Leighton Smith (radio)

Leighton Smith is an Australian-born talkback radio host based in Auckland, New Zealand. He is on air, Monday to Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and midday NZST on foreign-owned media conglomerate, Newstalk ZB. [ [http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/personalities.asp?menu=3&menuitem=2 Newstalk ZB Presenter page] ]

He always starts his show with a monologue of a few minutes discussing his thoughts on recent events and setting a few potential discussion topics for the talkback part of his show. Smith is an extreme right-winger, an advocate of social authoritarianism and a sceptic of anthropogenic global warming. He opposes any form of minimum wage, advocates the restoration of the death penalty in New Zealand, and opposes Muslim immigration. He often posts links on his own personal web site relating to issues he has raised. [ [http://www.leightonsmith.co.nz/ Leighton's personal web site] ]

Smith is notorious for his hostile treatment of callers who disagree with him, as well as his habit of using "socialism" as an all-encompassing term for things he doesn't like; in the past he has labelled New Zealand's Speaker of the House of Representatives, Margaret Wilson, as "Marxist Wilson", and has even gone so far as to say "we must make war on the socialists". Smith has also said that he would approve of the United States using nuclear weapons against Iran.

He owns the Clevedon Hills vineyard, near Auckland.

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