“There is one source of truth… and that’s the announcements we make here” – Chris Hipkins, Minister of Health, Beehive Press Conference 14 August.
On Monday, the Prime Minister announced that the General Election will be delayed for a month. It will now be held on Saturday 17th of October.
In her announcement she made the point, “COVID is continuing to disrupt life around the world. Pushing an election out by several months, for instance, does not lessen the risk of disruption. This will in part be the reason why many countries have held elections while managing COVID, including South Korea, Singapore and Poland.”
Far from being a source of truth, what the Prime Minister didn’t tell us is that more than 70 countries have postponed elections and referenda due to the pandemic!
The point is that in a democracy, elections should be free and fair. But if an incumbent government imposes a lockdown, with campaigning suspended and voters afraid to venture out from their homes, an election would be neither free nor fair.
A study about the impact of Covid-19 on elections by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) warns against running elections during a pandemic: “Democratic elections should feature a wide political campaign and broad public debate on public policy issues, which may be curtailed if citizens are restricted from moving freely. Moreover, any election campaign may be dominated by the current pandemic, preventing a comprehensive discussion on wider public policy issues from taking place.”
This has certainly been the case in New Zealand, where our Prime Minister has even labelled 2020 the “Covid Election” in order to capitalise on her high public rating for handling the lockdown.
Other crucial issues, such as whether wealth taxes will be introduced and income taxes increased to repay the massive debt the Government has created, have all been side-lined.
In other words, by deliberately focussing the election campaign on the pandemic, the Government has suffocated any meaningful discussion of wider public policy issues.
And this is something IDEA also warns about – that incumbent governments may try to take advantage of the pandemic for their own electoral benefit: “The risk that incumbent governments may act unilaterally for political advantage, or at least perceived political advantage, should be considered, to avoid undermining confidence in the process and the legitimacy of the result.”
It appears that the Prime Minister was planning to push ahead with a September election, until Winston Peters threatened to bring down the Government unless the election was delayed.
Political commentator Richard Harman explains what happened: “NZ First Leader Winston Peters has made public a letter saying he wants the Prime Minister to advise the Governor-General to delay the September 19 election to November 21 because of the restrictions that the current Covid-19 lockdown is placing on election campaigning… If the Prime Minister refuses a delay, then NZ First could advise the Governor-General that she no longer enjoys their confidence and should not, therefore, dissolve Parliament.”
It was this threat from New Zealand First that forced the Prime Minister to put fairness above political self-interest. But instead of pushing the election out until November, she chose October, no doubt in the hope of minimising negative publicity over border mismanagement.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, freelance journalist Karl du Fresne, describes the Government’s pandemic management as a ‘fiasco’:
“The most abject cockup of all was the failure to test workers at the border. Former Health Minister David Clark told the public weeks ago that border workers, including susceptible people such as bus drivers ferrying inbound airline passengers to isolation hotels, would be routinely tested. This seemed an obvious and fundamental precaution, but we now know it didn’t happen. Nearly two thirds of border workers – the people most likely to contract and spread the coronavirus in the community – were never tested. Some epidemiologists believe the Covid-19 virus was bubbling away undetected for weeks before the current resurgence.
“On one level this can be dismissed as simple incompetence, but it goes far beyond that. People might be willing to excuse incompetence up to a point, but they are not so ready – and neither should they be – to forgive spin, deception and dissembling. Misinformation can’t be blithely excused as a clumsy misstep, still less as “dissonance” (to use Bloomfield’s creative English). On the contrary, if misinformation is deliberate then it raises critical issues of trust and transparency.
“At a time of crisis, people are entitled to expect their leaders and officials to be truthful with them, especially when the public, in turn, is expected to play its part by making substantial social and economic sacrifices. If the government doesn’t uphold its side of this compact, it forfeits the right to demand that the public co-operate. That’s the situation in which we now appear to find ourselves. The bond of trust that united the government and the public in the fight against Covid-19 has been frayed to a point where it’s at risk of breaking.”
While the Director General of Health, the Minister of Health, and the Prime Minister all say that what has been happening at the border is not up to their expectations, Karl makes the point that it is not good enough that they are ducking for cover – they need to take responsibility and be publicly accountable for the failures.
As a result of the changed election date, the dissolution of Parliament is now scheduled for September 6.
September 13 will be Writ Day, when a formal direction will be issued to the Electoral Commission to hold the general election. It marks the beginning of the ‘election period’ – which ends at midnight on the eve of the election – when party-political election advertising can be broadcast.
Candidate nominations will now close on September 18, overseas voting will begin on September 30, and advance voting on October 3 – two weeks ahead of election day. At the last election 47 percent of votes were cast early, and with concerns about the virus being widespread, advance voting will be even more popular, with up to 60 percent of voters expected to vote early.
The Electoral Commission, which has planned for an election under Alert Level 2, will ensure that contact tracing occurs, that hand sanitiser is available, that physical distancing is possible in voting booths, and that staff can wear protective gear if necessary.
They also have plans in place for small scale ‘takeaway voting’ – for up to a maximum of 5,000 voters nationwide. It would involve delivering voting papers and then picking them up in communities of no more than 500 voters who have been placed under Alert Level 3 or 4.
There is also the normal postal voting option for voters who are unable to attend a polling booth through illness, age or disability. Applications for postal voting are now open but concerns are being raised that because the Prime Minister has opted to hold the election so close to the latest viral outbreak, not only could the postal service be overwhelmed, but there is also a growing potential for election fraud.
