One NZ says it will remove the woman who publicised Winston Peters’ address online from its ads after a window at his home being smashed.
Acacia O’Connor, an actor who appears in current One NZ ads, was one of a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters outside the Foreign Minister’s Auckland home last week, which she livestreamed online and publicised Peters’ address.
Yesterday evening, a window at Peters’ home was smashed. A 29-year-old man has been charged with burglary and is due to appear in court on Friday.
In a statement, One NZ head of sustainability Nicky Preston said the company didn’t support any activity that put people at risk.
“We don’t back any behaviour that puts people’s safety at risk.
“What’s happened doesn’t line up with our values, so we’re taking the character out of our advertising.”
Preston said the company would be “reviewing and replacing” current adverts as well as future ads, which could take time “depending on the channel”.
O’Connor has been approached for comment.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis would not provide her personal opinion on the removal of that advert but said the woman involved had “conducted herself in a way that lacked basic humanity”.
“Clearly they [One NZ] condemn the behaviour of that individual and I think most New Zealanders would.”
Willis also implored Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick to “call the dogs off”, given Swarbrick stood alongside O’Connor at a press conference yesterday concerning New Zealanders who had been detained by Israel.
Asked whether O’Connor’s presence in the ads was a bad look for the company, Willis said: “I’m sure that One NZ will want to take another look at that.”
Swarbrick strongly condemned the incident concerning Peters’ home. She reiterated comments from earlier this morning that she was unaware the woman alongside her at a press conference had shared Peters’ personal details online.
“Their families [of the New Zealanders detained] asked to do a form of media stand up to be able to put their own stories and their own words out there and to directly address the Government,” Swarbrick said.
“That press stand up was largely arranged by the community itself. We helped to facilitate things. I had no idea that she would be there until we turned up in the morning.
“She did not have a formal role in the press conference, but when a specific question was asked about the flotilla – she’s a local flotilla rep.”
Asked about Willis’ “dogs” comments, Swarbrick said: “I think that that betrays [how] the Minister of Finance feels about regular New Zealanders who are currently legally protesting against this Government’s complicity in genocide.
“And I think that I hope that our Minister of Finances reflects on that.”
Labour MP and media spokesman Reuben Davidson acknowledged the actor’s presence in the One NZ adverts had the “potential to be a bad look” for the business.
“Well, potentially it is, but I mean they’re a commercial company, it’s up to them to decide who they want in their campaigns and how they manage that.”
On the incident concerning Peters’ home, Willis said it was “appalling” for protesters to congregate outside politicians’ homes and she encouraged Swarbrick to use her platform to reiterate that message.
“They are innocent bystanders in this and I think it shows a really appalling lack of human decency to engage in this sort of behaviour,” Willis said.
“You know what Chlöe Swarbrick could do today? If she agrees with me, she should call the dogs off and tell those protesters to stop protesting outside politicians’ homes.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.