The release from the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa around tobacco industry interference was a glimpse behind the curtain.
And just like the curtain being pulled back in the Wizard of Oz, what we saw is the mechanics behind a mirage.
The mirage in this case was the neutrality of Luxon’s government including himself, Housing Minister and National campaign manager Chris Bishop, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Minister of Health Shane Reti, Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello, and Regulation Minister David Seymour while the mechanics were the talking points that they have spouted and are almost verbatim what the likes of British AmericanTobacco, Imperial Brands Australasia and Japan Tobacco Inc have said.
It is great that organisations and people are standing up and calling this coalition of chaos to account, especially when it comes to their connections to lobbyists.
After all, as has been reported since the release, who is leading the push for these policies and what happens to the public trust in our democractic institutions when it becomes clear that ministers are simply repeating talking points from the tobacco industry?
Of particular concern, and as the report outlines, ‘if repeated often enough and seeded carefully, these claims may come to be accepted even when they are inconsistent with robust, independent research’.
In academic circles this is referred to as a truth-myth. Repeat a lie or a myth enough times and it becomes a “truth”, a “fact” believed by the general public.
And once that seed has been planted, it can be bloody hard to dig out no matter how much evidence and fact is used to counter the truth-myth.
But this interference in our political system is not limited to our smokefree legislation and it isn’t limited to the politicans named in the release from the Public Health Communication Centre.
In fact, if we pull back the curtain even more, we reveal a whole apparatus operating behind the scenes.
An appartus that prefers we don’t know about it and one that some are very quick to deny and minimise.
It leads one to ask why are they so quick to deny, deflect and minimise?
If it is all above board, what is so wrong with shining a light on it?
The reality is that it is an apparatus that loves to work away from the spotlight and would rather we not know they existed.
So who or what is this apparatus?
It is called the Atlas Network and it is an international group of right wing think tanks, originally founded by British entrepreneur Antony Fisher in 1981 but now based in the USA.
They are funded by the oil industry, the mining industry, the tobacco industry and the likes of the Koch brothers.
It is a well-funded think tank group that was involved in fighting against indigenous peoples rights in both Canada and Australia.
Atlas played a significant role behind the scenes in last year’s The Voice referendum in Australia, and as Mata reported they have their sights set on Aotearoa and particularly Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
As Cindy Baxter revealed back in 2020, Atlas has two current New Zealand members: The New Zealand Initiative and the Taxpayers Union.
They are not the only lobby groups with ties to Atlas – The Education Forum, New Zealand Business Roundtable and Maxim Institute all have been Atlas members in the recent past according to records.
But even more concerning is the connection that David Seymour has to Atlas.
He mentioned in his 2021 State of the Nation address (yes he has a habit of doing these) that Atlas were old friends of his (under the heading ‘Freedom’).
That is true as he has been involved in Atlas since 2008 and has an ‘Atlas Thinktank MBA’ according to academic Dr Jeremy Walker who has been researching the Atlas Network for years.
Dr Walker has also shared photos of Seymour actively involved in Atlas from their 2008 Year in Review when he was working for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Canada, another Atlas Network lobby group.
Given his role in other Atlas-related lobby groups, the question has to be asked, how much involvement has Atlas had in creating ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill?
This is a question that Seymour needs to answer, and it is a question that our journalists and media must keep asking him.
We cannot rest on our laurels.
If we do, the likes of Atlas will continue to influence, manipulate and spend their way to get policies that favour their funders.
Seddonville Miner
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress