NZCPR Author on Tamatha Paul Cycleways vs Water Piece Doesn't Exist
Minutes from the meeting and those there, on the left and right of council, have confirmed the vote never happened as described. Moa Point appears to be fanned to pin the blame where it doesn't belong
Opinion/analysis:
It was a beat up that Tamatha Paul didn’t deserve.
When I first heard an associate write that the recent Moa Point sewage plant disaster was Tamatha Paul and WCC’s fault, I couldn’t believe my ears. It didn’t compute
I knew New Zealand Centre for Political Research (NZCPR) was associated with ACT, and its piece was the one he referenced, and the “article” was published on multiple conservative sites and later republished again on Scoop.
That NZCPR article claiming that there was a 2021 Wellington City Council vote led by then-councillor Tamatha Paul that prioritised increased cycle lane funding over pipes not only took on its own life in social media, it was used by Nicola Willis to attack the Green Party in Parliament, then referenced in other articles including ’ Democracy Project.
In a real demonstration of a shell game, Taxpayers Union leveraged Edwards’ post to ‘confirm’ that it was Wellington Council’s progressive Councillors at fault.
Naturally, Taxpayers Union, which led the assault on Labour’s 3 Waters, resulting in a now $9 billion higher cost Local Water Done Well bill, potentially contributing to critical delays in specialist 3 Waters expertise that could have evaluated Moa Point, would want eyes elsewhere.
Talk about “failing to treat the issue with the urgency it demanded when they had the chance!”
It’s no surprise.
But to me, the story was genuinely incredulous because nothing about those claims made sense from the start.
I outlined the detailed reasons in my weekend article: How Wellington's Moa Plant Disaster Turned Into A Hatchet Job even though I knew the hatchet job had been completed.
And today it turns out that the mysterious author of the piece, a “Peter Bassett” may not exist at all.
Not only that, more significantly, his claims that there was a 2021 Wellington City Council vote led by then-councillor Tamatha Paul that prioritised increased cycle lane funding over pipes didn’t happen.
"Minutes from the meeting and those there, on the left and right of council, have confirmed the vote never happened..
Wellington City councillor Diane Calvert, who posted on a Scoop.co.nz version of the blog confirming Peter Bassett’s story, said she had never heard of him before.
[Calvert] subsequently confirmed that the vote never happened as “Bassett” claimed, although said the wider issue was being discussed at the time.
What the baloney?
They say that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can even touch it.
And that’s the play.
It is effective - the people who will hear the truth later frequently have become so emotionally ensconced within their first lie, that they are uninterested in facts.
The Green Party is no stranger to these hits - it’s not the first time it has happened to them and they are frequently subject to out of context mis-characterisations.
But Tamatha Paul didn’t deserve this.
No-one does, but least of all those that play it straight and narrow, and are doing their best to serve their constituents and country with integrity.
The question now is whether Scoop Wellingon, NZME’s Ryan Bridge, Democracy Project, Taxpayers Union & all those who fanned this around Tamatha Paul & the WCC will apologise?
Integrity would demand it after all.
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Addendum:
Two minor edits 10:20am 23 February 2025 including changing “Paul Bassett” to “Peter Bassett”
Additional edit 7:10pm 23 February 2025 for grammar
