Exclusive: More explicit rumours about Tory Whanau – this time from Auckland councillor Maurice Williamson
'It seems to be these older, weird creepy men who speak about me but also others like that. This sexualisation of women in leadership roles is purely intended to dehumanise and reduce us in terms of character.'
Auckland Councillor Maurice Williamson spread a sexually explicit rumour about the Wellington Mayor during an Auckland Council committee meeting in 2023. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The revelation comes after the Herald obtained an email written by Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung in which he passed on gossip from a neighbour about Whanau having 'tempestuous' drug-fuelled sex on New Year's Eve 2022 and having 'soft pendulous breasts'.
This new rumour, like the New Year's Eve gossip, was not true, said Whanau, and was equally able to be proven false.
She said the rumours were part of highly-sexualised dialogue aimed at her – and other female politicians – to demean them and undermine their roles.
Williamson's comment was captured on the official Auckland Council recording but never made public.
The Herald has obtained the key section, in which Williamson makes reference to Whanau allegedly performing a sex act.
He has been approached for comment but is yet to respond.
The video did not capture the beginning of Williamson's comments because of meeting business, and the end of his comments were indistinct because fellow councillors were trying to shout the former National MP down.
As Williamson continued to speak, somebody at the meeting shouted: 'Maurice, Maurice, you better belt up mate'.
Independent Māori Statutory Board deputy chairman Tau Henare, who sat in Cabinet as a minister alongside Williamson in the late 90s, can be heard immediately calling a point of order.
'I actually think you should sanction that outburst. We don't have to sit here and listen to [video cuts off].'
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says some people try to sexualise and dehumanise women in leadership roles. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Williamson's comments appear to stem from a rumour that ran rampant in late 2023 after Whanau admitted to drinking too much on November 18 at Wellington's Havana Bar.
She later said she had a drinking problem for which she would seek help.
A rumour emerged on social media claiming a recording existed of Whanau carrying out a lewd act while at the bar.
Whanau always maintained the rumour was false, yet it persisted despite 10 witnesses and a bar manager also saying it was false.
Whanau said oppressive sexualised commentary about women leaders has increased in recent years. She said former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, Green MP Tamatha Paul, former Labour Cabinet minister Kiritapu Allan, former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman and Auckland councillor Julie Fairey and others have been targeted.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says women leaders, such as former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern (centre) and former minister Kiritapu Allan (right), have had to deal with increased sexualised commentary in recent years. Photo / Peter de Graaf
'I'm a woman in leadership, I'm progressive. I want the best for my community and I have the policies to deliver that. So what do these weird men do? They assassinate your character instead.'
Whanau said for two years she has had to put up with people calling her 'c***sucker' and saying 'she's probably in the toilets giving another blow job'.
Tau Henare called out Maurice Williamson's lewd comments immediately. Photo / NZME
She said Williamson phoned her at the time to apologise, but it seemed 'disingenuous'. She claims he talked over her and didn't tell her who he had gossiped with.
'He didn't actually let me speak,' she said.
Whanau said she was seeking legal advice on potential action against 'anyone who has helped push any of those false rumours about me' – but wanted a long-term solution.
She said part of the problem was social media sites reducing content moderation and community guidelines.
'We need to look at social media reform regulation, we need to look at the Harmful Digital Communications Act – is it strong enough? We need to look at hate speech legislation.'
Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor Julie Fairey was at the meeting in 2023.
When Williamson started speaking, she said: 'I started making a lot of noise trying to drown it out so it's not on the recording because I knew we would then be publishing something untrue and vile and possibly defamatory.'
Fairey said the comments made her feel sick. 'A lot of us were in shock. It was completely unacceptable.' She said afterwards she needed to walk off the adrenaline.
When Auckland Council was asked for the full video it declined, saying the section in which Williamson's comments were made 'contained inappropriate and offensive content and did not relate to the business of the meeting'.
It withheld that section of the video to protect privacy and maintain 'effective conduct of public affairs' by protecting officials and others from 'improper pressure or harassment'.
The council said Williamson 'made the comment to someone outside the meeting' and did not realise he wasn't on mute. After he made the comment, a council staff member placed his connection on mute.
Councillor Richard Hills, chairman of the meeting, ruled Williamson withdraw his remarks and apologise and asked councillors to stop discussing the matter. He also asked the council chief executive to review the incident.
A council spokeswoman said they found 'no further action was appropriate because a direct apology, verbal and in private, was given soon after the incident and Mayor Whanau, through her office, had advised that she did not seek any further action be taken'.
