National leader Christopher Luxon has faced suggestions of hypocrisy over his defence of a candidate who held anti-fluoridation and anti-mandate views while on the campaign trial in Auckland's Takapuna today.
It comes as it was revealed the candidate, Ryan Hamilton, who is favoured to win the Hamilton East electorate for National, claimed Covid deaths data had been inflated and once said poverty was not a reason to fluoridate water because "most lower socio-economics filled their tap water with raro".
The views are in contrast to the National Party, which voted in favour of a law change to enforce the fluoridation of water.
Multiple scientific studies have shown fluoride — when added into drinking water — is effective in improving dental health and that there are no significant adverse effects from it at the levels used in New Zealand drinking water.
Hamilton refused to be interviewed by RNZ but the National Party claimed he had changed his views about the fluoridation of water — which he has been opposed to for more than two decades.
Today, tensions rose as Luxon fielded questions on the subject.
He said Hamilton held the views on fluoridation more than 10 years ago but that they were "entirely inappropriate" and "wrong".
"He subsequently apologised for those remarks."
He said the comments regarding raro were "offensive" in his view and Hamilton was now "fully aligned with the National Party position" on fluoride.
Asked if the National Party was hiding Hamilton from fronting himself on the issue, Luxon said he was not aware and would check with National's media team.
Luxon said Hamilton's anti-fluoride views were known to the party.
"If everyone's going for their record of what they said 10 years ago, you won't have anyone going to Parliament."
In August, the National Party criticised Labour's associate Revenue Minister Deborah Russell for a 2016 social media post which criticised the concept of removing GST from fruit and vegetables — now one of Labour's election promises. She had also criticised the idea of removing interest deductibility for landlords in a blog in 2013. The Labour Government removed interest deductibility. Russell became an MP in 2017.
That made her comments seven years old and 10 years old, respectively.
Asked if this meant one rule applied to Russell's comments and another applied to Hamilton's comments, Luxon said he disagreed.
"She was also associate finance, she's also revenue, I think it was, she's also a Member of Parliament and she's part of the financial team that is in Government."
Russell has never held an associate finance portfolio but is a former chairperson of the finance and expenditure select committee.
Luxon said Hamilton's position was different as he was "not an expert on fluoridation", but Russell was a tax and finance expert.
"He has actually acknowledged that his position was wrong.
"He's changed his position on fluoride, and he's also acknowledged and apologised for those comments. That's all I can ask for."
He said National had a "great set of candidates" listing David MacLeod, Tama Potaka, Catherine Wedd and Katie Nimon.
"We've got an outstanding set of candidates coming to Parliament.
"Again, I just put it to you that if everyone had to have a perfect record, we'd have nobody in Parliament."
Asked if that was relevant to the Deborah Russell example, Luxon said: "It may well do."
"I don't defend his [Hamilton's} statements at all."
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