While the Prime Minister is adamant that the election will not be deferred again – no matter what happens regarding the virus – there is a safeguard. The Electoral Act contains a provision for the Chief Electoral Officer to delay the election for a week at a time – in the event that an outbreak makes it impossible to hold a free and fair election.
While the country is focussed on the virus, the economy, and the election, another important matter is being progressed – in a Rotorua Court.
The first of 202 pending applications to the High Court for the ownership and control of New Zealand’s coastline under the Marine and Coastal Area Act is now underway. It is the Edwards claim for a stretch of the Bay of Plenty coastline south of Whakatane from Ohope to Torere and out to the edge of the Territorial Sea.
Most of the claims were lodged with the High Court in 2017 on the eve of the seven-year deadline established by the Act. A further 358 applications were submitted to the Crown for direct negotiation. The Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Andrew Little, who is managing that process, recently released a draft timetable for dealing with those applications – he expects it will take 20 to 30 years for those claims to be resolved!
The Edwards case is important because it is likely to determine a number of crucial matters of principle regarding the claims process. To qualify for a customary title to the coast, the Act requires tribal applicants to prove they have had exclusive use and occupation of their claimed area without substantial interruption since 1840.
But since most of the coastal claims overlap with other claims, applicants are now seeking to re-define what is commonly understood to be ‘exclusive’, from the use of an area by one applicant group only, to the notion of ‘shared’ exclusivity whereby more than one tribal group can jointly claim control of the coast.
Since the Judge is expected to use this case to make a precedent-setting judicial determination regarding the ‘exclusive use and occupation’ test, the Landowners Coalition – a voluntary group representing the public interest – is pro-actively involved in the case as an interested party.
The Coalition, which is represented by the law firm of former MP Stephen Franks, opposes the concept of shared exclusivity. Their legal team is arguing that resolving claims under the Act is intensely factual, and requires the applicant group to prove they have satisfied all of the tests in the law, namely, that their use is ‘exclusive’, that they have ‘occupied’ the claimed area since 1840, and that there has been no ‘substantial interruption’ to their exclusive use.
With claimants having access to over $300,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance to prepare their cases, those opposing them in the public interest, like the Landowners Coalition, have to pay all of the costs themselves. That’s why the NZCPR is continuing to support the Coalition’s involvement in this important 8-week long case.
The law defines the coastal marine area as the distance between the average spring high tide waterline and the 12 nautical mile territorial limit – along with the airspace above, the water, and the subsoil, bedrock and mineral wealth below. It covers 10 million hectares of the richest natural resources in the country, equivalent to a third of the land area of New Zealand.
Claimants who succeed in gaining customary title to the coast will have rights akin to ownership, including the right to veto resource consents and conservation activities in their area, the right to charge commercial operators, the ability to impose a wahi tapu to restrict public access, and ownership rights to all non-nationalised minerals.
Staying with legal matters, a decision has now been released in another important High Court case – the challenge to the legality of the Government’s Alert Level 4 lockdown.
As political commentator Barry Soper explains, “Hats off to Andrew Borrowdale. He’s a Wellington lawyer – in fact he used to write laws for Parliament. He was so agitated about the lack of legal grunt behind the country being locked down on March 26 that he took a case to the High Court to challenge it – and he won…
“The High Court bench of three justices found that for the first nine days of the lockdown the Government’s requirement that Kiwis stay at home was justified – but unlawful. How you justify anything that’s unlawful is a little difficult to fathom. If you accept that, then surely it follows that a Government can act unlawfully, which… gives rise to anarchy or alternatively a dictatorship.”
So, there you have it. The first nine days of the lockdown breached New Zealand’s Bill of Rights – five million Kiwis were unlawfully detained in yet another case of Government incompetence, this time, on a massive scale!
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you agree with Minister Chris Hipkins that his Government is “the one source of truth”?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Low life communist p***k | Dave |
| Hipkins is missing at least two props when he performs his daily 1PM act in the Beehive. 1st is his 30cm nose and the 2nd is his clown hat, | Richard |
| This government has over seen a shambles in managing this pandemic. They have consistently lied to the public, refused to apologise and no-one is responsible. | Laurie |
| This Govt. is the last source of truth | Alan |
| I find this government very untrustworthy. | Levonne |
| The government has lied on a number of occasions – testing of border workers is one case in point. They also lied about the legality of level 4 lockdown. Why should we believe anything they say? | Kerry |
| This is a Socialist Government led by a marxist Prime Minister? Truth is not a factor only negotiation. The PM is slowly being pulled into the real world out of the socialist “Perfect World.’ May it continue to the Election and may the Voter finally wake up! | Frederick |
| Have we ever been able to TRUST Labour !!!!!! | Ross |
| Didn’t Joseph Goebbels say that back in the day? | Pascal |
| Think about what “truth” is!! | Pieter |
| Hipkins ardern bloomfield david Clarke have all lied | Dianne |
| Since when should anyone believe a politician? | Graeme |
| Can’t believe he actually SAID that after all the procrastination, spin, failure to check up on what is ACTUALLY happening, rather than what he THOUGHT should be! | Sylvia |
| hardly | john |
| It is propaganda on a massive scale. What is scary is that so many New Zealanders believe it. | Harry |
| ABSOLUTELY NOT | Murray |
| Laughable! | Lee |
| What a Joke !! | Pierre |
