Billy Brown’s ‘Marsden Point myth’ shows why right-wing falsehoods must be challenged

OPINION: Billy Brown spent the weekend trying to manufacture a gotcha moment over thisquality’s reporting on Marsden Point Oil Refinery. The New Zealand First candidate shared a string of posts apparently designed to convince his followers that Labour “closed” the Marsden Point refinery and anyone challenging that version of events was somehow denying reality.

We are not buying the political spin behind Brown’s public messaging. And, it is exactly why the Fourth Estate hides in the shadows waiting to hold politicians accountable for the twisted words that come out of their gobs.

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Image: NZ First candidate Billy Brown used a Facebook post to accuse thisquality of activism while defending claims linking Labour to Marsden Point’s shutdown, despite Refining NZ’s board and shareholders making the commercial decision to transition the refinery into an import terminal. (Supplied / Billy Brown / Facebook)

There is a legitimate political argument over whether the former Labour Government should have intervened to keep the refinery operating. Labour can be criticised for failing to step in, for accepting the commercial direction taken by Refining NZ, and for whether enough was done to protect New Zealand’s long-term fuel security.

Those are fair reasons but they are not the same as claiming Labour made the decision to close the refinery.

That decision came through Refining NZ, its board and shareholders as the company moved from refining crude oil to operating an import terminal.

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Repeating a politically convenient version of events does not transfer that commercial decision into the Beehive and Brown appears determined to blur that distinction because the simpler slogan is more useful politically.

Image: The documented ownership record points in another direction. Marsden Point was operated by the publicly listed Refining NZ, which became Channel Infrastructure when the site moved to import-terminal operations in April 2022. A Treasury OIA response later confirmed the refinery was not owned or operated by the Government and that the Crown held no shares in it at or around the time of its closure. (File. / Supplied / Facebook / Billy Brown)

“Labour closed Marsden Point” fits neatly into a conservative narrative that every major economic problem can be pinned on Jacinda Ardern’s Government, regardless of who actually made the decision.

It is effective politics precisely because it strips away complexity. It is also why journalists should challenge it.

Image: NZ First candidate Billy Brown’s Facebook page, one of the social media platforms he uses to push political messaging as debate continues over Marsden Point, energy policy and fuel security. (Supplied / Billy Brown / Facebook)

There is an increasingly familiar pattern in New Zealand politics where politicians, especially from within the orbit of New Zealand First, throw out an accusation on social media then watch their supporters repeat it hundreds of times.

That cannot become the standard and it has to be identified and called out.

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Brown is entitled to argue Labour should have fought harder to retain refining capability. He is entitled to attack Labour’s energy policy, climate policy or approach to strategic infrastructure. New Zealand First is entitled to campaign on reopening Marsden Point and making fuel security a national priority.

Image: New Zealand First's Rotorua candidate Billy Brown continues to spread the false claim that Labour approved the closure of Marsden Point Oil Refinery. It is matter of fact the refinery’s closure was a commercial decision by Refining NZ but Brown has continued to repeat the claim in authorised campaign material and on social media. (Courtesy of The Good Oil Podcast)

What politicians are not entitled to is their own version of the historical record.

This is where the political right often becomes particularly irritated with scrutiny. Calling out a misleading claim is quickly reframed as media bias, journalistic activism, establishment protection or some imagined conspiracy to defend Labour.

We have no interest in protecting Labour and we are in control of what we publish. The public gets to decide who is right from wrong.

Labour politicians should be challenged when they mislead the public too. So should National, ACT, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and New Zealand First. Accountability does not become partisan simply because the politician being challenged dislikes the answer.

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Image: Decommissioned oil refinery at Marsden Point, New Zealand. View from One Tree Point. The refinery operated from 1964 to 2022. (synthetick / Adobe Stock)

Brown’s posting spree showed how aggressively political narratives can be defended once they become useful campaign material. If he has evidence showing the Labour Cabinet ordered Refining NZ to shut Marsden Point, he should publish it.

Until then, we will continue doing exactly what independent media should do and that is separating political rhetoric from the documented record and calling out falsehoods wherever they come from.

Politicians can complain about that as loudly as they like.

The facts do not owe them loyalty.

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