Clearly, this isn’t the politics Kiwis voted for. No one ticked the box for underhanded digital attacks or the resurrection of Cameron Slater’s infamous “Dirty Politics” playbook to once again infect our political discourse. Yet here we are, watching a desperate right-wing stoop to new lows, targeting critics with vicious online vitriol designed to defame and discredit, including an extended attack on a 25-year-old student who was driven to suicidal despair. It’s another shameful chapter about the right-wing's disinformation tactics, and NZ First’s fingerprints are all over it.
Today, The Post reported:
A Sunday Star-Times investigation reveals how keyboard warriors have found a home in NZ First’s orbit, reviving attack-style politics, report National Affairs Editor Andrea Vance and investigative reporter Charlie Mitchell.
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The caller was Rhys Williams, a Taranaki businessman behind an influential X (formerly Twitter) account. The account had previously targeted Green MP Benjamin Doyle, sparking a wave of backlash that at times veered into personal abuse.
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Others joined in. Sean Plunket, founder of The Platform media outlet, who has tangled with the student online, taunted him with a cryptic jab on X. Political operative Glenn Inwood and property developer Vlad Barbalich — both known associates of Williams —shared similarly veiled references. There appeared to be foreknowledge.
That evening, Williams named the student publicly.
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The online reaction was swift and vicious. Commenters called the student “sick” and “deranged”. One post, shared by Williams, likened him to serial killer Ted Bundy.
Inwood and Barbalich shared the post, as did Cameron Slater, the former Whale Oil blogger once synonymous with such attacks.
So much for freedom of speech.
The extended Post article pulls no punches, detailing how NZ First appears to have tapped into a network of online operatives to silence online dissent. This isn’t speculation, it’s a pattern echoing the dark days of 2014, when Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics exposed Cameron Slater’s Whale Oil blog as a weapon for National Party insiders. Slater, a self-styled attack dog, was paid to churn out defamatory hit pieces, often with direct input from National Party MPs including the likes of Judith Collins, who had to resign her portfolios as a result.
Fast forward to 2025, and the tactics haven’t changed, just some of the players. NZ First seems to have adopted this same cynical strategy, weaponising social media to crush critics and protect the current government’s fragile grip on power.
At the centre of this latest storm is Rhys Williams, a figure now scrambling to distance himself from NZ First after The Post blew the lid off his campaign against a young student. This 25-year-old, whose only crime was voicing criticism of NZ First, became the target of a relentless online onslaught, orchestrated through shadowy right-wing channels and employing the services of experienced propaganda operatives. Although he broke the first rule of combating the political fascists in New Zealand, to not have anything they can use against you, the 25-year-old student really shouldn’t feel bad about how effective their strategy of hatred towards opponents is. New Zealand would be astounded to learn about the number of people who have been destroyed by the right-wing in their attempt to hold onto power.
The result of their latest campaign of hatred? A young Kiwi pushed to the brink of suicide, their mental health collateral damage in the right-wings' quest for total control. Williams’ attempt to backpedal, claiming no formal ties to the NZ First party, reeks of disingenuousness. The Post reveals his deep connections to NZ First’s inner circle, and his sudden plea of independence feels like a panicked attempt to dodge accountability and retain whatever semblance of credibility he has remaining, which is very little after the Benjamin Doyle scandal he created fizzled into nothingness.
🚨 Rhys Williams last week revealed as the individual behind the @2ETEKA account that led the failed takedown attempt of Green MP Benjamin Doyle is as we now also know the one and the same person behind last year’s controversial Inflection Point conference which featured a who’s… pic.twitter.com/FBxaWkvBlm
— Kelvin Morgan 🇳🇿 (@kelvin_morganNZ) April 16, 2025
Winston Peters should know better than to associate with such discredited muckrakers. For decades, he’s positioned himself as the maverick outsider, the voice of “the people” against elite machinations. Yet here he is, seemingly endorsing the same underhanded tactics he once decried. Kiwis didn’t vote for this. They didn’t sign up for a government that bullies its citizens into silence or outsources its dirty work to online attack squads. Peters’ legacy, already a patchwork of populism and pragmatism, risks being further tarnished by this descent into the gutter. If NZ First is so confident in its mandate, why resort to such desperate measures? The answer is clear: they’re rattled, and they’re willing to sacrifice decency to cling to power at any cost.
The right-wing’s reliance on coordinated online attacks is a sign of weakness, not strength. As The Post notes, these tactics are a “murky evolution” of the Dirty Politics era, leveraging platforms like X to amplify smears and drown out dissent. It’s a coward’s game to do the dirty work while politicians like Peters maintain plausible deniability. But the public isn’t stupid. The backlash against this campaign, especially after its devastating impact on a young student, will show that most right-minded Kiwis reject this brand of sewer politics. The right-wing’s desperation to control the narrative only exposes their fear of accountability.
This isn’t just about NZ First or Rhys Williams’ convenient amnesia. It’s about a broader rot in our political discourse, where critics are fair game for destruction, and mental health is just collateral damage. Cameron Slater’s shadow looms large, a reminder of what happens when attack politics and online defamation festers unchecked...even by our courts.
Some may have thought we’d moved past these types of tactics after 2014, but NZ First’s apparent embrace of Dirty Politics 2.0 proves otherwise. If Winston Peters had any morals left he would come clean, disavow these underhanded tactics, and face the public he claims to serve. Anything less is a betrayal of the trust some voters placed in him and NZ First. He won't of course. Because he's essentially a coward! But in the long run that won't matter. The right-wing’s digital hit squads might be loud, but the voice of the voting public will always be louder.
