Here's a few of the more interesting tweets in opposition to Labour's Twyford-led housing campaign involving the classification of Chinese-sounding names of property buyers. The most recent tweets are first.
Twyford's proposed policy: Ban people from buying property if their surname is one that's never before appeared in an All Blacks team list.
Picture, if you will, a campaign repurposing Rob Salmond's method to demonstrate that people with Maori names commit more crime.
Phil Twyford rips his face off to reveal it's in fact Winston Peters.
Chinese NZers: @nzlabour gets off on getting called racists bc it wins them racist votes.
Chinese NZers: @nzlabour gets off on getting called racists bc it wins them racist votes.
The thing about offshore Chinese: they're not here. We are. When @nzlabour exploits fears about Chinese, it's our faces on the target.
Those MPs with multiple Auckland houses must be laughing all the way to the bank http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11480085 …
Ministry of Spin @MinistryofSpin
Labour confesses some of its best friends sound Chinese
The thing about offshore Chinese: they're not here. We are. When @nzlabour exploits fears about Chinese, it's our faces on the target.
So Twyford's family who has moved to NZ since 60s think it is OK to slam Chinese whom some have been here since 1960s? Who's more recent?
Jessica Williams @mizjwilliams
Has Labour now cunningly repositioned itself as more to the right than the Nats currently are?
So Twyford's family who has moved to NZ since 60s think it is OK to slam Chinese whom some have been here since 1960s? Who's more recent?
I may not look like a 'kiwi' or have a 'kiwi name', whatever that means, but I sure as hell am committed to do my best in this country
Not content with digging their own grave, Labour are now doing a full Twyford and drilling through the centre of the Earth to get to China.
Matthew Hooton @MatthewHootonNZ
Given restrictions on foreigners don't stop property price inflation (eg Sydney), @PhilTwyford's stunt can only be motivated by racism.
Dylan Horrocks @dylanhorrocks
@edmuzik It's poisonous politics: achieves an immediate political goal, but in the process makes the wider political ecosystem more toxic.
@JudithCollinsMP @nzlabour Say what you like about Helen, but she never, ever stooped so low to play the race card
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP
The Labour of Andrew Little is a long way from the inclusive @nzlabour of Helen Clark
Not content with digging their own grave, Labour are now doing a full Twyford and drilling through the centre of the Earth to get to China.
This China / housing thing is like Orewa II. Orewang
Someone should replace the cover of the Shanghai phonebook with the cover of Auckland phonebook & give it to Phil Twyford. He'll go bonkers.
National played the race card (heavily) before I was a member. If they ever did again, I would leave. That is my line.
Catching up with Labour's latest racist stupidity. Channeling Michael Joseph Savage in all the wrong ways. They deserve their unpopularity.
No wonder John A Lee had a tough time in the Labour Party. Lee?!? What sort of a name is that mate? Have you bought a house?!?
Forgot to buy any Auckland real estate this weekend. #namesoundsabitasian
Phil Twyford will be struggling to get anyone to sell him Chinese takeaways for a while.
Labour party releasing a list of Chinese beneficiaries who work on rooftops of houses they own. The results will shock you.
Morgan Godfery @MorganGodfery
let's have a materialist analysis of the housing crisis rather than a funny sounding surname analysis cheers
Racist at Mauao yelling out, "enjoy your stay in Aotearoa, it's not for sale though" at Asian looking people. Thanks Phil Twyford!
The name Twyford comes from "Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Middlesex" Typical whinging Pom #surnamesgame
Victoria Young @victoriayoung03 Jul 12
hi @PhilTwyford just wondering if my name sounds like it might be Chinese enough to make your list?
@PhilTwyford I belong to an ethnic minority where people stereotype about money & leap to conclusions based on names. My skin is crawliing.
@PhilTwyford the fact that you had to think long and hard should have told you to spike. Angry and disappointed with you, Phil. 1/2
Labour is like "We're not being racist, it's not like we're saying all those people buying up all the Auckland property can't drive."
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP Jul 11
Wonder if Phil Twyford counted our homes. My husband's father's father was Chinese so my husband's cousins will be included. Thx Phil
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP Jul 11
Just wondering what research Labour's Phil Twyford has done on people with English names buying homes in Auckland.? Or Irish? Scots?
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
WORD WATCH: Phil Twyford using the words 'plausible' and 'credible' while destroying his plausibility and credibility #nzpol
I just can't get over the audacity of a bloke called Twyford deciding that some surnames are too "foreign" for Aotearoa.
SaveOurSchoolsNZ @Dianne_Khan Jul 11
It's good to see lots of lefties call out *anyone* who talks tosh, no matter what party they're from. That's the way it should be. #Twyford
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
Ah, so that is why Twyford isn't leader.
