Thursday, February 13, 2020



Winston does dirty politics

Winston Peters and NZ First have come under pressure in the past few months, after leaks about their secret money laundering foundation led to them being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. And so they've retaliated, by stalking the journalists reporting on the case, and smearing them on a sewerblog:

NZ First Leader Winston Peters says he was involved in having photographs taken of RNZ journalist Guyon Espiner, Stuff reporter Matt Shand and former NZ First president Lester Gray.

The photographs were posted on The BFD, a Whale Oil-linked website which has been running stories defending New Zealand First and trying to belittle reporting about the NZ First Foundation donations.

The photos ran with an article criticising the reporting, which Espiner and Shand have both been involved in.

This is simply dirty politics, and its unacceptable. Its also clearly unethical, and a violation of the Cabinet Manual requirement for Ministers to "behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical standards". And for that, Winston should be sacked.