It is incredible that in a modern western democracy, New Zealanders are now being judged by state-appointed persons who are biased and therefore compromised.
The Labour Government set up a Disinformation Project, giving it authority to snoop into others’ lives, and if they do not like the beliefs or stance those others take on an issue, those people become a target to be shamed and defamed.
My article in June highlighted the unfair treatment of… well, they said 12 people, but in fact, they could not even count, as they listed 13 names and called them ‘the Aotearoa Dozen’ or the ‘super spreaders’. Chantelle Baker topped this list.
The names were trashed on TV news and in print. These 13 people were said to be spreaders of misinformation, disinformation, dangerous speech, hateful expression, and criminal behaviour but is that really true?
The Westminster style of government in NZ (a parliamentary system modelled on that of the United Kingdom) is set up with checks and balances so that no individual group within the government can become too powerful. New Zealand’s (unwritten) constitution sets out how Parliament, the executive and the judiciary have their own roles and how they also work together to make, pass, apply and enforce the law.
Kate Hannah, the principal investigator and director of the Disinformation Project said of these 13 (Aotearoa Dozen) people, in an RNZ interview:
The key is they mustn’t be left unchecked as it could impact the election cycle.
Hannah meant it.
The current Labour Government is ignoring a fundamental aspect of justice. The Disinformation Project has been given extraordinary powers to silence others they deem to be enemies of the state.
Hannah has gone even further to silence Baker and the others, by making them a significant part of the recently released government propaganda documentary, “Fire and Fury.”
What is incredible is that the targets of her criticism are not interviewed for their views or given the opportunity to correct misinformation.
She is both judge and jury of their characters. They are repeatedly damned in the one-sided documentary, released by Stuff and funded by the Ardern government.
Chantelle Baker and the other 12 had no redress or opportunity to speak.
Kate Hannah is known to be a close friend of Jacinda Ardern and seems determined to assassinate the character of anyone who does not love Ardern as she does.
Hannah seems to believe her job description is to be a minder and protector of Ardern. Rubbishing Baker unjustly for the sake of the NZ Prime Minister’s election cycle surely is a step too far?
Chris Trotter gave his take on Stuff’s Fire and Fury documentary and didn’t hold back.
Bluntly, Fire and Fury relies much too heavily on the “expert” commentary of Kate Hannah, a principal investigator and director of The Disinformation Project, a state-funded research exercise run out of Te Punaha Matatini at the University of Auckland.
In an interview with Dale Husband on the Maori radio station, Waatea, Hannah revealed that The Disinformation Project had been set up in February 2020, immediately prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic, to counter the anti-government, anti-scientific, and anti-medicine narratives that the authorities were clearly anticipating.
What is it that disturbs me about The Disinformation Project? Surely, having people monitor the misinformation and disinformation being spread deliberately during a major medical emergency is an entirely sensible government initiative? Any undermining of the collective effort to protect the population from the effects of a potentially deadly virus is prima facie evidence of evil intent. Many would say that identifying and neutralising such anti-social elements is an important state responsibility.
True enough, but why bury such a unit deep in the dense undergrowth of academia? And why appoint as its director a woman whose Masters thesis was on Nineteenth Century American literary culture, rather than a qualified medical administrator? If such a unit was needed, then why not set it up within the Ministry of Health, and make it answerable to the then Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield?
Chris Trotter
Sean Plunket, the founding editor of new media, The Platform NZ, gave Chantelle Baker the right of reply and questioned her on the accusations rained down on her by Kate Hannah.
In answer to a question from Plunket, Baker mentioned she is talking to her lawyer because of the character assassination.
The Platform thankfully helped to provide some balance as it allowed her to present her side of the story and to answer some of the unjust accusations made against her.