Advising the country about Covid19 is unfair to National

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, June 16th, 2020 - 30 comments
Categories: Gerry Brownlee, Media, national, Propaganda, same old national, social media lolz, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, twitter - Tags: , ,

National is upset.  Very upset.  Because the Government has been engaged in something that is very dastardly and very unfair.

What is this dastardly unfairness you ask?

Apparently a Government social media account, the unite for recovery instagram account, followed Jacinda Ardern.

From what I can see it has not put out any media featuring Jacinda.  It is used to pump out Covid19 related information.

But no Gerry Brownlee thought he was onto something.  He released this really important press release.

He also complained to the State Services Commission.

https://twitter.com/JGreenbrookHeld/status/1272455255746207745

Is it evidence of partisan political activity because someone follows an account?  Pfffft I follow a number of twitter accounts, including Gerry’s, for entertainment.  I even follow Hamish Price and Democracy Mum, just to work out what crazy ideas the right wing are having.  Instagram is something I go to occasionally to look at pictures.

And Brownlee should be careful with the implication that following a social media account suggests support because some twitter account holders follow the damnedest of things.

There is a completely innocent explanation.  It appears that the account was being used, at least for a while, to bolster National’s Blue Green follower numbers and presumably Brown followed it then.  Its current use is a predictable use but entirely unrelated to its former use of making National look more popular than it actually is.

https://twitter.com/benjavert/status/1272402384036102145

National cheerleader John Armstrong also thinks that something remiss has been happening and wants the provision of information relating to Covid 19 to stop so that we can have a proper election campaign, aka National then may have a chance.

From Television New Zealand:

That’s further reason why the notion that Unite for Recovery is somehow not political is a nonsense. The campaign’s website might serve a purpose of being a one-stop shop which details everything you need to know about the Ardern Administration’s response to the pandemic.

In particular, given the No 1 priority now facing the country is the tackling of the scourge of unemployment and the resulting slashing of incomes in many households, it is essential that people are aware of benefit entitlements, training and apprenticeship opportunities, the mortgage repayment deferral scheme, protection from sudden rent increases, and so forth.

You won’t find any mention on the website of National’s policies dealing with such matters, however.

You thus might conclude the Unite for Recovery information campaign serves as a surreptitious means to define and dictate the debate about how best to rebuild New Zealand’s ravaged economy.

He concludes by saying that for the regulated period before the election the site should be taken down.

To continue to run an information programme of the scale of Unite for Recovery during the regulated period is unacceptable. Doing so would make a mockery of those rules on spending.

Get that?  There should be no access to information on government entitlements, and health warnings and urgent announcements during a world wide pandemic because it is unfair to National.

Clearly National is convinced that the whole Government mechanism is behind Jacinda and think that she is doing a good job.  And they think it is unfair.  Ridding the country at least for now of Covid 19 is unfair to National as it is preventing them from retaining their god given right to rule.

All I can say is diddums.

30 comments on “Advising the country about Covid19 is unfair to National ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. dv 1
    16 June 2020 at 9:56 am

    GEEZ, haven't they got anything better to do!!!!

  2. Tricledrown 2
    16 June 2020 at 10:13 am

    National crying Wolf again dumping of the spoilt brat was supposed to change things but no muddling copying Jacindas successful lines shows National are well out of touch.The born to rule mentality is showing through.

  3. dv 3
    16 June 2020 at 10:22 am

    Natz covid response returns 404

  4. Riffer 4
    16 June 2020 at 10:59 am

    Hmmm. It would appear that effective government is definitely detrimental to the opposition.

  5. Peter 5
    16 June 2020 at 11:05 am

    There is nothing more certain than Brownlee will come up with a parade of silly stunts. There is nothing more certain that the 'permanently left leaning media' will give his silliness attention.

  6. Tricledrown 6
    16 June 2020 at 11:19 am

    National would have preferred if the Coalition had mucked it up no doubt.

    National can't complain the Canterbury earthquakes gave National another 3 years especially with the $80 billion in reconstruction costs boosting the NZ economy after the GFC.

  7. Ed1 7
    16 June 2020 at 11:34 am

    I think you are all being very mean to Gerry Brownlee. He raised a legitimate concern, and it was appropriately and speedily dealt with as he requested. Gerry is a new Zealander; it is right that his concern was taken seriously, but he has also reminded a lot of people, through the publicity that he has given the exchange, of the importance of a fundamental principle of political neutrality of the public service. He was acting as a member of our loyal opposition, and I think we can take this as evidence that Gerry and his party have found at least this one thing where they have value to offer New Zealand.

  8. Morrissey 8
    16 June 2020 at 11:41 am

    It's a mystery that John Armstrong had the gall to write anything ever again, after his epic humiliation at the hands of Gordon Campbell some years ago. He was discredited, and anyone with a sense of shame or even the most rudimentary sense of dignity would have disappeared from public view.

    • te reo putake 8.1
      16 June 2020 at 12:05 pm

      Dunno, Morrissey. You've been discredited here at TS many, many times, particularly when you were regularly posting your notoriously unreliable transcrapts. I'm possibly in the minority here but it'd be a shame if you bowed to your own rudimentary sense of dignity and did one. Same for John Armstrong, who is at least reliable in presenting the right wing view of things.

