Advance NZ vaccination video is a ‘cheeky doctor’ and ‘deceptive’

Parliament’s Privilege Committee has endorsed President Trevor Mallard and his decision for Advance New Zealand to remove a political video from its social media channels about Covid-19 vaccines.

But the party is challenging the ruling and the video, falsely claiming that Labor will force people to get vaccinated, remained on its Facebook page this afternoon.

And the party is unlikely to face consequences before the elections because Parliament is dissolved next Sunday, leaving too tight a deadline for the committee to penalize the party.

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Mallard previously asked the party to remove the video, called “Say no to the forced vaccination agenda for workers,” and referred the matter to the committee because he said it violated the rules for the use of parliamentary images.

The rules say that the images cannot be used for political advertising or election campaigns, except with the permission of all members shown.

Today, the Privilege Committee released an interim report in which it says it unanimously agreed that the video was misleading.

“The video represents a flagrant alteration of Parliament’s procedures with the intention of
mislead viewers by implicating a proposal for mandatory vaccination of New Zealanders, “the committee said.

The clip uses television footage from Parliament of the Minister for Managed Isolation and Quarantine, Megan Woods, speaking in the House on the Covid-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill.

The Advance NZ video states that the law will force citizens to get vaccinated. “Do you think we are conspiracy theorists? Listen to the minister’s own mouth.”

He then uses clips of Woods saying the bill would establish the legal framework to require someone to get vaccinated:

“In the future it could include the requirement that someone be vaccinated, for example, if there is access to a vaccine in the future and that is something that the legislation will have the legal framework to allow.”

Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield and Health Minister Chris Hipkins stated that a Covid-19 vaccine would not be mandatory.

The committee said the images used in the video dealt with “the possibility” of requiring that people who arrive abroad be vaccinated before entering the country.

“In the unanimous opinion of the committee, misleading video should be withdrawn from use, including by social media platforms,” ​​the committee’s report said.

But Advance NZ co-leader Jami-Lee Ross rejected the committee’s statement, saying it was acting like a “kangaroo court by holding a meeting, receiving advice, reaching a conclusion, and then making a finding, all without no contribution from the accused. ” – me and Advance NZ “.

The committee added that any additional steps would have to be for the next term, given the impending dissolution of Parliament.

That’s because the committee needs time to conduct a full hearing, which would include hearing Advance NZ, and then reporting to the House, and then a motion would be voted on in the House.

The misuse of parliamentary images can be treated as contempt, which can be fined up to $ 1000.

Incarceration is also technically possible, although it has never been used before in New Zealand.