facts

Keith Ng Cuts the Cheese

Keith Ng has been running a series of posts disputing and correcting facts spurted by our beloved politicians. The basic premise being is that our ministers and spokespeople have research units to deliver them the facts which they frequently ignore and “pull the figures out of their compost heap”.

This morning, Keith delivers a severe fisking to the Greens and other cheese-mongers with the morning milk.

Trumping the Herald’s “28% price rise”, Jeanette Fitzsimons has taken whinge-mongering to new heights with her claim that there has been 60% rise in the price of milk (and that Fonterra and the supermarkets are to blame).

It’s not true. It’s really, really not true.

According to StatsNZ’s Food Price Index, the average price of 2 litres of milk in April 2008 was $3.22. The price in April 07 was $2.62. That gets us to 28% — let’s chalk that other 32% up to rounding error, eh? But how about we look over the slightly longer term?

2008: $3.22
2007: $2.62
2006: $3.15
2005: $3.12
2004: $2.96

Even ignoring the fact that Fitzsimons pulled the 60% figure out of her compost heap, her claim is still fundamentally bullshit. If we choose *any* point of comparison other than 2007, the current price of milk is completely and utterly un-goddamn-remarkable.

There needs to be more of this kind of fact checking to keep our politicians honest. Unfortunately, this kind of analysis frequently gets swept under the rug and doesn’t get to the people that were influenced, further adding to the axiom “A lie can run around the world before the truth gets it’s boots on”.

This is the work the mainstream media should be doing. This is the job of a journalist or a reporter to fact check information before they regurgitate party press releases to the people in extenso, not the job of a blogger with the reach of a small-town rag.