Steve Braunias @SteveBraunias Jul 11
Je suis overseas investor from China buying up Auckland property
Surely you should've worked out it's a bad idea when you're at the point you're creating an algorithm to determine how Chinese a name is
Tze Ming Mok @tzemingdynasty Jul 11
@keith_ng @ChrisKeall Their crappy polling must have also made them confident that no Chinese people were voting for them anyway.
John Pagani @johnpagani Jul 11
. @TheNationTV3 Isn't writing an algorithm to determine ethnic purity a bigger story than what the algorithm substantively says??? #ttrttpt
David Farrar @dpfdpf Jul 11Fiji
So according to Labour John A Lee was probably Chinese based on his surname?
@andrewmeows as a NZ born Chinese too trying to buy my 1st house I'm now going to be judged for even trying thanks to his remarks
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
WORD WATCH: Phil Twyford using the words 'plausible' and 'credible' while destroying his plausibility and credibility #nzpol
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP Jul 11
Wonder if Phil Twyford counted our homes. My husband's father's father was Chinese so my husband's cousins will be included. Thx Phil
Judith Collins @JudithCollinsMP Jul 11
Just wondering what research Labour's Phil Twyford has done on people with English names buying homes in Auckland.? Or Irish? Scots?
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
John A Lee was a Labour MP who was expelled when his caucus mistook him as a Chinese who owned too many houses.
Remember when New Zealanders started confiscating the car keys of Asian drivers whose driving they didn't like? That was this year.
The Ruminator @RuminatorNZ Jul 11
Watching the Labour Party nowadays is like watching your parents get old, slightly racist, reactionary and a bit less useful.
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
Phil Twyford has done the impossible here. He's given Nick Smith the chance to look reasonable and competent #NationTV3
The views of @nzlabour's Phil Twyford on housing are pathetic - scaremongering like decades ago. Multicultural NZers of today know better.
Labour can complain about being misinterpreted, but they defined the terms of this debate, & keep doubling down on blaming the Chinese
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
The irony of Phil Twyford talking about people of "Chinese descent" as Labour swandives into cesspit politics is hideously gorgeous.
Labour's emphasis on Chinese is almost a dictionary definition of "scapegoat": A person or group that is made to bear blame for others.
Tracie Almond @TracieAlmond Jul 11
Politics really is in the toilet at the moment. Couldn't believe Phil Twyford's bizarre comments about Auckland's Chinese house buyers. #wtf
Matthew Hooton @MatthewHootonNZ Jul 11
WedgePol101 Find a genuine issue Exaggerate it Associate it with an unpopular minority Have your opponent defend minority Go up 10% in polls
I loathe censorious bastards on Twitter, but one of them should call on Andrew Little to repudiate Chinese-bashing & Twyford to apologise.
Another day, another embarrassment to being a Labour Party member...
.@PhilTwyford Your numbers say that I'm a Chinese overseas buyer, but that Brits - our largest migrant group - aren't overseas buyers.
Henry Napier @HenryAlfie Jul 11
The sad thing is this is the 1st hard policy @nzlabour has proposed in response to an issue and it's an absolute dog #nationtv3
Rāwinia Thompson @rawiniathompson Jul 11
Racism in this country isn't even well-disguised as xenophobia. Nobody has a problem with English/South African/other white immigrants.
Hamish Price @hamishpricenz Jul 11
Hate to break it to @PhilTwyford, but although it sounds Asian, "tsunami" is not a Chinese word.
Let's be clear. Labour's #Auckland housing reveal this weekend is about popular politics NOT data analysis. They want NZ middle class votes.
David Heffernan @kiwipollguy Jul 11
Status: even more disappointed in @nzlabour than usual.
Andrew Chen @andrewmeows Jul 11
We have a housing problem. This is not how we fix it.
Labour's ham-fisted foray into racially charged rabble rousing was less dog-whistling than full-throated yodeling.
It's becoming clear that *both* our major political parties are still in the 1950's.
I'm about to pay too much for a house in Auckland, and I'm a foreigner. But I'm white, so that's ok. Apparently.
post-scott @buzzandhum Jul 11
Stop making excuses for Twyford's racist brain fart, and demand he make the argument without making it anti-Chinese.
The Ruminator @RuminatorNZ Jul 11
#JeSuisChineseSoundingHouseBuyer
Shane te Pou @PouTepou Jul 11
@philquin @GregPresland figures are wonky , unreliable source and surname does not reflect residency status .Old left = new conservatives
Whaea Power @whaeapower Jul 11Mount Eden, Auckland City
Look, people buy houses. If houses are unaffordable, ppl with money buy houses. Until wages are higher, let's just blame the foreigners.
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
Meanwhile on 1840s NZ twitter: 'We've got to stop people with Pākehā sounding names buying land illegally and then starting wars for it'
Is Twyford proposing a racial quota for housing? What % of homes can Chinese own? Does he mean all ethnic Chinese or only Mainlanders?
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
Wouldn't keeping a massive register of who owns what houses based on your race be umm, a little...racist?
