In an election there are always small groups of people beyond the fringe. Those outside of the norm who enjoy their fifteen minutes in the spotlight even though everyone involved knows that, despite grand claims to the contrary, they have no chance of being elected.
I’m not referring to the party of White Middle Class Guilt (but not too much). TOP have no chance of being elected, but I think deep down even they know that’s the case. No, I’m talking about parties that are not serious, but are equally irrelevant.
Overseas there’s the Monster Raving Loony Party in the UK, until recently lead by a mop called Boris. Here in Aotearoa some of you might remember the McGillicuddy Serious Party, and their backwards looking policies such as “limiting the speed of light to 100 km/h: 50 km/h in Mt Roskill, (Auckland's Bible Belt), because folks there preferred to stay less enlightened”. More on being less enlightened in a bit.
Some of their policies were even less serious. Such as free dung, good weather (but only if voters behaved), and the abolition of money, replacing it with chocolate fish or with sand. For goodness sake nobody tell Simeon Brown about their idea of linking the North Island and South Island by bulldozing the Southern Alps into Cook Strait. He’d be out there with his little digger faster than you can say Tonka Toys. Such a policy would lead to a lot of angry South Islanders, but there must be a downside.
This election we’ll have the usual subjects, the grifters and the crazies. The snake-oil selling, representative of the Lord. I mean Brian Tamaki, not Shane Jones. And the one who has been telling lies and spreading misinformation against people’s interests. No, not Nicola Willis - I mean Sue Grey.
The only thing interesting about these people in terms of the election is how much media coverage they receive.
A responsible media would give them almost no coverage at all, given that is the likelihood of them being elected. But other, less scrupulous, media might find that groups such as the Freedoms Party, who will not get 2% of the vote, are useful to further other narratives. Which brings us to Jenna Lynch.
Yesterday a Freedoms/Vision NZ Party candidate, and some supporters, turned up at a market and shouted. In a day of political announcements, of new policies and party lists, Jenna thought this was the political story of the day.
Sounds like a big news story doesn’t it? A fringe group threatening to hijack the election campaign. Awful to think of a mob taking over the nation’s political process, as we can see happened here:
But the truth is it wasn’t a mob at all. It was one rude person with a microphone who just wanted to shout at the Prime Minister, along with fewer than ten supporters screaming their agreement. Not even enough for a full set of disciples, and in all likelihood representing about 1% of the people at the market. Which coincidentally is about the same level of support they will get at the general election.
The problem for Jenna and NewsHub’s credibility, as they promoted the idea that this was a major happening, was that viewers could see on the screen that it wasn’t.
These guys weren’t so much a few sandwiches short of a picnic as they were the only picnic basket in town. It would’ve been like Brian Tamaki holding his pro Covid rallies in the domain and there being only one picnic blanket, one small group of disaffected, in sight.
Jenna changed tack and tried, seemingly single handedly among the media, to make identity politics an issue. Can you guess which party very, very closely associated with Jenna would like to talk about identity politics? She claimed that “the crowd in Ōtara was screaming at Hipkins to define a woman.”
What actually happened is that there was one single person with a microphone leading various chants, and about half a dozen people behind him parroting whatever he said. Still, I imagine saying it was the crowd, sounds more impressive than it being just one guy, Karl Mokaraka, the Vision NZ candidate for Ōtāhuhu-Panmure, asking what a woman was.
This wasn’t some mass protest, it was a political rally by a Vision NZ candidate and a few supporters. Jenna has sent them, and others, a message - if you turn up with a microphone and yell over the PM we will make you the big story and make it sound like you’re important in this election.
Look, it is really hard for candidates in minor parties, that don’t even register in the polls, to get coverage. Let alone a major news headline. Perhaps we should get to know Karl, the man with the microphone, the single person that decided what the smattering of supporters yelled.
Karl’s candidate statement on the Vision NZ website says “I want our communities to once again rise and thrive. I want our families to succeed because successful families lead to successful communities.” It’s pretty powerful stuff Karl. I wonder what else you’re interested in, other than finding out what a woman is.
Needless to say Karls’ feed is full of posts from Sue Grey, Brian Tamaki, and the Freedom And Rights Coalition. His personal statement is “I am in with love [sic] Jesus Christ, Bishop Brian Tamaki and have been planted in Destiny church for 12 years.”
Clearly Karl is a devout man, we can see this in his adherence to the commandment “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”, from the way he lists Jesus first, then Brian.
Karl’s page is full of anti vaccine protests and the inevitable anti Jacinda, anti Chris Hipkins, anti Labour stuff you’d expect from someone Jenna would promote.
I’m kidding. Jenna Lynch and NewsHub presented this story for one reason only and that was to try and make Chris Hipkins look bad. This nutter and his few fringe followers are just bait for viewers. But should making the leader of a political party, the leader of the country, look bad, be the motivation of a news broadcaster?
Not look bad as a result of a political discussion or a policy position, but because some thug turned up shouting on a microphone?
We saw this same garbage towards the end of Jacinda Ardern’s time as Prime Minister. When she made a public appearance a few angry people would turn up and shout abuse, and the media would lap it up and use it to demonstrate that public opinion had moved against her.
Even though the people out front were a furious woman in pajama pants, a hoodie, and gumboots, two of her children who look embarrassed to be there and were playing on their phones, and a goat.
Truth is the goat didn’t even know who Jacinda was and was only there to pad out the crowd, and because it could hold a more coherent conversation on vaccinations than the woman in the gumboots.
This election year you’ve got two choices. Either listen to what Jenna Lynch wants to tell you or, for more informative dialogue, maybe see if you can find that goat.
This song is dedicated to Karl, Sue, Brian, and to Jenna Lynch for enabling them by giving them more coverage than their meagre support could ever possibly justify.
Thanks Nick, as always. This anti-Labour push from the media is just relentless. What's in it for them? When did they stop reporting the facts? It does my head in.
Once again, very well said Nick - lynch's actions speak volumes about her employers attitudes.