Disinformation not popular with voters
Two prominent Voices for Freedom figures have won council seats. But most voters rejected candidates who spread disinformation. Andrea Vance and Charlie Mitchell report.
Two prominent Voices for Freedom spokespeople have been elected to local body positions in an election that otherwise saw a widespread rejection of candidates who advanced false claims and conspiracy theories.
Jaspreet Boparai and Gill Booth are active members of VFF, and have fronted videos about running for local elections. Dairy farmer Boparai, who pushes a conspiracy theory about a United Nations agenda to enslave humanity, was elected to the Southland District Council.
Booth was elected to the Teviot Community Board in Central Otago. She is a frequent guest speaker on VFF’s online channel. In declaring her candidacy, she told supporters to ‘‘absolutely disrupt and rip to pieces our local council’’. In August, Stuff Circuit documentary Fire and Fury revealed VFF was targeting local body elections, encouraging supporters to run for seats.
The movement claims to have 100,000 supporters. It has said it wasn’t explicitly endorsing candidates, but did encourage and assist those who shared similar views. That support included coaching, advice on social media messaging and handling journalists. The group itself had said there were ‘‘literally hundreds’’ of like-minded candidates running for seats. A Stuff analysis identified more than 200, who were running in at least 159 races.
As of last night, fewer than a dozen of those identified by Stuff had been successful, and several incumbent councillors with those views lost their positions.
In Carterton, seven-term councillor Jill Greathead, who belongs to VFF’s Wairarapa group and carried a Refreshing Local Democracy affiliation, lost her seat. In Gisborne, incumbent councillor Meredith AkuhataBrown, who was reprimanded for posting false information about the Covid-19 vaccine on social media, also failed in her reelection bid.
Christchurch city had a particularly high concentration of VFF-aligned candidates, with five candidates competing for 11 seats. None were successful.
Likewise, in Gisborne, where none of the seven candidates identified by Stuff were elected. Thames-Coromandel, Tasman, Waimakariri, and Far North district councils had multiple VFF-aligned candidates who were not elected.
It was not a complete blowout. The deputy mayor of Whanganui, Jenny Duncan was re-elected to the council.
She had attended the occupation at Parliament and participated in an interview on Counterspin Media, which she later said she regretted.
Two incumbent councillors in New Plymouth, Murray Chong and Anneka Carlson, were reelected. Both attended the occupation at Parliament but denied any VFF affiliation. VFFoperations manager Tane Webster was unsuccessful in a bid for a seat on the same council.
Four-term Paraparaumu/ Raumati Community board member Jonny Best won a set on the new Raumati Community Board. He donated to VFF last year, is on their mailing list, and attended the 23-day occupation, but he is vaccinated.
Clyde Graf took one of two Waipā -King Country seats on the Waikato Regional Council.
The anti-1080 activist, who is also a convicted bank robber, frequently shares disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine on social media.
In Selwyn, west of Christchurch, Elizabeth Mundt was successful. She had declined to talk to Stuff about her views, but posted false information about vaccines on social media.
In the north of Auckland, Leanne Willis will serve on the Hibiscus & Bays local board. In an interview with former broadcaster Liz Gunn, she likened New Zealand’s Covid-19 response to Nazi Germany: ‘‘I couldn’t believe, for a liberal kind of party that she (Jacinda Ardern) was heading, that it was so draconian and just had all of these remnants of the Holocaust,’’ she said.
In Southland, Emma Gould – who the Otago Daily Times reported was arrested at the Parliament occupation – will sit on the Oraka Aparima community board. Duncan Campbell won the seventh seat in the Taupo¯ ward. Campbell, a self-employed traffic engineer, supports VFF and spent time at the Parliament protest in February. He told Stuff he was not affiliated with the group.
Ahead of the vote closing yesterday, Stuff asked VFF several questions relating to its support for candidates. The group said it had not asked people to hide their affiliation with the group or to act in a way to subvert the democratic process. It also said it had not provided any financial support to candidates or their campaigns.