The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce is talking to the police this afternoon about a Twitter account set up in its name.
The Chamber of Commerce says it has no control over the account. Photo: 123rf.com
Last night the account tweeted an image of Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern, saying she has "never had a real job" and the tag line "Let's destroy NZ's primary producers".
The Jacinda Ardern tweet sent out from an account linked to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce. Photo: Twitter
Similar anti-Labour messages have appeared on the account before:
Another anti-Labour tweet from the 'Hutt Valley Chamber' account. Photo: Twitter
The link to the twitter account was on the official Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce website until this morning. It has since been removed.
A screenshot of the official Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce website, showing the link to the account. Photo: Screenshot
In a statement, the chamber said it has been "the victim of a malicious trouble-maker" who was known to them, but was not part of their organisation.
Chief executive Mark Futter said: "No person in their right mind would post such material, and no reasonable person would believe we did."
The Twitter account, which Mr Futter said the chamber has no control over, was still operating this morning, but appeared to be closed this afternoon.
Mr Futter said he had spent most of the morning unravelling what has occurred, and that the chamber was paying a reputational price for the completely malicious actions of someone, and the laxness of other businesses.
He said he would discuss laying a complaint with police.