    • tc 8.2
      16 June 2020 at 2:30 pm

      Thought he'd been put out to pasture. Bots will craft this type of stuff sooner or later so all you'll need is a figurehead.

  9. roblogic 9
    16 June 2020 at 12:33 pm

    Gerry has a selective memory. His cronies yelled "Key Derangement Syndrome" anytime we objected to Key's teflon PR campaigns and sycophantic media

  10. Jum 10
    16 June 2020 at 2:14 pm

    When will the public radio stop using RNZ NATIONAL ever five seconds every day when the word national is completely superfluous (NZ is the whole country!).

    Is National paying for this advertising of their party from their election funding? Why are they allowed to campaign 24/7 i.e. all 3 years without making some payment?

    When Radio New Zealand reduced itself to RNZ, supposedly to come into the digital 21stC advertising itself as radio plus, why didn't it just call itself RNZ PLUS?

    RNZ Concert is a specialist programme and is necessary.

    • Heather Grimwood 10.1
      16 June 2020 at 4:20 pm

      to Jum at 10 : The ‘NATIONAL’ tag on RNZ happened under a National govt I think before an election as I believed it then to be at least subliminal advertising, but I felt much more obvious. I felt that to draw attention in complaint would only emphasise any effect.

      • rod 10.1.1
        16 June 2020 at 4:31 pm

        It should be RNZ NATIONAL ( PARTY) imho, smiley

        • In Vino 10.1.1.1
          16 June 2020 at 9:16 pm

          Actual history: Until Rogernomics and the ridiculous corporatisation of everything, there were some radio stations that were semi-commercial and used advertising like 1ZB. There were the national radio chains like 1YA (now RNZ National, 2YA, 3YA 4YA ,all AM, scattered from North to South across the country) The Classical chain were 1YC (Auckland), 2YC (Wellington) and so on across the Nation. There was also a 1YD chain of stations that just went for light music, and occasionally but reluctantly played pop music, like the early Rolling Stones hits… About 1967, Radio Hauraki's pirate station was allowed to come ashore and exist totally privately!!

          The problem about National Party being associated with National Radio was never seen as serious – it was assumed that people were intelligent enough to know very well the difference between the two meanings of the one word.

          Under Rogernomics, with the silly pretence that State-owned enterprises would be more efficient, the ZB chains were set free to be totally commercial. The YA Chain was renamed 'National Radio'. The YC chain was renamed 'Concert FM'.

          This is because the new medium of FM made Classical Music so much better…

          (Typical that our later barbaric idiots would recommend taking Classical Music off FM…)

          Next, our stupid Enterprise Directors asked bloody marketers how to improve their market share, because that had suddenly become the one important factor.

          Quality of content no longer mattered – only the number of people listening mattered, according to commercial advertising morons who had by now been put in charge of everything.

          So they paid out heaps of money to moronic commercial consultants, who told them that they needed corporate culture and pride in their corporation. The Name of their Corporation was 'RADIO NEW ZEALAND' and that had to be repeated as loudly and as often as possible. So they paid out heaps for the dumb advice that 'National Radio' should be thenceforth called 'RADIO NEW ZEALAND – NATIONAL', and that 'Concert FM' should thenceforth be called 'RADIO NEW ZEALAND – CONCERT'

          These utterly dumb names had far too many syllables, were far too long, so recently our dumb enterprise paid out yet more of our tax-payers' money to get the obvious advice that the names were too long, and RNZ should replace the long mouthfuls.. So we now have 'RNZ- National', and 'RNZ – Concert'

          The whole thing is sickening, to my mind. The original names were shorter and better. A lot of money was wasted on brainless marketers.

          I would say that the National Party should be forced to change its name, not National Radio.

          I would also ban advertising on National Radio. No longer would we have to listen to National Radio mimicking its inferiors by advertising its own programmes after every news break. Nor would we have to suffer them needlessly advertising NZ On Air, as if that is also a Corporation that desperately needs its image boosted.

          When the Revolution comes, the dumb-arsed Marketers should be first to go up against the wall. After them, the dumb-arsed Corp Directors who marshalled the whole utter farce.

          • Jum 10.1.1.1.1
            17 June 2020 at 10:36 am

            Thank you all very much for your replies. I've seen the ads on tv pre election showing two utes one red, one blue with the voice over preferring the blue one, etc. It's so devious and surely diminishes trust in national.

          • Morrissey 10.1.1.1.2
            17 June 2020 at 10:56 am

            Very good summary, my friend. In Vino, veritas, indeed.

            The marketers who came up with the idea of tagging everything with "RNZ" were perhaps the same people who came up with the idea for Cadbury's to append the label "Dairy Milk" to as many of their chocolate bars as possible: Caramello becomes "Dairy Milk Caramello", etc.

            Perhaps the most egregious of the RNZ campaigns was the condescending and cringe-inducing "Radio New Zealand, Sounds Like Us" one of a decade ago. The public backlash to it was immense.

