[ad_1]
In a post-election interview, Advance NZ leader Jami-Lee Ross denied having “sold his soul for political ambition” by joining forces with Billy Te Kahika of the New Zealand Public Party.
But text messages between Ross and officials concerned about the party’s slack finances in the run-up to the elections show that Ross downplayed his concerns, saying it was “used goods” with no way to the election without Te Kahika and his fringe supporters. .
During the campaign, senior Public Party officials expressed concern that the cash collected by Te Kahika was not being accounted for, that the contractors had not been paid, and that there was an attempt to remove Te Kahika as leader. .
Ross was briefed on these concerns at a Zoom meeting in August, but later sent attendees a text message, seen by Stuff saying, “Without Billy we have no viable chances of being elected to Parliament.”
READ MORE:
* Election 2020: Billy Te Kahika Truth Campaigns. But does he live for it?
* Billy TK Jr’s New Zealand Public Party under investigation for use of party donations
* MP Jami-Lee Ross referred to committee by anti-vaccination video
Ryan Anderson / Stuff
Jami-Lee Ross on the merger of Advance New Zealand with New Zealand Public Party.
He doubled down on this stance saying that if Te Kahika was removed due to financial concerns, he would “go away” too.
After the meeting, Ross remained attached to Te Kahika and sent messages to those calling for the leader’s resignation, saying that without Te Kahika as the party’s cover letter, there was little point in him staying.
“If there is no viable possibility, I will return to Plan A and leaving politics does not make sense to continue.”
The text messages paint a different picture than the one Ross curated during a post-election interview with Newshub political editor Tova O’Brien.
In that exchange, Ross was asked if he had “sold his soul for political ambition” by joining the controversial Te Kahika, which he denied.
Ross replied: “I could see that there were people asking questions about things that I believe in too, about the freedom and sovereignty of New Zealand.”
Te Kahika had taken a radical line on the campaign by speaking out about various conspiracy theories, including questioning the reality of Covid-19, the health effects of 5G, a supposedly secret United Nations agenda, as well as the publication of videos with anti-Semitic overtones.
He also made regular appeals for money through his social media platforms and is reported to have raised large amounts of cash at conference events that party members say went unaccounted for.
Before party officials made the allegations public, Ross was briefed on the situation through the Zoom meeting.
After the meeting, Ross encouraged people through texts viewed by Stuff, to fix Te Kahika’s flaws.
“He is deeply flawed like all of us,” he said.
“But it’s better to fix those flaws to do the right thing for the people you’ve given a voice to.
“Taking him down hurts all the candidates who have believed, all the candidates and both of them.”
Ross was asked to take over NZPP and replace Te Kahika. He had no interest in doing so and claimed in text exchanges to be “virtual assets” and “not viable as a leader until he has had an election to remove the bad news that hit me.”
PHIL JOHNSON / Things
Billy Te Kahika Jnr at a protest against Covid-19 restrictions in Auckland’s Aotea Square in September. .
Ross and three businessmen indicted in a National Party donation fraud case have denied the SFO charges against them and will stand trial next year.
In an interview about texting, Ross said Stuff He was asked to participate in a “blackmail plot” to defeat Te Kahika.
“They were trying to get me to participate in a blackmail operation where individuals would use Billy to get Advance NZ elected to parliament and then immediately blackmail him into resigning,” he said.
“I told them that that was the definition of blackmail under the crime law and I will not take part in that.”
Meeting attendees you spoke with Stuff They say they discussed ways or avenues to remove Te Kahika as the leader of the Public Party, which was problematic since the party had no constitution.
Ross also asked party officials to be kept informed of what the group decided to do regarding their complaints, as through a text message, he said: “If things are exploding, I’d rather leave without putting more effort”.
Ross told Stuff that his reasons for backing Te Kahika were the traction he had generated on social media and his ability to mobilize voters.
However, on election night, this resulted in only 0.9 percent of the vote.