The spokeswoman said training was now provided for online meetings.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
28 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Te Pāti Māori, Greens outraged at 'marginalising' passport changes
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Te Pāti Māori says the government's changes to passports are an attempt to whitewash the national identity. The government confirmed on Friday New Zealand's passport is being redesigned to place the English words above the te reo Māori text. The new look won't start being rolled out until the end of 2027. Since 2021, passports have had "Uruwhenua Aotearoa" printed in silver directly above New Zealand Passport. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said the positioning of text on passports will change to reflect the government's commitment to using English first. She said the redesign - which would be unveiled later this year - was being done as part of a scheduled security upgrade, ensuring no additional cost to passport-holders. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the change diminishes the visibility of tangata whenua. "Our passport is not just a travel document, it's a statement of who we are as a nation. So, the stripping down of te reo Māori, or marginalising our indigenous identity, reflects this government's sad obsession with erasing Te Tiriti o Waitangi and dragging us back to a monocultural past," she said. Ngarewa-Packer said the move undermined Aotearoa's reputation as a leading nation in recognising indigenous rights. "Restoring our reo took a long time. I mean imagine doing this in Ireland, imagine doing this to the Welsh. This was hard fought for. It's not re-ordering of words, the reformatting is deliberately done to undermine the mana [and] to sideline us tangata whenua." Benjamin Doyle Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Green Party MP Benjamin Doyle said the move is not what New Zealanders need from the government. "We are seeing day by day, the rights and dignities of minority communities being stripped away while they leave the majority of New Zealanders suffering under the government's current decisions," Doyle said. "This is not a positive vision for Aotearoa, this is not a positive step towards unifying kotahitanga and it's not benefiting anyone. Really, its just dog-whistling politics. It's the tail wagging the dog." The ACT Party celebrated van Velden's move on social media, saying the change would "restore English before te reo Māori - without costing taxpayers". The change comes as part of a deliberate push by the coalition to give English primacy over te reo Māori in official communications. New Zealand First's coalition agreement with National stipulates that public service departments have their primary name in English and be required to communicate "primarily in English" except for entities specifically related to Māori. It also includes an as-yet-unfulfilled commitment to make English an official language of New Zealand.
NZ Herald
2 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Tall towers versus volcanic views: The building blocks in Auckland's development
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, thinks viewshafts 'eviscerate hundreds of millions of dollars of economic value', as he put it in a speech in mid-June. In other speeches in recent months, Bishop has quoted a 2018 study which suggested the toll-booth viewshaft has cost the central city in excess of $1.4 billion. So he's decided to do something about it. Others say, hang on. 'Most cities,' North Shore ward councillor Chris Darby says, 'have few really unique features. But we do. We have the volcanoes. Being able to appreciate them as you move around the city is one of the special things about living here.' Darby's view is probably shared by most of his colleagues. Over the Super City's 15-year history, Auckland Council has shown no interest in making any significant changes to the viewshafts. Bishop points out that in 2016, the council was told quite bluntly by an Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) that it should rethink its approach in order to achieve greater economic efficiency and reduced opportunity costs. That panel had reviewed the viewshaft proposals in the council's draft Auckland Unitary Plan, the big new document that was about to become the city's blueprint for what can be built where. For the most part, it didn't want them eliminated. But it did point out that the council had done 'no sensitivity analysis'. That is, despite having the necessary technology, it had not looked at whether even 'slight changes' might 'significantly reduce [the viewshafts'] impact on development opportunities while retaining views to the maunga [peak]'. Nor did it have a method for deciding if any loss in floor area of new buildings was 'an appropriate trade-off for the values of any particular viewshaft'. 