A National attack ad accusing Labour of "gaslighting" the public over crime sources a third of its footage from incidents that occurred after the coalition took office rather than during Labour's term.
The video, posted on multiple social media platforms, was captioned "We can't go back. Party Vote National" and "never forget how they gaslighted you".
It intercuts footage of former prime ministers Dame Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins defending crime statistics with 15 clips showing ram raids, smash-and-grabs, armed robberies and gang activity. This is followed by an infographic touting National's record on crime.
1News has confirmed at least five of those clips are from incidents that occurred after National formed a government on November 27, 2023.
The first shows a smash-and-grab by six people at a Michael Hill jewellers in Mount Maunganui's Bayfair mall on January 27, 2024, followed by an armed robbery at a Manurewa jewellery store on April 25, 2024.
A third clip, taken from a Stuff documentary filmed in Ōpōtiki ahead of the gang patch ban, shows footage from November 2024, while the fourth and fifth show boyracer events in Hamilton and Levin in April and June 2024 respectively.
1News was unable to verify the original dates of two of the clips.
A National Party spokesperson said the footage reflected the reality of Labour's time in government.
"Under Labour, violent crime was at record levels, gangs were taking over our streets, intimidating the public and making a mockery of our justice system," the spokesperson said.
"Our video illustrates that despite this fact, Labour and Chris Hipkins pretended there was no issue."
The spokesperson said National had taken swift action once in office.
"National did the opposite, we passed the Sentencing Amendment Act and the Gangs Act in our first year as government. All the clips in our video occurred before these Acts came into force. Under National there are 37,000 fewer victims of violent crime, ram raids are down 85%, and youth reoffending is down 26%."
Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen accused National of being intent on "lying their way through this campaign".
"They’ve been caught out using footage from their own time in office. It's not surprising - National has completely failed on law and order," she said.
"They promised 500 more police but failed to deliver. Instead, all they’ve delivered is more gang members, more meth use, and more broken promises. We can't afford three more years of National."
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