Here we go again...
Conspiracy linked groups wanting to manipulate local body elections
In 2022, Voices for Freedom made headlines when it was revealed that they were seeking candidates to run for local body elected positions and were going to help them but they needed to keep their affiliation to VFF secret.
It set off a number of copy-cat candidate runs - candidates who shared views on how vaccines were fake, the WEF was out to get you and take over the world, 15 minute cities were a ploy to trap us all and eat bugs for ever - that these candidates often hid from the voters.
On election night, about 2 dozen of these conspiracy peddling candidates ended up being elected around the country. And it’s no surprises that a lot of these candidates and people like them intended to try and manipulate voters into voting for them again this local election cycle - there’s even been planning documents created by sitting Hamilton City Councillor Andrew “I’ll call women slurs designed to denigrate disabled people and never apologise” Bydder on the path to victory floating around amongst these circles for a couple of months now.
But the plan from the man who claimed all Council staff are university indoctrinated shills for Klaus Schwab and that was part of a group of sovereign citizens that issues his co-workers with execution warrants over 15 minute cities, isn’t the only planning going on.
Groundswell is also now getting in on the action.
Last week the anti-environment farming lobby group put out this call.
Essentially they want to do what VFF did at the last election. Set up candidates to run in specific areas with the support of but not explicit naming of a group. It’s misleading to voters, who have a right to know who they are voting for and what they really stand for.
And being linked to Groundswell is a problem. Over the years, they may have come under fire from the conspiracy crowd for not attending the illegal wellington occupation officially, by those there, but that rift has long since healed.
Voices for Freedom took an active role in encouraging supporters to get behind their protests against environmental reforms. Groundswell founder Bryce McKenzie is a regular on VFF media outlet Reality Check Radio - usually on a show with Southland District Councillor Jaspreet Boparai. Groundswell organisers all over the country have links to disinformation groups - Sue here for example suggested voters choose NZ Loyal at the general election, frequently posts about the “lies of climate change”, how RFK jr is a health expert and the evils of fluoride.
The Auckland co-ordinator for Groundswell was so active in VFF he won an award for his work, while also connected with Destiny Church linked The Freedom and Rights Coalition, he ended up running in 2023 for Democracy NZ in Port Waikato. Teviot Valley Local Board member Gil Booth, who recently helped facilitate the set up of a local Residents and ratepayers group - like the one in Hamilton that was run by a multiple convicted serious fraud offender, has spoken at Groundswell events.
Selwyn’s Elizabeth Mundt who is now a NZ First Member was the VFF member hounded by Stuff as she hid in her house refusing to answer questions, she was also a big supporter of the stop 3 Waters movement and joined Tax Payer Union and Groundswell events on the topic. She also has ties with former whaling lobbyist and potential driver behind the anti-trans Inflection Point NZ, which was run by the man behind attacks on Green MP Benjamin Doyle.
The whole alternative facts crowd is highly incestuous if you couldn’t tell by now.
So how much influence could a Groundswell backed candidate have in a local election?
The short answer is a lot. As a third party promoter in the last election, Groundswell officially spent $141’000 on electioneering. They bank rolled climate change deniers to tour and do public speaking engagements but their finances aren’t publicly available because, like Voices for Freedom, they’re not a registered charity - in fact the NZ Companies register has them listed as an events, recreational, promotion management group, so the amount they bring in is not publicly available.
And while they downplayed in 2021, the fact their website was initially listed as having been built by the Tax Payer’s Union, it was later changed to Jordan Williams’ Campaign Company - which is also where the bulk of their expenses went in the 2023 election campaign. The TPU is heavily aligned with the Act Party and Groundswell as an organisation showed an affinity with Act members like Andrew Hoggard and Mark Cameron while many members of Groundswell and VFF have shown a strong affiliation with the current iteration of NZ First - both political parties adept at shaping media narratives and using coded language to their base to grow voter groups with the support of an organisation known for it’s emotive and often inflammatory presentation of what it’s funders consider to be issues of importance - and it’s to be expected that some of those tools would be used by candidates secretly endorsed by Groundswell, as we saw with candidates secretly endorsed by VFF in 2022.
In short - there could be a lot of resources thrown at voters to get them to choose these candidates. Southland, where Sue’s call specifically mentions, also has a high turnout of local body voters, just under half in 2022 and they still elected VFF member and Reality Check radio host Jaspreet Boparai to that Council - meaning the voters themselves may be partial to the messaging that is used by these groups.
And that’s not necessarily bad from a democratic perspective - voters often vote against their best interests, and there’s been many elections where I’ve wondered about what on earth voters were thinking, but they chose based on what information was in front of them. As much as I find it ridiculous that any population would vote for people like Boparai and Booth vilifying science and pushing those alt-right narratives, they at least don’t hide their views and affiliations and didn’t before they were elected. Voters deserve a chance to know exactly who they’re voting for and exactly what they stand for - and to see how these candidates hide those connections. Last election it was “I stand for common sense and retaining local control of decision making” which was coded language for “Vaccines bad and we should all be aware of that and Maori are bad, why are we being told what to do, fuck you, you don’t own me”.
This local election there’s bound to be more of the same. So voters need to be aware well in advance because with less than 6 months until the local election comes around, there’s a lot of this kind of bullshit to be prepared for.