Brownlee forced to withdraw ad with fake data

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, February 28th, 2019 - 32 comments
Categories: Gerry Brownlee, national, same old national, tax, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

In a disturbing example of fake news National has been found to have been using grossly misleading figures in one of its advertisements.

From John Anthony at Stuff:

The National Party has been forced to remove a social media ad which used misleading figures to attack the Government.

A recent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) decision said the National Party Facebook post consisted of a video featuring MP Gerry Brownlee talking about a recent National Party announcement regarding proposed changes to National’s tax policy.

Brownlee said: “Bracket creep as it’s called is a big problem and this Government is going to take an extra $17.7 billion dollars over the next years out to ’20/’21 out of the pay packets of New Zealanders.”

The Complainant R Parry said this in his complaint:

This basic maths error by a senior member of the National Party grossly misleads New Zealanders who see this advertisement.

The problem with the ad is that National’s own figures suggested that the cost would be $650 million a year, way less than the claimed figure.  The $17.7 billion is the figure for all tax changes made by the Government.

It is disturbing that one of its senior people should show such economic illiteracy although the ad obviously went through its media team.  And in future I think we should take all National advertising with a grain of salt.  And a calculator.

32 comments on “Brownlee forced to withdraw ad with fake data ”

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  1. Kevin 1
    28 February 2019 at 8:44 am

    Why should we be worried about Browlees economic illiteracy?
    Joyce had it in spades.

    —

    Brought to you by the party of business owners.

    • Ankerrawshark 1.1
      28 February 2019 at 10:53 am

      Ha ha ha Kevin. Good one. Brought to you by the party of business owners…..hope Shadrach reads that. She was banging on about jacinda not running a business yesterday and how this is a lack for her as PM a la Mike Hoskins latest spew.

      I pointed out Donald trump was a business owner and asked how she thought that was working out. Are you there Shadrach? Want to comment?

    • David Taylor 1.2
      4 March 2019 at 3:57 pm

      The same man who entered the wrong gate at Christchurch Airport to avoid security and catch a plane he was running late for. A minister of the Crown leading by example with do as I say, not what I do. Forever angry in the debating chamber too – The Tories are there to rule of course – not to waste their time on the Opposition benches.

  2. Sacha 2
    28 February 2019 at 8:49 am

    This judgement shows that there are no consequences for political parties lying via social media. Expect more of that.

    • tc 2.1
      1 March 2019 at 7:42 am

      Or the msm perpetrating national party spin and bs…..needs to be dealt with IMO as these media duopolies do it for click bait/ratings etc knowing they’re part of the deception.

      So they’re getting economic benefits which makes them thirst for more being a dinosaur sunset business model thrashing around like a fish out of water.

  3. patricia bremner 3
    28 February 2019 at 9:37 am

    Well where is Shadrack on this case?
    Brownlee was not a business man, but many who were on the media team will have had business experience. That doesn’t seem to have improved their work or truthfulness one iota.

    • mac1 3.1
      28 February 2019 at 10:12 am

      Where is Shadrach? Out in the desert, lying low this time? (Daniel 3)

      It’s very hard to defend the indefensible.Two possible avenues.

      1. They did it, too. But that involves the counter charge of nowhere as much and quote the long list of Nat business/fiscal errors and mismanagement.

      2. Look over there. Oh, look, that poor man John Tamihere is not welcome back into the Labour Party. But again, as The Jackal wrote back in 2012 about Tamihere, there are sound reasons why not. http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2012/11/john-tamihere-asshole-of-week.html

    • Chris 3.2
      28 February 2019 at 10:31 am

      Probably why he had to quit being a woodwork teacher – getting kids to make two-legged chairs, and 4 inch table tops 8 foot high.

    • peterh 3.3
      28 February 2019 at 1:35 pm

      Jenny shipley is a business woman, tell that to the sub contractors

  4. greywarshark 4
    28 February 2019 at 9:42 am

    Does Brownlee tell fibs then? We had no inkling of that. I am glad that everyone has found out about this tendency; one done and exposed, but how many one might wonder have there been been in the past?!