| 1984 – The Ministry of Truth. This Communist govt. have a very loose arrangement with the truth while the head honcho is the biggest liar. Hipkins has already made a mess of Education so why not Health? | Monica |
| HELL NO! | GRANT |
| Hard to believe anything they say esp with recent border security issues | Chris |
| With the track record of deception, misinformation, negligence and omissions, Cindy and her idiots need booting out. Why do we have such a pi– weak news media that are mesmerised by this woman? | David |
| New Zealand V North Korea. It’s becoming more difficult to tell them apart! | Glenda |
| Arrogant or ignorant or both. The equivalent of George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth, in his prophetic novel “1984”. Backfired against him , the PM and his cabinet colleagues in a very big way. Especially when the evidence has been piling up that the PM and the Government have deliberately misled the people of NZ on numerous occasions and “their version of the truth”, has been the complete anthesis to truth, which are lies. | John |
| I would like to, and all should be able to, but recently history is showing us otherwise. | David |
| Absolutely not! | moyra |
| NZ needs an independent body to analyse and dispense the facts…not like the current government spin. | Robert |
| Ardern is using the pandemic for political advantage. How can you trust her ? | tony |
| Not unless a cure or Vaccine can be found the the source traced. | Don |
| The public has been let down. | maurice |
| QUITE THE OPPOSITE | RICHARD |
| Obviously Chris Hipkins is trying out a new comedy routine as that’s the funniest lie I’ve heard in a very long time! So no given the Government constantly manipulates the truth, anything they say can rightly be considered to be anything but the Truth. | John |
| a joke surely | Graeme |
| We have seen how the ‘truth’ can be misconstrued from that pulpit | Gerry |
| The only source of the truth is the Christian Bible! | Glenn |
| If it wasn’t so serious it would be a laughable statement. Are the Labour pollies all stupid (all 4 of them) or do they not realise what Comrade Ardern is aiming for but appear to either go along with her, or are they too scared to speak out and condemn her? A dangerous piece of work! | Carolyn |
| The Labour or any other government is the one source of truth …. you have to be joking!! | John |
| Lies, lies and more lies, if only we had a few more less gullible people in NZ | Lew |
| Such arrogance smacks of deception. Such people should step down and let people with integrity run things. There is a lot of stuff we, the public, are not being told. Truth and honesty are needed. | Kevin |
| They wish and pigs may fly. What a mess. | Fiona |
| The most untruthful government i have ever experienced in nz | Anon |
| That comment alone smacks of fascism | Elaine |
| It must be obvious to all that political parties of any persuasion are a bane of society – allegiance to The Party and power-mongering is the only consideration for a PP MP. | Russ |
| Ha ha ha | Christine |
| Liars | Warren |
| Some years ago a woman MP proclaimed “people should listen to us, we know we are right”. Perhaps Hipkins listened to her | Malcolm |
| I definitely do NOT agree with that and in fact believe this govt is the most dishonest on record!! | Janet |
| Heaven forbid us if New Zealanders believe this is right | Anon |
| Definitely NO! As we live through WWIII’s attack on Western Civilisation from within, it is difficult to know which socialist or semi-socialist party to vote for…………the lesser of all the socialist evils I suspect. | Don |
| Even during normality this is a preposterous declaration but given the recent numerous distortions of the truth and the blatant untruths foisted by the government on the people this is patently absurd. | Mark |
| Tosser | Steve |
| We need to ask why the Government cherry picked the scientists and doctors they decided were telling the truth. There have always been others that held true to a different truth. | Darag |
| all the govt does is spin for their own benefit | John |
| It is the least trusted source of the truth | Tony |
| Regarding the unlawful lock down, what exactly is that going to achieve? Seems nothing so probably a waste of time and money. | Peter |
| They tell us only what they think they need to to ensure they stay where they are. | Morrin |
| Absolutely not. I don’t believe one word that comes out of the mouths of this Government. They are absolutely hopeless at managing anything and I really fear for this country. Another term with this lot at the helm would be a totally destructive nightmare. | Helen |
| Fundamental Nonsense. | Bob |
| What an arrogant thing to say. Gives one even more incentive to look elsewhere for truth. | Paddy |
| Vehemently NO! | Carol |
| You’ve got to be joking! | wally |
| Mao and Xi do – but not me. | John |
| This Government has, for the last two and a half years, been the teller of “truth” that endorses their dogma and tenets. Any data that tells a different story does not see the light off day, and if it does then it misbranded as misinformation. Their continual use of unproven models which in most cases exaggerate and distort real science have been brazenly accepted as the “Truth”, despite them being almost without exception, been peer reviewed and shown to be wrong. This Government also believes that the general populace cannot be trusted if given access to data or manifestos that contradict their ideology. If one could believe that the “truth” as released by this government was unvarnished, showed that due weight had been given to all sides of the argument, and was not dogma driven, then the Honourable Chris Hipkins and the Right Honourable Miss Ardern could legitimately make the claim that their Government was a “source of truth” but the could never be the only source of truth. However, given the arrogance displayed , indeed stated by them, in respect of the citizenry of our Nation, and their willingness to only present “truths” that support their dogma, this Government can never make a legitimate claim that “they are the sole source of truth”. | Michael |
| That’s a laugh. | Fiona |
| They are pack of racist liars | Arthur |
| The coverups that the government has hidden behind have been exposed and now that that trust has gone, they are certainly not the source of any truth | Trevor |
| Biased question | Ian |
| more lying than a whole school of flat fish. | Lionel |
| Far from it – ideologies, moral issues, climate change policy, keeping promises, sometimes it seems that truth is left out, and Gov might even be the real skeptics. | Maurice |