          • roblogic 10.1.1.1.3
            17 June 2020 at 11:25 am

            RNZ – a meaningless corporate logo

            Radio NZ – better, but stodgy, perhaps doesn't reflect the variety of media it offers

            NatRad – cool, military sounding, radical

            What about "Aotea Reo"? Too soon?

  11. Descendant Of Smith 11
    16 June 2020 at 4:15 pm

    lol Can't help but think of those headlines National introduced a program called "Building Blue" across the public service. Didn't see Jerry getting upset about that.

    "The Ministry of Social Development is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to change its workers from red to blue. It has hired consulting firm Human Synergistics to introduce a programme of culture change called Building Blue."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/68494982/msd-spends-taxpayer-dollars-on-workplace-change

  12. peter sim 12
    16 June 2020 at 6:42 pm

    Gerry does not care how idiotic he sounds, (or looks, ( barging through airport security doors).

    Talk about arrogant self entitlement. does anyone remember his Finland knowledge.

    Long may brownlee remain the natz pr spokesclown.

  13. Richard@Down South 13
    16 June 2020 at 9:48 pm

    Do you think itd be worth using FYI to ask Bridges at what stage of the pandemic would have National looked at going into lock down, and what professional medical advice had they been given? I bet it’d be interesting

  14. Incognito 14
    16 June 2020 at 10:03 pm

    Mr Brownlee, I trade you this: https://www.national.org.nz/mandatory_quarantining_at_border

    I tried to follow you, but I got stopped by security settings.

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    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Cans of Worms.
    “And there’ll be no shortage of ‘events’ to test Luxon’s political skills. David Seymour wants a referendum on the Treaty. Winston wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Labour’s handling of the Covid crisis. Talk about cans of worms!”LAURIE AND LES were very fond of their local. It was nothing ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Disinformation campaigns are undermining democracy. Here’s how we can fight back
    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Misinformation is debated everywhere and has justifiably sparked concerns. It can polarise the public, reduce health-protective behaviours such as mask wearing and vaccination, and erode trust in science. Much of misinformation is spread not ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record.1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is not even an entry in Wikipedia. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • The New Government: 2023 Edition
    So New Zealand has a brand-spanking new right-wing government. Not just any new government either. A formal majority coalition, of the sort last seen in 1996-1998 (our governmental arrangements for the past quarter of a century have been varying flavours of minority coalition or single-party minority, with great emphasis ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • The unboxing
    And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the tree with its gold ribbon but can turn out to be nothing more than a big box holding a voucher for socks, so it ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • A cruel, vicious, nasty government
    So, after weeks of negotiations, we finally have a government, with a three-party cabinet and a time-sharing deputy PM arrangement. Newsroom's Marc Daalder has put the various coalition documents online, and I've been reading through them. A few things stand out: Luxon doesn't want to do any work, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Hurrah – we have a new government (National, ACT and New Zealand First commit “to deliver for al...
    Buzz from the Beehive Sorry, there has been  no fresh news on the government’s official website since the caretaker trade minister’s press statement about the European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement. But the capital is abuzz with news – and media comment is quickly flowing – after ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Christopher Luxon – NZ PM #42.
    Nothing says strong and stable like having your government announcement delayed by a day because one of your deputies wants to remind everyone, but mostly you, who wears the trousers. It was all a bit embarrassing yesterday with the parties descending on Wellington before pulling out of proceedings. There are ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Coalition Government details policies & ministers
    Winston Peters will be Deputy PM for the first half of the Coalition Government’s three-year term, with David Seymour being Deputy PM for the second half. Photo montage by Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: PM-Elect Christopher Luxon has announced the formation of a joint National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government with a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • “Old Coat” by Peter, Paul & Mary.
     THERE ARE SOME SONGS that seem to come from a place that is at once in and out of the world. Written by men and women who, for a brief moment, are granted access to that strange, collective compendium of human experience that comes from, and belongs to, all the ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 23-November-2023
    It’s Friday again! Maybe today we’ll finally have a government again. Roll into the weekend with some of the articles that caught our attention this week. And as always, feel free to add your links and observations in the comments. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    7 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s strategy for COP28 in Dubai
    The COP28 countdown is on. Over 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which starts next Thursday. Among the VIPs confirmed for the Dubai summit are the UK’s Rishi Sunak and Brazil’s Lula da Silva – along ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    7 days ago

  • Coalition talks: a timeline
    Media demand to know why a coalition government has yet to be formed. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    7 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Nov 24
    Luxon was no doubt relieved to be able to announce a coalition agreement has been reached, but we still have to wait to hear the detail. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Passing Things Down.
    Keeping The Past Alive: The durability of Commando comics testifies to the extended nature of the generational passing down of the images, music, and ideology of the Second World War. It has remained fixed in the Baby Boomers’ consciousness as “The Good War”: the conflict in which, to a far ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2023
    Open access notables How warped are we by fossil fuel dependency? Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35-40 million cubic meters per day of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine for European consumption every single day, right now. In order to secure European cooperation against Russian aggression, Ukraine must help to ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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