Gaylene Barnes

BUY BOOK HERE: tinyurl.com/2tvaxb4y

Still waiting for a genuine inquiry in NZ

Singapore’s Foreign Minister on why he cannot accept negotiating with Iran for safe passage of ships. Definitely worth listening to:

@elonmusk This is especially true for women in difficult situations.

Starlink has done more than any NGO to lift people out of poverty by connecting them with a means of education and a market for their good & services via the Internet

The Tight Three. Why is the media still refusing to put any questions to Ashley Bloomfield and Dr Ian Town? Two weeks after the NZ Herald discovered the Cabinet paper, in Hipkins' name, media have yet to ask a single question of Ashley Bloomfield or Dr Ian Town. Bloomfield was the key conduit between the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group (CV-TAG, via Dr Town) and ministers. Dr Town, as CV-TAG chair, authored or oversaw memos on myocarditis — including one in July 2021 on risks and dosing intervals and was the senior technical expert fronting public briefings alongside ministers. He had a clear responsibility to ensure that technical advice informed policy, rather than simply sitting within the ministry. So the key questions that need to be asked: Did Bloomfield or Town discuss the CV-TAG’s myocarditis concerns regarding teenagers with Hipkins before the cabinet paper? Did the advice actually reach any government ministers? If not, why not given it was their clear responsibility? After breaking the story, the NZ Herald now has a responsibility to stress-test Chris Hipkins’ denials and not leave them unchallenged. The most effective way to do that is by putting these questions directly to the two people who had a clear duty to ensure the information reached him. Continued silence from the NZ Herald and media on this issue isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity.

New book 'Heart of the Protest' sees rapid nationwide uptake, revisiting the 2022 Parliament protest. dailytelegraph.co.nz/news/new-book-…

@JulietMosesNZ He also organized the 'Aotearoa is Not For Sale' march in 2012, the one where they paraded a GUILLOTINE down the road, then had great fun using it to chop cardboard heads off of John Key, Paula Bennett and Bill English. Hypocrisy some, that one.

Turns out Twyford spoke there. Given that Labour has not (as far as I am aware) sent anyone to any anti-regime protests including after it slaughtered tens of thousands of its citizens in two days, but sent Twyford to a pro-regime rally yesterday, I think it is clear who Labour supports. Twyford was the one who got booed offstage at an Auckland anti-Israel rally in November 2023 and had to have a police escort to his car because he made the heinous mistake of mentioning in passing that he condemned “the violence against civilians by Hamas”. I’m sure he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Open letter by filmmaker and 'River of Freedom' director Gaylene Barnes alleges bias in COVID-19 inquiry, urging review of Phase Two findings and Inquiry leadership. dailytelegraph.co.nz/news/open-lett…

