Winston’s Mate Rhys Williams Has Been Unmasked

Most people wouldn't have heard of a little worm like Rhys Williams, a so-called businessman and former NZ First member, who has recently been unmasked as the venomous troll behind a relentless online campaign unfairly targeting Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle.

According to reports, Williams has been slinging mud at Doyle under the pseudonym @2ETEKA since 2023, with thousands of posts laced with abusive and defamatory language aimed at left wing politicians—Doyle being his prime target. His mission? Apparently, to give Winston Peters something to attack the Greens with and drum up votes for NZ First.

But here’s the rub: while Williams has been outed as an anonymous hurler of unwarranted online vitriol, Winston Peters, NZ First’s fearless leader, stays conveniently silent about his mate’s antics, yet clutches pearls over Doyle’s use of the word “bussy” a term that even Wikipedia knows the true meaning of. Winston, however, hasn't accepted common definitions or Doyle's explanation. Instead, the hypocrite has slunk off overseas in the hope that people won't look into his association with a homophobic campaign that was unfairly trying to destroy a persons political career.

 

Last Wednesday, The Post reported:

 

Businessman behind toxic online Benjamin Doyle campaign

The anonymous online account that helped spark a political firestorm over Green MP Benjamin Doyle’s past Instagram posts is run by a businessman who is a former NZ First member, The Post can reveal.

Rhys Williams, from New Plymouth, is behind the inflammatory X (formerly Twitter) account @2ETEKA, which last month unearthed posts from Doyle’s pre-Parliament Instagram page, “BibleBeltBussy”.

The controversy centred on a post where Doyle, who uses they/them pronouns, juxtaposed a photo of their child with explicit sexual terminology. The posts were amplified by NZ First leader Winston Peters, who called for a police investigation into Doyle.

Now exposed into the glaring light of media attention, Williams’ dirty little campaign against Doyle is a masterclass in dishonesty and bad faith. His posts brim with derogatory slurs, misrepresentations, and outright conspiracies, painting Doyle as a danger to children and society in general. Along with his accomplices, most notably Ani O'Brien, William's twisted screenshots from Doyle’s private Instagram account into a narrative so toxic it’s sparked death threats against the MP and their whānau.

Compare this to Doyle’s use of the word “bussy,” a slang term used playfully within queer circles, often as a cheeky nod to self-expression. Doyle’s explained it as a nickname, a bit of wordplay riffing on Goldfinger’s Pussy Galore—hardly the sinister plot Williams and Peters made it out to be. Yet, Williams’ language? It’s a cesspool of hate, with terms far cruder than “bussy” delivered with an intent to cause harm. Where’s the outrage from Winston over that?

Peters, ever the tactician, has fanned the flames of hatred against Doyle, questioning the “appropriateness” of their posts while completely ignoring his mate Williams’ dishonest digital muckraking. This is peak hypocrisy. NZ First’s leader has no qualms about his associate’s derogatory campaign...yet he’s quick to cast Doyle’s use of a slang word in a private forum as a moral failing. It’s a classic double standard: one rule for NZ First’s mates, another for everyone else. Peters even distanced himself, claiming no memory of meeting Williams, despite the businessman’s clear NZ First ties. Convenient amnesia, Winston? It's well past time you hung up your boots.

The real issue here isn’t Doyle’s Instagram. It’s the dangerous precedent set when a Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand tacitly endorses a troll’s vendetta. Williams’ attacks aren’t just personal; they’re a calculated assault on queer representation, amplifying hate under the guise of protecting values.

Doyle’s post using the word “bussy” was a private joke, shared among friends, not a public manifesto. Williams’ bile, meanwhile, is on public record as a call to arms against the left wing and LGBTQ+ community. Yet, despite the virtue signalling about Doyle, Peters stays entirely mum about his associates dirty political scandal. Why? Because it suits NZ First’s culture-war playbook that was largely written for them by seasoned and entirely discredited troll, Cameron Slater. Stir division, dodge accountability, and repeat.

This sad saga exposes Peters’ selective outrage for what it is: a political stunt to besmirch the Greens while taking the focus off of his smaller ferries fiasco, which was announced on the same day that the Doyle story broke. If Winston’s so offended by words like bussy, let’s see him call out Williams’ vile rhetoric with the same zeal. Until then, Winston’s just another geriatric hypocrite who should be entirely ignored. He should be viewed as the sad old man that he is, cheering his idiot mate’s toxic crusade from the sidelines while pretending to stand for decency and democracy. Aotearoa deserves better than the type of divisive nonsense we hear from the likes of Winston Peters.