'In the almost-decade since,' Bishop said in a speech in February, 'this work has not been progressed.' The Government has now told the council it must produce a new zoning plan which allows for greater density, and it must be done, with public consultation, by October 10. That's two days before postal voting closes in this year's council elections. The council is expected to consider its position at a meeting on July 31 – and a fight is brewing. There are nearly 80 viewshafts in Auckland. They're mapped like slices of pie: wedges that emanate from a single point where a person can stand, like the top of Newton Rd, or from a stretch of road you can drive along, like the northern approach to the bridge. Building heights are strictly limited inside the boundaries of each wedge, so the view of the natural landscape is preserved, and this creates an overlay on the planning zones. As a rule, buildings inside a viewshaft require a resource consent and if they are to be higher than 9m they may be regarded as 'non-complying'. In this context, it is extremely difficult for such buildings to get a resource consent. Most viewshafts have been in place since 1977, after the Pines apartment block was built on the side of Maungawhau (Mt Eden) in 1969, causing a public outcry and changes to planning rules. The outcry over The Pines, a multi-storey apartment block on Mt Eden, led to the protection of volcanic views. Photo / APN Not that views of Maungawhau have been completely preserved since then: the Department of Corrections was allowed to build a bigger Mt Eden Prison, interrupting the viewshaft from the motorway that runs past it. Much of the attention still focuses on the views of that maunga, which isn't surprising: the nearby central city is where most high-rise development occurs. In fact, Maungawhau is protected by 20 viewshafts, including one from Devonport and one from the Z petrol station on Kepa Rd in Ōrākei. But views of Te Pane o Mataoho (Māngere Mountain), Puketāpapa (Mt Roskill) and the other cones are protected too. And it's not just the cones: views of the Waitākere Ranges and some other ridgelines are also protected, along with views of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The rules have had a dramatic effect on the city centre. The Sky Tower and the council building on Albert St are just outside the eastern edge of the toll-booth viewshaft, which is known as E10. There's another viewshaft protecting the view of Maungawhau from the bridge itself, called E16. It roughly parallels E10. If you look at the city centre from the north, across the harbour, you can see the effect plainly: east of the Sky Tower, the city is built up. But west of the tower, the level suddenly drops. The Viaduct, Wynyard Quarter, around Victoria Park and up to the new International Convention Centre on Hobson St are all part of the central city. But there are no tall buildings. Constructing high-rise buildings on all this land is prevented by E10 and E16. Bishop thinks the toll-booth viewshaft is especially absurd. Drivers on a motorway are supposed to keep their eyes on the road. But councillor Richard Hills, the chair of the council's policy and planning committee, says: '50% of morning commuters going over the bridge are in a bus, enjoying the view.' Even some of the cars have passengers. 'Tollbooth' view of Maungawhau/Mt Eden, 1962 Toll booths on the northern approach to the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1962, showing Maungawhau/Mt Eden in the background. The protected viewshaft applies to the stretch with the toll booths. But if it was moved slightly west, to align with the stretch pointing straight at the maunga, more central city would be freed up for high rises. Photo / Whites Aviation 'Tollbooth' view of Maungawhau/Mt Eden, today The same view today, showing high rises east of the Sky Tower but not to the west, with Maungawhau clearly visible. Photo / Jason Dorday The minister rests his argument against viewshafts on the economic advantages that come with housing and workplace density, especially near major transit stations and along transit corridors. 'In a well-functioning city,' Bishop told his Committee for Auckland audience, 'a floor filled with smart people working next to each other, in a building filled with floors of smart people working next to each other, unsurprisingly, enables greater economic opportunities for productive growth. Proximity encourages collaboration and innovation.' That's on top of the more obvious benefits of having lots of people living and working near train stations and rapid bus stations. More people equals better transit services, because there are more passengers to pay for them. And that takes traffic off the roads. Having lots of people living closer to town also makes their commute shorter, which also takes traffic off the roads. This has become critical in Bishop's thinking about the City Rail Link (CRL), which will open next year, doubling the capacity of Auckland's rail network. 'The City Rail Link is a game-changing investment in the future of Auckland,' he said on June 25. 'It will unlock significant economic opportunity, but only if we have a planning system to allow businesses and residents to take advantage of it.' Chris Bishop: the minister who wants to change Auckland's volcanic viewshafts. Photo / Getty Images Because of this, Bishop used that February speech to call for zoning in Auckland to abandon the six-storey limit around major transit stops, which defines the height of most apartment blocks. That will impact E10, E16, the Newton Rd view (E20) and several other viewshafts. 'We are going to need to go much, much higher than that around the CRL stations if we truly want to feel the benefits of transit-oriented development,' he said. 'My aspiration is that in 10 to 20 years' time, we have 10- to 20-storey apartment blocks dotting the rail line as far west as Swanson and Rānui.' You can see the prototype now, in the form of the 10-storey Westlight Apartments in Glen Eden. The Westlight apartments in Glen Eden tower over the surrounding suburb. Why is there no Westlight in Kingsland, which has a train station and several bus routes? Partly, it's because of the protected views of nearby Maungawhau. It's also partly because of a 'special character' overlay, put there by the council, which preserves older housing areas. Bishop threw down the gauntlet: 'How about if our aim is to make the 'special character' of suburbs be that they are thriving, liveable, affordable communities with access to regular and reliable public transport?' In May, the council adopted new zoning rules for the central city. They allow for more density, but they leave large parts restricted to six-storey heights. The minister's gauntlet was left lying on the ground. He responded quickly. 