OPEN LETTER Hon Brooke van Velden @BrookevanVelden Minister of Internal Affairs Hon. Simeon Brown @SimeonBrownMP Minister of Health Dear Ministers van Velden and Brown, As the Ministers tasked with receiving and reviewing the Phase Two report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned (Te Tira Ārai Urutā), I am writing to you jointly to raise a serious and urgent complaint regarding the clear and demonstrable bias exhibited by Grant Illingworth KC in his role as Chair of Phase Two. During a recorded interview with former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on 7 October 2025 — months after the public submissions closed — Mr Illingworth made the following statement about the 2022 Parliament protestors: “We don’t want to make the Hilary Clinton mistake and call people ‘undesirables’ but it seems even as portrayed in the Prime Minister movie, which I have seen, that there were people who had virulent hatred for what Government was doing during the period of time, to the point where it’s very, very difficult to understand the motivation behind it unless you accept the idea that they were believing stuff that is just totally inconsistent with the science.” This comment reveals an extraordinary level of pre-judgment and bias. Mr Illingworth openly relied on Prime Minister – a panegyric documentary produced by Augusto, Jacinda Ardern’s favoured advertising agency – as “evidence” of the protestors’ motivations. He treated this US-edited film as a legitimate portrayal of events.  However, the film misleadingly depicts protestors mainly parading Trump flags (which were present for only two hours of the 23-day occupation) and uses footage of protestors’ actions on the day of the 2 March police clearance, while failing entirely to explain the protestors’ reasons for being there — namely, their opposition to vaccine mandates, job losses, and vaccine safety concerns. The film ignores the lived experiences of those directly affected and appears tailored for its primary US anti-Trump audience. It is also very alarming that a Labour ​Party propaganda film was influencing his line of questioning.  Prime Minister was seeded with $280,000​+ of public money given to Augusto during the 2020 campaign as part of the Labour Party’s ‘broadcasting allowance’. As someone closely involved with the protestors’ perspective, as director of the film River of Freedom @RiverFreedom22 , and co-writer (with Siân Clement) of a book with testimony from many of those who attended the Parliament protest, #HeartoftheProtest, I can confirm that the Royal Commission was provided with a copy of our independent documentary. It offers an authentic, first-hand account from inside the protest. It captures the genuine concerns of ordinary New Zealanders who lost their jobs, their livelihoods and their trust in government due to mandates and policies they viewed as unjust and unscientific. The Commission also received approximately 30,000 submissions from affected individuals, many of them would have been supporters or protesters - their letters and other materials detailing the human cost of the Government’s response. These were at his disposal to review for six months. Despite all of this, Mr Illingworth chose to reference the Augusto propaganda film as his primary “evidence” of the protestors’ “virulent hatred” and alleged rejection of “the science.” This is not neutral inquiry. It is selective and partisan. Mr Illingworth did not appear to question Ms Ardern on the specific “science” she claimed justified her policies – for example, the assertion that 6,500 New Zealanders would certainly have died without the vaccine mandates. He simply accepted this narrative while characterising protestors’ motivations as irrational, hateful and anti-science. The Chair’s comments signal that he approached the entire inquiry with a predetermined view that those who opposed the Government’s COVID-19 measures were unreasonable or misinformed. This lack of impartiality fundamentally compromises the credibility of the entire Phase Two process and its findings. The Royal Commission was established to learn lessons and restore public trust, not to whitewash the actions of one political leader or to delegitimise the voices of tens of thousands of affected citizens. When the Chair himself signals a willingness to label dissenters as “undesirables” (while claiming to avoid the term) and relies on state-friendly propaganda rather than the evidence placed before him, the inquiry becomes worthless. I therefore respectfully but firmly request that you, as the responsible Ministers: 1. Immediately review the conduct of Mr Illingworth as Chair and the impact of his demonstrated bias on the integrity of the entire inquiry. 2. Consider the Phase Two report and its recommendations in light of this clear lack of neutrality. 3. Reconsider all the evidence of this inquiry with another Chair and individuals who can demonstrate genuine impartiality, so that the voices of all New Zealanders – especially those harmed by mandates – are given equal weight. Public confidence in our institutions has already been severely damaged by the events of 2021–2022. Allowing a biased chair to shape the official “lessons learned” only deepens that distrust. The Government has both the authority and the responsibility to act. @SimeonBrownMP @BrookevanVelden @winstonpeters

@Rockynz_1 @chrislynchmedia Thanks Rocky 🐱!

@chrislynchmedia It's a must have piece of history. The book is a well chronicled timeline of events & policy making that leads up to & incls the vibe the MSM media & Gov didn't want you to see. Pg282 - "Yeah. it's that sense of community that a lot of New Zealanders have forgotten over the years

From a Canterbury garage to nationwide: The grassroots launch of Heart of the Protest book. chrislynchmedia.com/news-items/fro…

@chrislynchmedia PURCHASE BOOK USING THIS LINK! Thank you Chris! tinyurl.com/2tvaxb4y

@chrislynchmedia is an awesome supporter of local (Canterbury) endeavours and good stories of hard work !

Link! tinyurl.com/2tvaxb4y

Five pallets of my book HEART OF THE PROTEST arrived today! We are posting 900 this week, pre-sold. Heart of the Protest - Inside the Parliament Protest and the Making of the Movie River of Freedom is a Paperback: 240mm x 170mm, 424pp, 79 full-colour photos. $39 from this link: tinyurl.com/2tvaxb4y Co-authored with writer Siân Clement, it dives deep into the heart of New Zealand's 2022 Parliament protest — our grassroots uprising against mandatory Covid vaccinations and the horrendous legislation that saw thousands of everyday Kiwis occupy the grounds in a bid for democratic reckoning and to end the divisive mandates. Once again, we have independently produced the book, like the film @RiverFreedom22 that inspired it, as book distributors and publishers have turned down the opportunity ... No matter, I have a garage. :)

New book challenges COVID narrative as 1,000+ copies fly out the door dailytelegraph.co.nz/news/new-book-… via @@dailytelegraph5

Thank you @Dane_Giraud !

@SimonRAnderson @RiverFreedom22 Indeed. It's sewer level disgusting.

@GayleneABarnes @RiverFreedom22 Just when I thought I couldn't be more disgusted with Grant Illingworth, you go and release this.

It would appear that FILMS are very powerful influencers - even influencing Grant Illingworth KC's opinion about the Parliament protestors - despite the fact we gave him @RiverFreedom22 and 30,000 submissions. No - PRIME MINISTER thanks, that film that depicted the protestors in very dishonest ways. I could be gracious: Perhaps he was just cosying up to a narcissist by offering her a compliment?