turning 60, he found himself in an abandoned city near Chernobyl, feeding a pet bear, and jumping into an ice-cold river. Later he became a regular guest on Jack Tame's Newstalk ZB radio show.

In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, Milne was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to broadcasting and the community. He has also won the 2004 Qantas Media Award for Best Presenter, and a 2009 Qantas Television Award for Best News and Current Affairs presenter.

In September 2010, Milne announced he'd be leaving TVNZ when Fair Go's current season was complete. TVNZ News and Current Affairs head Anthony Flannery argued that Milne's contribution to broadcasting and the New Zealand community had made him one of the country's best known and most appreciated public figures. Said Flannery: "There are literally generations of New Zealanders who know that when it comes to consumer rights, Kevin Milne is the man."

Profile updated on 27 May 2022

Sources include
Kevin Milne, The Life and Times of a Brown Paper Bag (Auckland:Random House, 2010)
Kirsty Johnston, 'Kevin Milne announces retirement' Stuff website. Loaded 20 September 2010. Accessed 23 May 2022
Unknown writer, 'End of an Era: Kevin Milne to leave TVNZ'(broken link) TVNZ website. Accessed 29 September 2010