| this govt spin doctors must have studied hard from the german joseph goebbels and the russian michael katanian teachings with what cindy the red and her cohorts are now sprouting let alone the every minute tv adverts and the so called news about this virus is not far behind the bull**** that is coming from wellington. | Richard |
| Lies, Lies and more Lies! | vic |
| main source of lies | william |
| Anyone who says yes must be joking. Remember they are politicians!!! | Rod |
| There are many instances of lies and cover ups. Trust – No | Roger |
| After reading the above how could you? | Geoff |
| The Labour Party propaganda machine has moved into top gear. Every news item released as ostensibly a news item has the blatant message of look what we are doing! Last evening, Friday, Ardern appeared on Channel One News no fewer that six times with the message ‘ Look at me. Look what the Labour Party has done. Aren’t we wonderful, miracle workers. This is blatant electioneering and no other party is getting the same free advertising. Why is the Electoral Commission not stepping in to prohibit this illegal use of National TV? Hipkins is of course the source of all information they have been spouting regarding the shambles and lies over the border isolation. At last the Nelson business community has spoken up regarding the imbalance of the $3 billion Provincial Covid grants with $500 million given to Northland to save NZ First seats and $19 million to Nelson, probably due to the fact we have a safe National MP. | Chris |
| I consider that the minister is living in “cloud kookoo land’ with his statement. He needs to face reality, & not make silly statements. | Brian |
| If only he could do what he is actually paid very well to do, there may be some slim chance we might believe him! | Ross |
| Greatest source of guesses, lies and manipulation more like | Janet |
| The government is the one source of truth? HA-HA-Ha Is that a trick question, or are you trying to brighten our day with a comedy show.. | A.G.R. |
| What a load of B S Hipkins is just as much a lair as the rest of labour including the Prime Minister. Never in my career have i witnessed so much devious untruths being told by this current Government and all the hangers on . | ken |
| His government is one source of truth, not the one source. Remember, there is no one right way for anything. | Paloma |
| They are all a bunch of commy liars. Jacinda will have ALL NZer’s speaking chinese soon. | Rod |
| Not bloody likely they are the biggest bunch of liars we have every had | Eric |
| Incompetence of this government is endemic | John |
| You have to be joking if you would believe a statement like that. They are as truthful as the media Ha Ha | David |
| What a joke, if that is Labour’s idea of truth heaven help us. Talk about mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed on s—! | Fraser |
| that is bullshit | norman |
| What a twat. | Martin |
| Trust a socialist government with a communist leader to be truthful? Never! | kris |
| Political spin or lie-ing. | David |
| Ardern and her cohorts would not know what the truth was if it jumped up and bit them in the bum. I trust none of them and cant wait to see the back of this incompetent bunch of incumbents after October 17th. NZ certainly deserves better leadership and governance than we currently have. | Allan |
| that’s a lie for a start. | derek |
| Truth seems to change daily. Therefore it is difficult what to believe. | Dennis |
| that is dictator ship | whitty |
| He’s a bit of a dick. | Kate |
| they could not lie straight in any bed | barry |
| Who would have blind faith in a politician? | Leonard |
| what a joke | peter |
| That in essence is his belief which is fatally flawed. Using pseudo Covid announcements as a form of electioneering is neither fair or right | John |
| I’m sure “he was only joking my friend” so the song goes. | Barry |
| There is much real truth on the Internet for those committed to true TRUTH – especially re the wearing of masks (which is actually dangerous to a person’s health.) Read Rancourt. | Isabel |
| no I wouldn’t trust anything the current Govt say. | Dean |
| No government tells the truth and this is partially our fault as we have allowed a system of government to evolve that no longer has to listen to the people it pretends to represent. Having elections every three years does not guarantee democracy. It simply allows the people to choose which group will act as dictators for the next three years. | Rikaad |
| Pre-election words from Ardern that her Labour lead Coalition Govt would be completely transparent to the citizens of NZ. during their term in Govt. All we have heard is untruths, Lies and cover ups. The present coalition Govt are out of their respective depths to run a country in a time of crisis. | Wayne |
| The current Government is so incompetent that they couldn’t even recognize the truth. They seem to ascribe to the belief that “if you say something often enough, then it must eventually be recognized as true”. While it is possible that in some instances they believe they are telling the truth, their incompetence precludes them from being able to recognize a truth as they have no idea what they are doing. They are detached from the realities of working for a living and making intelligent decisions that are an acceptable balance between economic well being and health well being. Since this Government is preoccupied with hobbling the wealth creators with idealistic rules and regulations, while at the same time borrowing and spending in a most reckless and extravagant manner with no clue as to the future outcome for our Country. Government incompetence is so dramatically highlighted by this pandemic, that it is a real wake up call to voters to recognize the dire state of our system of Government. It is full of incompetents, most of whom have never been scrutinized by the voters as they have wangled their way in to positions of power via “the list” and thence not by receiving the majority of votes, but by a the coalition of a bunch of losers. | Dianna |
| What a CROCK of ##it…. This Labour government is the MOST Inadeque Goverment we have ever seen. The cannot speak the truth they only TALK in riddles and miss truths. I want to see them GONE…. | Carl |
| They are an economic disaster for NZ – a matter they obfuscate. | Tom |
| They only release what they feel helps the Government in the lead up to the election Its called “selective information” to the masses !!!! PM even over talks Bloomfield at times to suit her -not us the citizens of NZ. Bloomfield I have 100% confidence in. | Kevin |