    I wonder if it will be printed in The Press, his home newspaper and where he has his seat/s? It will be a great shock for the fine people of Ilam, his electorate who wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole if they thought that there was even a hint of not complete probity. /sarc

    All you need to know about Gerry Brownlee and Ilam, Christchurch and the magnificence of the National Party, about all of whom there should be no magnanimous sentiment. (And who will probably not understand a word of this, having an uncomplicated education of a vocational nature fitted towards serving in some capacity in the National Party:)-

    https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/members-of-parliament/brownlee-gerry/
    Member for Ilam, National Party. Date first elected: 12 October 1996; Member of the following Parliaments: 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd …

    Gerry Brownlee – Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Brownlee
    Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the National … In the 1993 elections, Brownlee stood as the National Party candidate in the Sydenham electorate, where he campaigned unsuccessfully against …
    Nationality‎: ‎New Zealand
    Leader‎: ‎Don Brash
    Political party‎: ‎National Party
    Occupation‎: ‎Teacher
    ‎Member of Parliament · ‎In opposition · ‎In Government · ‎Controversy and faux pas

    A Christchurch native, Brownlee worked as a teacher before being elected to Parliament at the 1996 election. He was deputy leader of the National Party from 2003 to 2006, and served various ministerial appointments in the fifth National government, including Leader of the House, Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs….

    …he attended St Bede’s College where he twice failed to gain University Entrance.[5] After leaving high school, he worked in his family’s timber business and received training in carpentry. After qualifying as a builder, he retrained as a teacher and taught woodwork, technical drawing and Māori, over a period of twelve years, at Ellesmere College, and at his alma mater, St Bede’s….

    Brownlee received criticism during the 1999 election campaign when he ejected Neil Able, a 60-year-old Native Forest Action campaigner, from the National Party’s 1999 election campaign launch. The ejection took place with what many, including watching journalists, considered excessive force. Neil Able started civil assault proceedings against Brownlee, seeking damages of $60,000. In 2002, a District Court judge found in favour of Mr Able that Brownlee had “used excessive and unnecessary force on Mr Abel when he tried to remove him from a staircase handrail”. Brownlee was ordered to pay Neil Able $8,500 in damages.[19][20] Brownlee later sought unsuccessfully to have $48,000 of his legal fees reimbursed by the Government.[21]

    Gerry Brownlee | MP for Ilam
    https://gerrybrownlee.national.org.nz/
    As local MP my focus is always on the Ilam electorate. When I vote in Parliament I do so knowing I represent the views of those who live in Ilam…. Read more …

  5. marty mars 5
    28 February 2019 at 12:20 pm

    I enjoyed reporting the ad to fbook as fake news. Send me more Gerry lol

  6. ankerawsharkP 6
    28 February 2019 at 1:38 pm

    Good on you MM.. good action.

  7. cleangreen 7
    28 February 2019 at 1:49 pm

    Gerry was probably learning the ‘financials from the same school as his mate Steven Joyce did with his $11.7 Billion deficit hole” remember that?i

    “Steven Joyce sticks with his $11.7 Billion deficit hole”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99158061/steven-joyce-sticks-to-117-billion-hole-in-govt-budget

  8. McFlock 8
    28 February 2019 at 3:04 pm

    So any nat who criticizes govt accounting gets “you guys are so bad at math that the advertising standards authority made you pull an ad”.

  9. alwyn 9
    28 February 2019 at 4:11 pm

    I tried to make a complaint about claims being made by Phil Twyford. I was informed that complaints about his claims were not being accepted by the Advertising Standards Authority.

    When I asked why they were accepting them about Brownlee but not Twyford I was informed that Twyford was purely an author of works of fiction. He took no part in the preparation of works of non-fiction. Therefore to accept and examine any statements Twyford made would be equivalent to examining the material in a J K Rowling book.
    Twyford was not expected to ever make factual statements and therefore no-one was confused by the fantasies he described.