'The Auckland CBD plan could go a lot further, in my view. It is a real missed opportunity and in due course, the council is going to have to have another look at it, particularly around the viewshafts.' On June 25, Bishop and the Minister for Auckland, Simeon Brown, pulled out their swords. They jointly announced they will legislate to require upzoning for buildings of 'at least 15 storeys' in the 'walkable catchments' around the Maungawhau, Kingsland and Morningside stations and at least 10 storeys near Mt Albert and Baldwin Avenue stations. Fifteen-storey buildings are about 50m tall. Walkable catchments extend in a radius of about 800m, which is taken as the distance of a 10-minute walk. The walkable catchment for the Maungawhau station includes the New North Rd ridge, whose current medium-rise buildings are capped to maintain the viewshaft from Newton Rd, which is known as E20. Bishop's 15-storey ambition would almost certainly spell an end to E20 and could well mean the same for E10, E16 and other Maungawhau viewshafts. The minister says he doesn't want to eliminate viewshafts. But what does he want? The signals are mixed. 'Even just minor tweaks to existing viewshafts could materially lift development opportunities,' Bishop said in February. 'The 2018 study showed that rotating the E10 viewshaft just 4.5 degrees to the left maintains the view of Mt Eden for a similar amount of time, whilst saving the city 43% of the lost development opportunity cost.' By 'to the left' he means to the west. Views of Maungawhau would be preserved not from the northern approach to the bridge, almost back to Onewa Rd, but from the stretch of highway closer to the bridge, when the maunga is more in front of you. The 4.5 degree adjustment would free up significant parcels of land for high rises. These include some of the Wynyard Quarter and the Viaduct, the Fanshawe/Victoria streets block at the bottom of Nelson St, the TVNZ and Convention Centre block on Hobson St, and the block bordered by Queen St, Karangahape Rd and Symonds St. It also includes the northern half of Wynyard Point, if the council was ever to decide a sentinel waterfront tower should be built there. But that's all within what Bishop calls 'minor tweaks'. His talk of 'economic evisceration', the 'immense' economic and social rewards on offer and new 15-storey and 10-storey buildings near stations all suggest he has more sweeping changes in mind. In August last year, he told the Herald the biggest barrier to building on the Maungawhau station site was viewshafts. And yet, when the Herald asked him directly what he wants – how his hopes for all those tall buildings relate to viewshafts – he replied with a carefully worded written response. 'The bill will provide for a qualifying matters framework which will enable Auckland Council to modify these heights [15 storeys and 10 storeys] to the extent necessary to accommodate a qualifying matter (such as the protection of viewshafts) if this level of development is inappropriate. 'However, any lower heights would need to be justified in accordance with the framework. I intend to use my Direction on the new plan change to reinforce the legislative requirement that heights and densities may only be reduced to the extent necessary to accommodate one or more qualifying matters.' This seems to mean there will be more high rises, but viewshafts could become qualifying matters that limit their extent. To some degree. The debate has ever been thus. Density is easy: almost everyone says it's a good thing, provided it's done in the right places and in the right way. But defining the wrong places and ways, known in the legal language of town planning as 'qualifying matters', is a process that defeats even the most optimistic attempts at consensus. Character Coalition chair Sally Hughes. Photo / Alex Burton Sally Hughes of the Character Coalition, an umbrella group dedicated to preserving the character of the villa suburbs, says changes to viewshafts, special character or other zoning laws are not required because there are 'plenty of under-utilised sites' near the Kingsland and Maungawhau stations 'which are ready for intensification now'. Who doesn't think, when it's their own street, their own view, their own sun at stake: don't do it here, do it somewhere over there? The source of Bishop's thinking on viewshafts is a 2018 paper called City with a Billion Dollar View, written by Geoff Cooper, a former economist with PwC and Auckland Council. It was Cooper who came up with the toll-booth anomaly, the benefits of tweaking E10 by 4.5 degrees and that $1.4b figure for lost economic opportunity. Cooper is now the chief executive of the crown agency Te Waihana: the Infrastructure Commission and, at least informally, has the ear of the minister. Geoff Cooper, author of the report that got the minister thinking. As for Cooper's old employer, Auckland Council, it does not subscribe to his analysis of the economic damage done by viewshafts. The Herald talked to the council's manager of central area planning, John Duguid, about all this in May. Duguid said he doesn't see the need for higher buildings in the E10 viewshaft. 