| What a farce!!. We need to get rid of them. But National is not really stepping up to the plate – so far. Act seems to have their ducks in a row. | Don |
| The one source of spin-yes. | Peter |
| One source of lies and obfuscations maybe. | chris |
| Not many governments throughout history – elected or otherwise – have been constant and consistent purveyors of truth, it is not in their nature, or in their interests to trust electorates with truth. That said, it is obvious that our present ‘government’ would be hard pressed to even recognise truth if it bit them on their collective arses! I cannot decide whether their incompetence or their deceitfulness is their worst trait | TOBY |
| Surely he was joking! | Tom |
| What a stupid twat.Just shows the thinking of this dictatorial commie govt.He has a mouth that rattles off like a sub machine gun.Minister of Education, what are they teaching our children? | ROSS |
| Hipkins and Ardern are the least likely source of Truth on anything. | pdm |
| Who can believe this of a government that makes so many mistakes and then try to talk their way out of it blaming someone else. Sounds like they are getting desperate. | Audrey |
| They leave so much unsaid that the truth is actually hidden | wayne |
| Definitely no! | cyril |
| yet another example of political arrogance (and ignorance) | chris |
| the one source of lies and racism | bud |
| Unequivocally NOT! | Robin |
| There have been too many half truths told to the public.. | Ian |
| Of course not – I don’t trust him for a start… | Terry |
| How can anyone think this because of the way the Government has carried on. | June |
| The government has been proved untruthful so many times in respects of the handling of the covid virus it is amazing it still has the confidence of the majority of NZers. | Keith |
| absolutlely not ! | Donald |
| Who can believe any thing this present government says | jeff |
| Unbelievable | Bryan |
| They have had so many untruths exposed that there is no way they can be considered the one source of truth! | Sue |
| They tell you what suits them, even though it is not the truth. Like the PPE gear or the vaccines that were not in the country when they declared that they were | Tony |
| Important, ideally very important, but not truth to the exclusion of other avenues. | Bruce |
| No because they have told lies before, getting more like a communist country every day | Lyn |
| arrogant blind narcisistic lunacy to believe that | Bruce |
| no they inevitability fudge their answers so it is necessary to look elsewhere for information | Graeme |
| The truth is not the truth if part of it is left out. Ardern’s failure to acknowledge that more than 70 countries had postponed elections because of Covid-19 is leaving out an important part of the truth. For Christians the ultimate and supreme source of truth is Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. All his words and actions had the “ring of truth”. | Laurence |
| Joseph Goebbels elevated himself to be the one source of truth and propaganda for the German Nazi Party Government. | Colin |
| Give me one example of a politician telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth !! | Maurice |
| This comment smacks of dictatorial communism, whenever a government minister says things like that it never ends well. | Michael |
| Them and Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Chairman Mao, Stalin, Hitler…………….. | Bill |
| Unless the government is prepaid to present both sides of any debate there will never be any truth available to the people. For any one, particularly mps to make the statement that “This is the truth* without being prepared to debate it, to me, is a clear warning that it is not. Some what similar to the governments approach to global warming | Mikr |
| That is such a sad and laughable statement…”.the largest source of lies” is much closer to the truth. | Paul |
| The lack of common sense and water tight border control put all of NZ at risk and the government are now scrambling to try and fix it | Barry |
| 1984 comes to mind | Robin |
| He just continues their lies! | Peter |
| This government is a disgrace. They are arrogant, incompetant and the sooner they are gone the better. Everything they try to do ends in disaster regardless of what it is. | Roy |
| All of the coalition lied before the last election and their lies have become more common place since, take the Christchurch event as an example | Murray |
| These guys [ so called government ] are so in competent I can’t understand how so many New Zealanders believe anything they say. look out for our future if the get back in to govern our country. | John |
| Well it should be ???!!! | David |
| never heard a greater load of b/s in all my life | john |
| A little learning is a dangerous thing!! | Stuart |
| Labour is the biggest source of UN-truth, lying to cover their ineptitude. Along with their vision to give away our equal rights as citizens of this country in exchange for political power. We NEED to vote them OUT. | Joyce |
| What Government says is more likely to be true than stuff from other sources. There is so much rubbish out there especially from religious maniacs in the US that we have to be aware of. | K |
| Unbelievable Orwellian Arrogance! | Vic |
| In my view the tooth fairy is a far more reliable source of the truth than Hipkins and the other members of the labour inner circle of ministers, especially the PM. | Chris |
| I find the truth everywhere but from the government. | Christine |
| Silly question; This government have been caught out giving false information, (dare I call them lies), so often that the question can only have one answer- NO. In fact, not only is it NOT the ‘one source’, more like, it isn’t ANY source of truth. | Graham |
| Clearly the government propaganda sessions on TV are significantly flawed and inaccurate. The accusation that Pakuranga College had a student with Covid 19 was completely wrong and shows that unlike the bold claims made that all the information given in these TV sessions is meticulously double checked for accuracy is simply not true. | Duncan |
| We are being hoodwinked in every way | Andrew |
| We are only told what they want us to believe. The truth has nothing to do with it. | Marion |
| THE ONE – Surely not. Who do they think we are? | Douglas |
| they have told so many lies and covered up their mistakes I would not believe them anymore | Cherryl |
| What a joke! | Dennis |
| Absolutely not, as has been proven by the Prime Minister, Minister of Health & Director General of Health’ statements this recent week. | Donald |
| Desperate and delusional, Truth? hah they wouldn’t recognise it if it bit them on the tush! | Barry |
| More like the one source of BS | Laurie |
| How many lies have Hipkins and Ardern told allready | STEWART |
| jaspinder and all her warts lie to us every day, What a filthy bunch of socialist low lives. | Gerald |
| Got announcements are lies, you can not trust what they are saying, as a health professional i feel let down by the lies and half truths from the podium. At this time we need honesty and clarity so that we can put measures in placed to protect our patients and ourselves. Does anyone know where the infected people who went to Korea and Australia got infected, perhaps community transmission, if so was it a 100 days or perhaps less, but lets say 100 days as this is good for election | Phil |
| No way, most of it is spin to make the govt. look good | Graeme |
| That claim puts the government on the level with God. No one in their right mind would claim to be the only source of truth. The arrogance is astounding. | Hilary |
| They are stumbling | Colin |
| What, do they think they can walk on water | Ranald |
| The point is that the Ministry of ‘Truth’ as I have come to call the daily 1 pm briefings contains so many inaccuracies at odds with objective reality on the ground, and is clearly being used for political purposes that I have ceased to regard what they say as true. | Brenton |
| Stalin, Mao, Hitler and every other dictator throughout history has declared their utterances as the “one source of truth” so why is anyone surprised that the current bunch of Marxists are any different? | Rex |
| Given ALL the evidence, Hipkins’ absurd claim underlines the lies. | Jim |
| Animal Farm speak! | Delia |
| Minister Hipkins certainly does NOT convey the sense of confidence that he will ever be a sole source of truth, most of the CoL front line appear to most voters to be very much strangers to the concept of wholesome Truth and in my personal opinion a number of CoL activist guided members would sell their own mother for thirty pieces of silver. Trust is earned and so far this group is sorely lacking in any demonstration of integrity. | Richard |
| Pride comes before a fall! | William |
| Silly comment | Laurel |
| Haha mao would be pleased to have Dipkins. | Russell |
| If he wasn’t allied with such a bunch of prolific lying commie B$%&ards he would have choked on that statement! | Bruce C |
| all lies and dodging what few hard questions that are asked | Graham |
| Absolutely not. Government spin is lies by omission. In that sense politicians have to be liars to spin the party line. | Gordon |
| This government hasn’t told the truth right from the start. promising various unachievable targets on housing, health development – the list goes on and on. Instead we have incurred debt and plenty of it on unproductive spending. They simply lied to the constituent for the sake of power. Yes it has been a difficult time for all but it comes down to honesty not deceit – should it not? | chris |
| I trust Jacinda ; but not that eyebrow raising Judy | Peter |
| His friend Karl told him so the fact is indisputable! | Roger |
| Sounds like a true socialist. | Brian |
| Au contrare, Rodney. Tui ad. | Geoff |
| Is Chris elevating the triumvirate above the stepson of the carpenter of Nazareth of 2000 years ago? Is St Cindy now “the truth, the way, and the life”? Heaven forbid!!! | Philip |
| Fake news | John |
| What a load of Shiiit they are | Sharon |
| Absolute nonsense, especially when we see they often mislead and give incorrect information and so called “facts” that are very debatable. | Paul |
| must be april fools day | diana |
| Complete and utter arrogance!! Why would I ever believe such compulsive liars? This Govt does not know what truth looks like! | Neil |
| The current coalition government is clearly motivated to return to power for another term. Any “truth” that jeopardises this is likely to be “edited”and/or “presented” by Government in a manner to enhance re-election prospects or at least minimises any negative elements. Truth should be pure and have no bias – consequently the current government cannot be relied upon to deliver such truth. | Kevin |
| Reminds me of George Orwells novel 1984 & The Ministry of Truth. Time for these muppets to be sent to the gulag of & to hell with any more lockdowns. | Peter |
| 1984? George Orwell’s prescience was astonishing. But heigh, dictatorship requires only the consent of the dictated. | Geoffrey |
| They have been caught out so many times it has become a farce. | Murray |
| No longer, too many carefully and lengthy explanations from the tooth fairy | John |
| Ludicrous | Terry |
| Sheer arrogance! | Peter |
| How can you possibly come to that conclusion based on what has happened in the last week | Kevin |
| Who does he think he is…..the Pope! | Sue |
| They have never been truthful. It’s all a ploy to hoodwink the public, cover up their poor handling of our borders, and rule the masses with fear so they can’t see what this socialist woman is ultimately trying to put in place. To make the country think it cannot survive without the (Labour/ Green) Government total control and intervention! | Robyn |
| False news | Ken |
| How conceited can a person get, how one eyed and crudely put ‘Up Himself’. | Eric |
| Is he f****** joking? | Neil |
| NO! Can you name ANY politician that always tells the truth? They all bend it to suit their party “line”. If the National Party talked their policies rather than criticising the Labour Government handling of the Covid crisis I may be interested in them again. When it comes to their suggestion that returning Kiwis and others be tested before boarding flights to NZ that thinking is so flawed it’s laughable. By the time they get here they may well have it. No wonder people don’t vote. | Bruce |
| Not believable so, no, not even close! | Ray |
| That silly little chatterbox needs to do his homework and check his facts before his daily strut to the podium and certainly before he opens his gib | Phil |
| I could not disagree more. | Jenny |
| 1984 | Coral |
| …living in New Zealand of 5 million has benefits ,but this requires that each individual makes sacrifices. Politics is then the discussion of these individual sacrifices and whether they are worth it for everybody or not. This is a constant tension as politics is an infinite game, unwinnable and perpetual, defining and redefining the terms of the coexistence of 5 million with one bloated piece of legislation at a time …throw in a virus and the definition of ‘truth’ then New Zealand is in for a very, very long decade ! | Chris |
| Hogwash! | Scott |
| Absolutely not! What a travesty to claim otherwise! | Ron |
| Absolute crap | Gary |