    Well they told me something like this.

    • marty mars 9.1
      28 February 2019 at 4:20 pm

      Wow settle down mate – I just about spilt my drink with that one and it was really really full, like with the surface tension on the liquid causing the level of the liquid to actually be ABOVE the rim or high point of the glass full.

      • alwyn 9.1.1
        28 February 2019 at 6:23 pm

        “causing the level of the liquid to actually be ABOVE the rim”.
        You clearly didn’t have a scientific education did you?
        The surface tension on the drink didn’t CAUSE the level of the liquid to rise. It was pouring in more liquid than the glass was designed for that caused the level to be above the brim. The surface tension ALLOWED the liquid to remain in the glass even though the level was above the rim.
        You are, I’m afraid, confusing cause and effect.

        • marty mars 9.1.1.1
          28 February 2019 at 6:52 pm

          I’m sorry my clumsy sentence caused you to reply.

          • McFlock 9.1.1.1.1
            28 February 2019 at 7:01 pm

            Both over-pouring and surface tension are necessary but insufficient causes of the effect (liquid above the rim).

            Without over-pouring, there would not be enough fluid. Without surface tension, the fluid would pour out to the level of the rim.

            So because they are both causes, the person who asserted that there was confusion between cause and effect was themselves confused as to whether a cause was an effect. This follows the respected rule of “he who smelt it dealt it”.

      • greywarshark 9.1.2
        28 February 2019 at 7:56 pm

        I always find that so fascinating. You can see the air pressure that normally you just don’t notice. Meniscus? We also have them on the joints of the knee.

        • alwyn 9.1.2.1
          28 February 2019 at 9:19 pm

          It doesn’t have anything to do with the air pressure actually.
          It is the tendency of fluid surfaces to shrink to try and form the smallest surface area. The surface atoms are attracted inwards into the body of the fluid. I think, although my physics studies were long, long ago, that you would see it even in a very low air pressure.
          The liquid would have to be fairly cold as otherwise it would tend to boil. Atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 psia at sea level. At 1 psia boiling point is about 40C.
          I don’t remember what it would be in a very good vacuum.
          However the science fiction stories about people exploding as all their body fluids would instantly boil in a vacuum are precisely that. They are fiction.

    • Ankerrawshark 9.2
      28 February 2019 at 9:38 pm

      Alywyn “well they told me something like that”. Sounds a bit like pretty legal….

      What a lot of bull shit Alywin. If your going to lie at least come up with something credible

      • alwyn 9.2.1
        28 February 2019 at 11:44 pm

        Well, at least my contribution was more credible that Twyford’s statements ever are.
        When was the last time he ever made an honest statement about what they were going to achieve? Even Ardern, who isn’t renowned for the truth of her announcements has found him so embarassing that she has decided that they will no longer have any targets at all. Without any means of measuring progress they seem to think that the public won’t notice what a useless lot they are.

        • Ankerrawshark 9.2.1.1
          1 March 2019 at 8:14 am

          Alwyyn aka Paula Bennett????????? Is that you Paula? You’ve just used ms Bennett’s tacttics……btw that’s not compliment

  10. Observer Tokoroa 10
    28 February 2019 at 6:35 pm

    Poor old Standard

    Poor old Standard, nursing along strange creatures from the very odd group known as Aunty Propaganda.

    National don’t make mistakes. They make lies. Thousands of Lies. They teach them to their illiterate troll gangs. Such as Alwind.

    Alwind – eats his own unsavoury intestine. – has never achieved anything – but applies his mould to the Greenlane Hospital. Like a true National.

    Basically he is Filth. As is his whole collection of weird friends.

  11. Observer Tokoroa 11
    28 February 2019 at 6:51 pm

    Hi Alwind

    You would know about sick. And your nasty lies.

    Try and be a man.