Frank Newman: Three Waters – Many Lies

The expression, “An orchestrated litany of lies” was made famous by Justice Peter Mahon (when describing the evidence given by Air NZ executives in the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Mount Erebus disaster). It could equally describe the Government’s case for its Three Waters reform. 

Local Government Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, says the case for reform is proven. It’s not. The need to expropriate local authority water assets is far from proven and has the hallmarks of being contrived to suit other political purposes.

What we have seen is false advertising and orchestrated ‘news’ items on mainstream media to promote a perception that there is a need for reform. We have been given false assurances that the councils will retain ‘ownership’ of their water assets despite councils having no benefits of ownership and a report prepared by the Internal Affairs Department for Standard & Poors admitting water entities will have “limited Local Authority oversight”.

Henry Armstrong: Does Our Government Engage In Mis- And Disinformation?

In an interesting piece by Mitch McCann in Newshub (8^th March), our neo-Marxist Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (you know, she who has a degree in Communication) commenting on the Parliamentary sit-in, is quoted as saying: “One day it will be our job to try and understand how a group of people could succumb to such dangerous and wild mis- and disinformation”. 

But, does her government itself deliberately engage in using mis-and disinformation to promote itself and it’s policies, which it accuses others of doing?

McCann is one of those journalists invited to attend the daily 1pm TV Pantomime Covid briefings, sometimes being mistaken for Zane Small by Deputy PM Robertson when addressing journalists by their first names.

According to Kate McNamara, NZ Herald (10 March), in a series on the use of spin doctors by our New Zealand government (Ardern’s office has several), it  now transpires that the government “selected” a group of 21  Covid19  “commentators ”for “special briefings” earlier in the pandemic to ensure they could help get the “right message” out. I wonder who, how, and why they selected the gifted “21”?

Did you know that?

Lindsay Mitchell: NEWSFLASH - Huge drop in Jobseeker numbers!

Wow.

Net Jobseeker numbers dropped by nearly 5,000 in the week to November 12. That's fantastic. 

The number of people cancelling their Jobseeker benefit  numbered 8,280 - an increase of 5,535 on the prior week. The economy must really be picking up!

Too good to be true?

Lindsay Mitchell: Carmel rains on Jacinda's parade

At the very moment Jacinda Ardern was promising a "factual election campaign free from misinformation" her Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni was issuing a desperate press release about the latest rise in benefit numbers.

The number of people on Jobseeker benefits has gone up 10 percent since December 2018. 

Here's Sepuloni's take: