Media shift blame for misleading tax policy headlines
After the CTU claimed only about 3000 whānau would benefit to the tune of $250 a fortnight as advertised by National (and amplified in many headlines), Newshub’s Amelia Wade was clearly frustrated when trying to confirm the 3000 households claim.
“We sent the Council of Trade Unions’ numbers and workings to the National Party today in good faith so that they had adequate time to respond. But instead of responding they fired off a conspiratorial PR … trying to pin that on the Labour Party,” she reported on Wednesday.
The next day her political editor Jenna Lynch accused National of “smearing the source” rather than answering Newshub’s questions and published the defensive responses Nicola Willis had sent her by text message.
When Willis did eventually confirm the CTU’s figure on RNZ’s Midday Report on Wednesday, she insisted the National Party had been careful to say all along that households would get “up to $250 a fortnight.”
Note how National’s first move when confronted on their tax lie was to claim victim and paint the question out as loaded and therefore false?
Note how National move and publicly smear the news organisation asking the questions.
Note how they are defensive throughout.
Note how when they are forced to concede anything, it’s all minimalized weasel words.
Note how it is only once they are force fed their own falsehoods via news media montage that they change and apologise, and then hilariously use the exact same deceitful tactic that they just apologised for…
Election 2023: Christopher Luxon apologises for tax policy inaccuracies – immediately repeats error
National leader Christopher Luxon has apologised for not always being accurate in saying who gets what in National’s tax package, but then immediately repeated his error.
The party has been under fire for selling the tax package as delivering “up to $250 a fortnight” for a family with kids on the average income, but sometimes omitting the words “up to”.
Labour says this would have led the average family to think they would be $250 a fortnight richer under National, but that was a “scam” given only a fraction of 1 per cent of families would qualify for that amount.
While campaigning in New Plymouth today, Luxon apologised for when the words “up to” had been missing, which even happened in one of the party’s official press releases
“If I’ve missed that a couple of times, I apologise for that.”
He then immediately made the same mistake in explaining what the policy meant for certain people.
“If you think about the 130,000 families that actually will be entitled to our family boost tax care rebate to deal with the early childhood costs that they have – that’s another $150 a fortnight. Think about an average median income, single earner, that’s $50 a fortnight.”
Prompted by media about whether he should have said “up to”, Luxon replied: “I said ‘up to’, up to $150.”
…Jesus wept, he’s just not very good at this is he?
All he has is the projection of confidence, that’s it.
He repeats the same talking points with no vision whatsoever.
When he’s confronted with evidence that his cray bullshit won’t work, he just grins and says he’s positive it will happen. When pushed he gets angry.
This is such a clusterfuck.
We can’t seriously be electing this muppet?
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media
We may not like the outcome of elections, but that is democracy. Jesus, cry harder.
No. In principle and practise, democracy fails when predicated on false information.
Very true.
What, like the lies from the government and academics during the weezer?
It’s not democracy when the people paid to report the truth create their own narrative…and…
you get this level of sponsoring by multi – millionaires and billionaires
Donations:
National…$8 million + a party bus
ACT……. $4million + the full use of a private jet, a Cessna airplane, and a party bus.
N.Z First…$2.5 million + a party bus
Greens…. $!.7 million
Labour…..$1.4 million
It’s disgraceful …but if you calculate the amount of votes in relation to the amount of dollars spent per vote then Labour win by a country mile….that would be a far more democratic result.
If Labour wins it will be done through sausage sizzles, raffles and small donations up against tax avoiding white collar billionaires and certain paid up sections of the media.
National’s Tax cut Policy is the straw that has broken the right wing camels back, their stupid, ill thought out & ludicrous voodoo economics, bullshit ENRON Tax plan has been exposed as a utter scam & fraud but even worse was their failure to adequately explain this idiotic Policy by not providing the Media & Public with details, leaving a void for others to fill in the blanks & boy have they ever with the $250 only going to 3000 families who earn over $120k then they bullshitted & lied using misdirection to divert away to Labours GST Policy but no one’s swallowed their dead rat explanations of diversion, bullshit & lies which only get you so far & have exposed Nationals amateurism in formulating coherent Polices, their malice & incompetence & lack of any Economic credibility was based on Kiwis just accepting their misinformation & false statements as fact? Despite what anyone thinks of Labour, at least they have a proven track record in their 6 yrs in Govt as good managers of the NZ Economy especially in times of Crisis like with the Pandemic, NZ has come out of this once in a lifetime event with one of the best Economic record’s & death rates thanks to Labour compared with other Western Nations with one of the lowest Inflation rates, Govt debt to GDP records & unemployment statistics so who would you rather have running the Nation in a crisis, Labour or the inept, bullshtting & economically incompetent National Party with the dopey Housewife Nicola Willis running the Country’s finances, a Woman with no Financial or Economic qualifications or Financial credibility! Labour have already gotten my early Vote on the basis of being better Managers during a Crisis than National ever was or could be! Keep up the heat on the Nats Marty, with one week to go, the rights support is draining away, like a dog urinating against a tree & & its glorious in all its chaos, thank god for Winston, the disrupter & spanner in the works, sabotaging & crashing National & Acts Victory Party!
the nats leadership couldn’t think their way out of a wet paper bag, though they will try to lie their way out
The Natz policies are identical to those of Liz Truss….tax cuts and ‘grow the pie’.
They claim they will ‘strengthen the economy’ WTF does that…mean!
Wow! you nailed it antforce I just watched the debate between Willis and Robertson. Nicola has nothing she talks a load of shite her policies are rubbish and will hurt too many people. She’s just like her leader who relies on spin. I can see why she doesn’t want to work with Winstone cause he will sort her and luxman.