Andrew Chen @andrewmeows Jul 11
.@PhilTwyford Hi Phil. I was born in NZ and have lived here all my life. I study and work and pay taxes here. Also my last name is Chen.
If John A Lee bought a house in Auckland would he pass the Labour Party sounds Chinese test?
If Councillor Mike Lee bought a house in Auckland would he pass the Labour sounds Chinese Test
So @PhilTwyford has used stats and "probability" to try and cover up the underlying racism of this approach.
Stephanie Rodgers @bootstheory Jul 11
Our country taxed Chinese immigration from 1881 in order to make it impossible for many of the WORKERS to bring their families over.
Alex Coleman @ShakingStick Jul 11
This is not how you burn down Winston's fence @nzlabour
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
The reality is lots of Kiwis are comfortable with xenophobia and racism towards Asian people. And Labour want to exploit it #NationTV3
Andrea Vance @avancenz Jul 11
@msvaf guess it's easier than an intelligent debate about affordable housing, densification, regulations etc etc ...
Andrea Vance @avancenz Jul 11
@ShakingStick did UKIP start a NZ branch since I've been away?
Craig Ranapia @CMRanapia Jul 11
I wonder if @PhilTwyford groks the irony that his party was largely founded by Irish diasporans who were "too foreign" for England?
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
New Zealanders of Asian descent shouldn't have to put up with this every six months.
Dave Armstrong @malosilima Jul 11
Breaking: "I'm quite relaxed about it being spelt Kee' PM shores up Auckland Asian vote.
I just can't get over the audacity of a bloke called Twyford deciding that some surnames are too "foreign" for Aotearoa.
Matthew R X Dentith @HORansome Jul 11
The Chinese in Aotearoa have become quite the versatile boogeyman. Driving, house prices, gangs; you name it, we’ll blame them for it
Michael Field @MichaelFieldNZ Jul 11
Michael Field retweeted Phil Twyford
It is racism - and the numbers dont say what this MP thinks they say.
The methodology used by @PhilTwyford @nzherald @TheNationTV3 is so flawed that a Masters supervisor wouldnt let you submit a thesis using it
The blurst of Toms @badtom Jul 11
"This dogwhistle isn't working very well." "Here, try this racist megaphone."
Simon Wong @wimon_song Jul 11
In the highly unlikely event I'll be able to buy a house in Auckland, don't count me as a foreign buyer because I was born in NZ. #nationtv3
Emily Perkins @EmilyJPerkins Jul 11
Don't want to race-bait but every dodgy developer I've seen high-rolling around Auckland has been Pakeha. Yes I've been to the Northern Club
Jami-Lee Ross @jamileeross Jul 11
To the 24,246 NZers in my electorate identifying as Asian, I'm sorry an MP in our Parliament thinks your surname makes you a foreign buyer.
Non-exhaustive list of foreign names we should ban from buying houses: Twyford Little Key Smith Seymour Peters Campbell Owen Gower McCaw
Paora Ropata @kiaora4that Jul 11Porirua City, New Zealand
Lets put a poll tax on the Chinese.Charge them for not being 'one of us'. With the money raised,we can subsidise the kiwi buyer #nationtv3
Jordan McCluskey @jgmccl Jul 11
So Labour threw out John A. Lee in 1940 because they thought he was Chinese?!
Michael Field @MichaelFieldNZ Jul 11
Why did Labour's Twyford fall for the old racial dog whistle? desperate? http://publicaddress.net/9928
Matthew Hooton @MatthewHootonNZ Jul 11
Nobody will accuse @nzlabour of being PC for a while after @PhilTwyford's performance on @TheNationTV3 and in @nzherald this morning #nzpol
Pete George @PeteDGeorge Jul 11
If @PhilTwyford would ban foreign buyers would that include Samoans, Tongans, Australians, Fijians? @TheNationTV3
Bevan Chuang @MsBevanChuang Jul 11
So Phil Twyford is prepared to kill off Phil Goff's mayoral chance by generating racism #nationtv3 @BenRoss_AKL
Stephanie Rodgers @bootstheory Jul 11
ANECDOTE TIME about the racism of assuming Asian surname = foreign non-white person.
Danyl Mclauchlan @danylmc Jul 11
Hypothesis: this is Labour making a play for NZFirst voters. They welcome accusations of racism because that amplifies the story
Right out of the McCarthy Book LOOK OUT THE REDS ARE COMING #nationtv3
Has Twyford killed Goff's chance for Mayor in Auckland today before we even start? #nationtv3
John Palethorpe @MrDuttonPeabody Jul 11
Phil Twyford dangerously close to traditional racist xenophobic "WE'RE JUST SAYING WHAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING" trope here #NationTV3
Labour's offshore housing claims are made up. It's cynical dogwhistling couched in dodgy logic. http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/my-last-name-sounds-chinese/ …