'East of E10,' he said, referring to the parts of the central city already built up, 'there's still a lot of development potential.' Duguid also said the toll-booth story is a myth: E10 has never been just for drivers queueing at the booths. Auckland Council planning boss John Duguid. Photo / Dean Purcell He thinks if it does need to be changed, 'it could be narrowed a bit'. If you squint, that sounds a bit like the minister's 'tweaks'. Even Cooper said something similar in 2018: he called for changes that would 'provide a middle path for city planners that reduce the cost, while preserving views'. But Duguid and the council seem largely intent on preserving the status quo and the minister wants change. The council, Bishop says, has been 'dragging its feet'. Let's back up a little. First, to note that the 14 prominent volcanic maunga of Tāmaki Makaurau are governed by the Tūpuna Maunga Authority, which comprises equal membership from Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and Auckland Council. The Government will need a strong relationship with the authority, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and the other relevant iwi, if it wants to change the way we value, see and use the maunga of Tāmaki Makaurau. Second, to note the wider planning context. When the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) was adopted in 2016, it preserved the viewshafts while also allowing for the 'character areas' Bishop is annoyed about. This provision has been used to protect the villas of the city fringe: the ring of suburbs that runs from Devonport across the harbour to St Mary's Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Eden and Parnell. In 2020, the Labour-led Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) required councils in the larger centres to change their district plans (in Auckland's case, the Unitary Plan), in order to provide for more substantial housing growth than most had been willing to accept. This was followed by new Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) in 2021 and a revision to the NPS-UD in 2022. All were aimed at achieving greater density. In Auckland, the council responded by drawing up Plan Change 78 (PC78) and putting it on a slow track to approval. Most councils have now made their plan changes, but Auckland Council has completed PC78 only in respect of the central city, despite closing public submissions nearly three years ago. PC78 (Central City Zone) contains higher limits for development in some areas, but there is no rethink of the viewshafts or the six-storey limit more widely. This was largely supported in submissions from the public. Bishop is clearly frustrated. The minister speaks positively of the NPS-UD and says he will build on it, not abandon it. His Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill, which will speed up urban density, is back from select committee hearings and due to become law next month. In relation to the bill, Duguid says: 'Our working assumption is that applying 'qualifying matters', including maunga viewshafts, will still be an option, albeit with more onerous requirements to justify them.' On the other hand, Bishop wants those 15-storey buildings near Maungawhau, Kingsland and Morningside stations. The new Maungawhau railway station is the patterned building in the middle distance. Six railway lines run through tunnels under here, and now the enormous empty site is ready for intense developed over the next decade or two. How tall should the buildings be? Maungawhau mountain is away to the left. Photo / Sylvie Whinray And he has told the council: 'The Government is also considering whether further amendments to the bill to fully maximise development opportunities around other CRL stations are necessary, and I will have more to say in due course.' That is, station precincts on the Western Line won't be the only ones to get new height allowances. Ōrākei, Meadowbank and Glen Innes on the Eastern Line and Newmarket, Remuera, Greenlane and Ellerslie on the Southern Line are all no further away from the city centre than the Western Line's Mt Albert. Duguid and his staff have been busy preparing options for a council response to Bishop's pronouncements, for debate by the governing body of council on July 31. Defenders of the viewshafts have taken a persuasive lead role for many decades in the planning and consultation processes of Auckland Council and its predecessors. Prominent among them have been the Auckland Volcanic Cones Society and the Friends of Maungawhau. Roy Turner of the Volcanic Cones Society was the planner charged by the Auckland Regional Council with writing the original 1976 report on viewshafts. In March, he told the Herald that he likes 'most of what Chris Bishop is advocating, but with the cones issue, some of his justification is misguided'. Turner suggests we think about it this way. 'There is a massive area of open space in central Auckland called the Auckland Domain. An economist might calculate how many billions of dollars have been lost by not developing here. The public would respond by saying this is truly an Auckland icon: hands off, no way can we develop here. 