New Zealand First·pdf·Leaflet
Fix our roads first
Highly misleading
3.2/ 10
Medium confidenceAdvertiser: New Zealand FirstPublished: 8 July 2026Analysed: 28 July 2026
Human reviewed
Summary
The leaflet uses a misleading graph scale to exaggerate infrastructure spending differences and misattributes budget allocations.
Infrastructure spending figures are loosely accurate but presented with a misleading graph and incomplete attribution.
Score Breakdown
Factual accuracy
3.0/ 10
Weight: 40%
Context fairness
2.5/ 10
Weight: 30%
Evidence quality
3.5/ 10
Weight: 20%
Visual/audio fairness
4.0/ 10
Weight: 10%
What the ad gets right
- +Total transport budget figures are approximately correct.
What the ad gets wrong or leaves out
- −Graph y-axis does not start at zero, exaggerating differences.
- −Conflates capital and operational spending.
- −Attributes joint-funded projects to a single party.
Persuasion Techniques
Misleading graph or visual scale
Example: Bar chart with truncated y-axis
Effect: Makes spending gaps appear much larger
Guilt by association
Example: Images of potholes next to opponent logos
Effect: Links poor outcomes to political opponents
Detailed Verdict
While some raw numbers are in the ballpark, the visual presentation and attribution make the comparison unreliable.
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