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New Zealand First Media
A reader of the latest issue of the Listener magazine (July 2-July 8 2022) has brought to my attention Jane Clifton’s article.
The first sentence in the first paragraph begins with a preposterous lie and the article descends thereafter. It states ‘Brian Tamaki is in merger talks with Winston Peters’. There have never been any talks between myself and Brian Tamaki and to suggest otherwise is underhanded political dirt.
Whilst New Zealand First has always been open to conversations with all New Zealanders on issues that concern them, we do not intend to give this journalistic deceit the oxygen of respectability.
The statement is false and all Jane Clifton had to do to confirm that was to contact me. She didn’t because a simple fact check would have upset her intended narrative and purpose. Many readers will have worked out why for themselves.
Jane Clifton has hitherto had a distinguished record in New Zealand journalism, but she has sadly let herself and her readers down on this occasion. She failed to both fact and spell-check her article.
The least I expect from Jane and the Listener is an unreserved apology and retraction.