| Absolutely not. The Ministry of Truth ha…. I tell my kids that whatever the Govt tells you to do, do the opposite ! Hipkins, Ardern & the rest of their crew are idiots… in fact I turn off the TV1 & 3 nightly propaganda news as I can’t stand the low level crap they feed to the sheeple !! | Mark |
| With an election only a few weeks away we will only be told what the want us to hear. | John |
| This is the sort of thing that the Chinese or Russian governments would be saying to their people. | Andrew |
| Did he say that with a straight face? How laughable is that. They, like any politician will only tell you what they want you to know. This government is run by a small handful of semi qualified nitwits and the rest are invisible, unqualified and incompetent. Oh how I fear for our future and our grandkids future. Guess what will happen if Maori get control of the coastline and freshwater etc. | Peter |
| What a lot of s….i total propaganda will ANYBODY buy into this stupid allegation??? | steve |
| Let’s re-name the MOH as the MOTruth.. The wheels are falling off. Merciless destruction of our society with fake measures to control a re-jigged common cold virus is stupendous criminality. | Robert |
| What astonishing arrogance! | Elizabeth |
| Minister Chris Hipkins is clearly deluded along with the rest of the Labour leadership. How much longer are we as a people going to tolerate this covid fraud? | Rossco |
| Karl du Fresne put it succintly- “…. Spin, deception,dissembling”. The sad part is that the very people who have succumbed to the spin, lies , and misinformation (who will vote for the incumbent Government), are the people who will stand to suffer most in the eventual economic fallout ….. and make no mistake, a big one is coming our way. Even if National get voted back they will only be able to soften the blow that is coming | Pat |
| He has to be JOKING | Maurice |
| Anyone who says trust me cannot be trusted. | John |
| Our News on T V one is totally biased. I suspect that this current Government would instruct the Producers of that News to SAY ‘what they’re told’. Thank God for the Internet. So why should we believe a Minister of this same Government. | Geoff |
| What Chris Hipkins stated could not be further than from the real truth. | Don |
| Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas. Obviously CH does. | Graeme |
| Nooooo | Catherine |
| IDIOTS | hUGH |
| From a career politician ?! .. The juvenile master of spin and con. A jumped up, arrogant socialist, little prick. Your’ve have to be joking. | Alan |
| No, clearly this government has not been totally honest, or really competent, in handling the Covid affair. Another sad issue has been the ignorance of Labour politicians to understand business, particularly the thousands of small businesses, and the effect of government destruction of the economy. | Rob |
| Nooooooo | Catherine |
| This comment has a very Orwellian ring to it. Goebbels also claimed to be the Minister of TRUTH (propaganda) This year NZ is facing the most corrupt manipulated election ever witnessed in my life – nearly an octogenarian. Truth has become the casualty of Marxist ambition | Bob |
| The MP’s in this current Labour Government, continue to stagger from one verbal monstrosity to another, as do the Greens. The Cannabis issue is one of the most critical and dangerous; what is outright appalling, is the clear belief by the Government, that the average Kiwi is simple, nonchalant and has the mind of a child. | Alan |
| a very common occurance with this mickey mouse govt | graeme |
| This Col Govt is the worst NZ has ever had, lies just trip off the tongue, every time they open their mouths, the PM is the ring leader of lies, an embarrassment to the rest of us. | Merryl |
| The governments track record on climate change shows they do not know what truth is. they are incapable from distinguishing between actual factual data collected by scientists and the ravings of the alarmists. If they cannot tell the difference between what is true and what is not on that issue then why should be believe them on the covid issue | Peter |
| The whole truth !!!! no way – we have been fed lies from the beginning and it has only become a whole lot worse. | sheryl |
| Never heard so many lies from a government in such a short time.The arrogance! | Gail |
| ha ha truth from a politician ? | Steven |
| Vote National. | Anon |
| Laughable!! | Alastair |
| What a load of BS and it’s beyond arrogance to state it | Trevor |
| Absolutely NOT. Too often we’re fed the sanitized version while other very valid viewpoints are just not published by mass media. | Tony |
| Absolutely not. Does he think we don’t remember the fiasco over this years flu vaccines? | Kristene |
| It is the least source of the truth! | Mark |
| How do you know a politician is lying? His/Her lips are moving. | Jon |
| Of course not. Errors occur at all levels | Hugh |
| you would have to be very naive to trust them now | anthony |
| In his wildest dreams | Donald |
| Unfortunately he truely believes that. Experience has proved otherwise | Bev |
| How can we believe that when we can see that they haven’t even got testing and quarantine under control, if they had we wouldn’t have any cases at all? | Chris |
| He is untruthful in his claim which highlights the problem that the government has in dealing truthfully with the public of New Zealand | Trevor |
| What a joke | Shirley |
| I don’t trust any of them !!!!!!!! | Alan |
| Absolutely not. | Colin |
| A politician wouldn’t know what truth was if it jumped up and hit him in the face. Their interpretation of truth is what suits them best. | Robert |
| Hell no – told too many lies to be believable | John |
| This is the statement of a communist. People have the right AND FREE WILL to search and find the truth for themselves and must not bebe coerced into believing in one story only. | Val |
| Does he think we are morons? | Jon |
| They have proven themselves to be full of spin, adept at obfuscation and deflection and outright liars. NZ taxpayers deserve better under any circumstances- let alone the sacrifices so many have paid to date. | L |
| BOLLOCKS!! What a arrogant little prick. But — again — no surprise there!! This current appointed Govt is so sure to win this election ( thanks to their team of five million and a compliant propaganda media hahaha) that Mp’s can spout slogans like that. It is a utter disgrace. | Michael |
| I think dictators have said this many times…not sustainable in a democracy. | Phil |
| Every time they speak they don%u2019t tell the truth Especially the Princess on the lunch and Cindy show Episode two | Murray |