'Quite right, but can't we have our cake and eat it too? Let's just take 10%. A few years down the track, on balance, let's take another 10%, for the same reason, and so on.' Others see it differently. At Greater Auckland, Scott Caldwell has attempted to distinguish between 'the good, the bad, the ugly' and the 'bit ridiculous'. Some viewshafts are blocked by trees, others emanate from places almost no one ever goes. Better to keep the trees and the views that really are valued? Caldwell's not against all viewshafts. Maungawhau as seen from Mt Eden Village, he says, looms above the street magnificently. He'd definitely keep that one. And he has a proposal. He points out that Instagram is full of maunga photos, but they're not of the maunga. Instead, they're nearly all taken by people standing on the mountain and looking at the view from it. These are the views we really value, he says, so they're the ones we should protect. Scott Caldwell suggests the more valuable views are from the maunga. This is a viewing platform on Maungawhau, looking across North Head to Rangitoto. Photo / Alex Burton If the Government changes the viewshaft rules in favour of economic growth, affordable housing, optimal use of transit or some other purpose, how big will the benefits be? We don't know the answer to that, but last month Bishop told the Herald he has instructed officials to find out. They're looking at 'the impact of Auckland's viewshafts on development capacity and economic activity across Auckland'. He added: 'I acknowledge there are also benefits, including to mana whenua, which are difficult to quantify.' Bishop wants the work done this year, although it will probably not meet the October 10 deadline for Auckland's new plan change. But, he said, 'it will help to provide a good evidence base for future plan development as part of the new resource management system'. That all looks like a message for the council: the work you could have done, and should have done, according to the Independent Hearings Panel in 2016, is now being done by the Government. If the council won't address the challenges and opportunities for growth and housing in Auckland, the Government will. If you don't build it, we will come. And we will do it for you. Simon Wilson is an award-winning senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues, with a focus on Auckland. He joined the Herald in 2018.
NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Justice Minister criticises Meta over drug ads on Facebook Marketplace
Magic mushrooms have been advertised for sale in locations across the North Island on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace A Bay of Plenty man said he made dozens of complaints over several weeks about the listings, but Meta took no action and the ads remained active. It was only when the Herald contacted Meta on Thursday that a spokeswoman said many listings had been removed and Meta was continuing to review the situation. 'Meta has removed numerous Facebook Marketplace ads promoting the sale of illicit drugs for violating community standards,' the spokeswoman told the Herald. One ad showed what appeared to be a sheet of LSD tabs. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace However, by Friday morning, dozens of listings offering mushrooms, gummies and edible psychedelics had resurfaced with links to Telegram accounts offering other class A substances. Speaking to Michael Morrah on Herald NOW, Goldsmith said it was 'outrageous' and he would be contacting Meta. 'As Justice Minister I'll be asking some tough questions about how this is happening, and what's going on. This [not preventing illegal drug sales] is something they should be doing better on, and we'll be making that very clear to them.' He said it raised questions about whether law changes were needed to make Meta more accountable. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says he will be asking Meta some tough questions about listings for class A drugs surfacing on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Mark Mitchell Concerns have been raised about tech barons hiding behind a provision in telecommunications legislation called exclusion of liability that protected them from third-party content posted on their platforms. Goldsmith, who's also Broadcasting Minister, said making changes in that area had global ramifications. 'In terms of the broader relationship with Meta, and all those big [tech] companies, we do need to put pressure on but also be mindful of the global context.' Labour MP Willie Jackson says companies like Meta should be made accountable. Photo / Mark Mitchell Labour's Willie Jackson was highly critical of the failures exposed by the Herald's investigation. Asked on Herald NOW if Meta was running roughshod over the rules and didn't care, he agreed. 'Absolutely, it's an indictment on them,' he said. 'This is just an absolute disgrace. It shows the arrogance of these companies that they can get away with this.' Jackson said companies like Meta should be made accountable, rules should be imposed and he accused Goldsmith of 'not doing anything'. 'Look at the billions they're taking out of this country, and [they have] no regard at all.' Some of the magic mushrooms that have appeared for sale in New Zealand on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace Meta's spokeswoman said the company enforces its policies, including a prohibition against the promotion or sale of illegal drugs, through a combination of reports from users, human review and artificial intelligence. She said the company recently updated its community standards to prevent precursor chemicals that could be used to make drugs from being sold. She also said any violation involving the sale of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine or heroin, will result in accounts being disabled. However, Massey University public health researcher Dr Robin van der Sanden didn't think targeting sellers of illegal drugs was a priority for Meta. She said the company was 'walking this tight rope' between doing enough to stave off the regulators but not being so restrictive that it loses users to other platforms. 'So that does kind of undermine their willingness to prioritise tackling things like illegal activity on the platform because their priority really is the money-making aspect of it,' she said. Facebook reported making $7.59 million in New Zealand last year, which was down from profits in previous years. Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald's video team in July 2024.
