July 2011: Steven Joyce attacks Labour's fiscal plan, saying it would leave a huge hole over the next 15 years and add $18.4 billion to debt.
August 2014: Steven Joyce claims reckless Labour spending of almost $18b.
Let's just say that even before this week National campaign manager and finance spokesman Steven Joyce has form.
By comparison with his attempts in 2011 and 2014 the "hole" he claimed to have found in Labour's 2017 plan – $11.7b – was relatively small.
His motivation is as clear as crystal: feed the view Labour is incompetent and that National is the only trusted steward of the nation's books.
Which is good reporting for reminding us of both the truth and Joyce's history of dirty politics. At the same time, it ignores the elephant in the room. Why does Joyce keep doing this? Because journalists like Small report it and give his lies a platform, allowing them to be effective. Their refusal to provide context or history until days after the fact makes them willing co-conspirators in Joyce's abuse of democracy.