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9 Jun 2025

These Sordid Scandals Should Have Sunk The Government

The stench of cover-ups from the current coalition Government reveals a grim truth: the right-wing establishment is more invested in protecting its own and saving face than upholding justice. The latest revelations about National MP Hamish Campbell’s deep ties to the Two by Twos cult, Chris Luxon’s disgraced press secretary Michael Forbes, and ACT’s attempt to silence a sexual abuse victim to shield their former president Tim Jago expose a pattern of moral decay and institutional complicity. The police, courts, and right-wing media have played their part in sweeping these scandals under the rug, leaving victims voiceless and the public in the dark.

Let’s start with Luxon’s former deputy press secretary, Michael Forbes, who resigned in disgrace after recording sex workers and other women in private spaces without consent. Forbes didn’t just make a weak apology, he admitted to violating women’s safety, capturing audio and photos in compromising settings, including through windows at night.

The police investigated in July 2024 but decided it didn’t meet the “criminal prosecution threshold” or that Forbes' victims should be informed. They also supposedly didn't inform the Prime Minister or the relevant Ministers, as they're required to do under the "no surprises" convention. No charges, no accountability, just a shrug from Commissioner Richard Chambers, who’s “open to new information” but won’t revisit the case. Chamber's also blamed his predecessor, Andrew Coster, who also knew nothing. The police then endorsed their own decision to not investigate, even though Michael Forbes had repeatedly broken the law.

Christopher Luxon’s crocodile tears over Michael Forbes’ predatory actions ring hollow. His “shock” and belated vetting review are performative, masking National’s pattern of protecting creeps like Forbes and Sam Uffindell, while victims’ dignity is trampled. Luxon, likely aware of Forbes’ police investigation since July 2024, failed to act until media exposure forced his hand, revealing a culture of negligence and complicity that prioritises political optics over accountability.

Then there's Hamish Campbell, National’s Ilam MP, who’s deeply entrenched in the Two by Twos, a secretive religious sect with a rap sheet of pedophilia convictions. This isn’t some loose association that can be explained away. Campbell’s an elder, hosting Bible study sessions with young children at his Christchurch home while the FBI and NZ Police investigate the cult for systemic child sexual abuse. Over 140 perpetrators have been identified globally, with one New Zealand minister, William Easton, jailed for abusing boys over numerous decades.
Campbell’s response? A mealy-mouthed claim of “no personal knowledge” of the abuse and lies about his position in the cult. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, ever the spineless opportunist, downplayed Campbell’s ties, insisting people are “free to practise their faith.” Free to be involved in a sect that is enabling child abuse, more like. The mainstream media, quick to fawn over Luxon’s “moderate” image, barely pressed the issue, letting Campbell’s “private matter” excuse slide without challenge. If this were a left-wing MP with such close ties to a cult that regularly molested children, the mainstream media would hound them out of office.

ACT’s rap sheet is just as vile. Tim Jago is rotting in jail for sexually abusing boys in the 1990s, convicted after a victim bravely came forward. But ACT tried to silence that victim, desperate to protect their party president from accountability and keep things quiet until after the election. This wasn’t a mistake, it was a calculated move to bury the truth and preserve their brand. The courts, while convicting Jago, offered little spotlight on ACT’s interference. Rather they helped to hide the truth until well after the election, arguing that it wasn't appropriate to make the public aware of Tim Jago's crimes just before casting their votes.

The mainstream media’s coverage of Tim Jago’s sexual abuse scandal was a masterclass in deflection, framing his crimes as dusty relics of the 1990s rather than a searing exposé of ACT’s willingness to shield predators for political gain. Outlets like NZ Herald buried the story’s prominence, while others echoed ACT’s “we didn’t know” excuse, ignoring David Seymour’s sluggish response to clear warnings. This selective silence exposes a media complicit in protecting power, sidelining victims, and sanitising the right’s moral failures.

The pattern is clear: Government MPs close ranks, the police drag their feet, the courts soft-pedal, and the mainstream media, beholden to right-wing interests, churns out sanitised narratives that are designed to twist the truth or keep the public entirely in the dark. 

Campbell’s cult connections are “private,” Forbes’ violations are “unfortunate,” and Jago’s crimes are “old news.” This isn’t just incompetence; it’s a system rigged to protect powerful men while victims are left to fend for themselves. The right-wing media’s silence on these issues is deafening, their selective outrage reserved for fake scandals on left-leaning targets. Meanwhile, Luxon’s government dodges accountability, banking on public apathy and short news cycles.

These aren’t isolated incidents…they’re symptoms of a right-wing culture that prioritises power over principle. Campbell, Forbes, and Jago are just the tip of the iceberg, an iceberg that would have normally sunk any government in a properly functioning democracy. The police and courts must stop shielding the connected, and the media needs to do the right thing, grow a spine and start reporting on these issues without bias. Until then, the victims: children, women, and survivors, will continue to pay the price for a system that appears to be rotten to the core.