| No way!!!!! | Raewyn |
| Twit | Randall |
| Absolutely not – apart from anything else we have seen how the media can consistantly lie by omission. Simply deliberately NOT saying the truth is the equivalent to a lie and this government is expert at that. | Rogert |
| This guy is yet another tosser that is out of his depth in this government. I am totally sick of the lies from the PM and her sycophants. | Mike |
| Cannot trust National | Kevin |
| That is another blatant lie from a Labour minister. Ardern is a master also, at that form of deception. She is the most blatant liar we have had in many years as a politician. | LUKE |
| How do you define the truth? How do you know it’s the truth? The language used is far from definitive and is open to future manipulation if facts to the contrary are made public. WE get the version which best suits them and most people believe it. | Mike |
| The Minister is claiming that the government is God. | Barry |
| That statement, from him, smacks of a new level of delusional arrogance. | Tom |
| This Government has a sorry record of being transparent and honest. Hipkins is once again being dishonest. | Theo |
| Political bollocks! | Colin |
| They would lie in their sleep….. | Peter |
| Communist liars | Greg |
| Trusting a politician? Yeah, right! | Rayward |
| Hipkins is a tosser and incompetant and untrustworthy to the core. | Richard |
| How about this howler from Robinson. about suicides..”it was unhelpful to release figures for such a short time frame, as it is nearly impossible to draw sound conclusions, nor do I believe such public discourse is helpful to people in distress.” According to his logic, it is obviously (?) better to average everything out over a long period to get the “real” picture , Smoothes out the spikes that way. Yeah right! | Ken |
| They’re the last lot I’d trust. They do not know what “open and transparent” government means as they have demonstrated repeatedly. | Mark |
| Hahahahahaha, he can’t be serious-? | Bill |
| It would only be a very stupid person who would blindly believe and not do their own research. We have already been given information which has either been massaged ie us just toralkt incorrect. | Margaret |
| This government is the last place I would look for truth in anything. | Rick |
| Who the hell does he think he and his surrounding incompetents are. God help us!!! | Ray |
| He actually said that? Jeeeesus. | Mark |
| Definitely not! Unfortunately they are quite noticibly elusive when it comes to the truth. | Carol |
| Asking us to trust the government to tell the truth is like telling a dog to not poo on the lawn. Of equal or greater importance than the election is the Foreshore and Seabed claims. Successful claims have the potential to cause civil unrest the likes we have never seen here. This is irrespective of any so called safeguards that may be put in place. | Ray |
| Subsequent revelations speak to the lie | Graham |
| Jacinda and her crew are liars | Ian |
| More disturbing that scientists in the guise of stamping out misinformation (fair enough in many respects) promote ‘science’ as their interpretation of their field as received wisdom and by implication their field as paramount, marginalising many other field not in the narrow media spotlight but which could contribute to better outcomes | Anon |
| Not blooming likely! Too many fingers in the pie. | Graham |
| Ha Ha, what a joke, nothing could be further from the truth !! | Pierre |
| Rubbish. | Florence |
| He means the pulpit of untruths | Allan |
| They were and are spread too thin too late.They should have focused on the task of MANAGING Covid not eliminating it – a near impossibility – so they are misleading the public that they are in control. They are not geared for going forward and I have to say niether is national – I would like to see ACT take a significant role in whoever leads the next government – coalition – minus Greens and minus NZ First. | Greg |
| Communism | David |
| Definitely no is the answer to the question asked. Nothing but a literny of untruths. Talk about pass the parcel between ministers and Dr Bloomfield. Totally noticeable Ardern has been absent from the screens for nearly a week… haven’t missed that is all I can say. I’m so over all the crap it’s not funny. Election date change is just a farce unbelievable,!!!! Should have been at least 21 st November then it would have been a bit fairer to other parties. Wake up NZ don’t vote this socialist government in we will be sorry. | Suzanne |
| Well what a couple of weeks lies incompetence you name it this government has buggered New Zealand will we ever recover? | Peter |
| Someone has to be in charge | Warren |
| What supreme political arrogance | Jock |
| Seriously? | Stephen |
| yea right!!! | willy |
| What is truth? | Ido |
| That is an outright lie. | Hone |
| No such thing as “one source of truth” exists | Pavel |
| Misinformation, disinformation and outright falsification. Be it Lational or Nabour it’s all the same incredible political BS | Mark |
| We are constantly herded into believing the government narrative, even when the truth is obviously ‘managed’. | Martin |
| The public is totally hoodwinked every day with the Govts. daily press conferences. | Chris |
| Pffh .. I don’t think Mr Orwell | Maddie |
| There is an old saying, How do you tell when a politician is telling lies? The answer is , Watch and see if their lips are moving! | Peter |
| Only need to look as far as the flu vaccine. If you require further proof just check out the “Year of Delivery” rhetoric versus performance | Graham |
| Hipkins is a Politician. The TRUTH lies with the New Zealand ‘People’ casting their votes at the ballot box. | David |
| Bloody hell NO! I’d trust Al Capone before this lot! | Jenny |
| Quite the opposite | Jan |
| It is rather disturbing that so many New Zealanders want a future where every aspect of their lives is decided by a handful of Labour MPs | Phil |
| This Govt. is the least trustworthy ever. Constant spin and arrogant grandstanding and lack of accountability has reduced public confidence. | Sam |
| What a laugh asking us to “trust” the government – they are the masters of spin and deception! | Dave |
| Pigs might fly before I would trust this government. | Bryan |
| If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny! Chris Hipkins is a master propagandist. | Paul |
| I think the government has blown its credibility through the border mismanagement and their cover-up attempts. | Gordon |
| No, unfortunately this government cannot be trusted. You just have to look at the lies they have been pushing to cover up their incompetence. | Nancy |