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Samuel Rillstone / RNZ
Judith Collins has denied knowledge of a National Party advertisement that has been described as “misleading.”
This story was originally posted on RNZ.co.nz and is being republished with permission.
National Party leader Judith Collins denies knowing of a “misleading” National Party advertisement that appeared to be authorized by her.
House Speaker Trevor Mallard told the National Party to remove the “misleading” ad on social media, which appeared to be written on the letterhead of Labor Health Minister Chris Hipkins.
The ad suggested that Hipkins had said that it was not mandatory for people to get tested for Covid-19 on the third day in controlled isolation.
However, this information is incorrect, because people cannot come out of isolation for an additional 14 days if they refuse to be tested.
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Collins agreed that it was wrong for National to run an ad that appeared to be on the letterhead of a Labor minister and said the ad had been removed.
“I didn’t even know about the ad, which upset me a lot,” he said.
“The use of my name was, in fact, unacceptable and not authorized by me. You can imagine that it will be solved.”
Collins said that testing for Covid-19 could produce false negative results, which is why the National Party supported mandatory testing before people travel to New Zealand.
“We can’t afford the luxury of getting in and out of lockdown, because some people think it doesn’t apply to them,” he said.
Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
National Party leader Judith Collins with her husband David Wong Tung in Papakura.
Collins’ husband of 41 years, David Wong-Tung, has come under fire for sharing posts on Facebook that some consider racist or sexist.
Collins said her husband made his own decisions.
“I have always believed that a woman does not have to answer for her husband.”
Earlier this year, the National Party lost an appeal to the Advertising Standards Authority for another ad that was deemed misleading.
