By Dan Satherley
National MP Tau Henare has rubbished claims he has been banned from editing Wikipedia after making changes to his own page.
According to a report picked up by blogger Scott Yorke and linked to by Labour's Trevor Mallard on Twitter, Mr Henare removed a line referring to himself as "having a reputation as a carpetbagger".
The report also claimed Mr Henare "removed references to the Northern Clerical Union and its subsequent demise referred to in a report from the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions linked to his page".
Mr Henare however said the report was "all bullshit".
"I did edit my so-called page," Mr Henare told 3 News, but only to correct "some glaring mistakes" concerning the dates his great-grandfather Taurekareka Henare served in Parliament, and to add in his real first name, Raymond.
"That's what I had to do with it," says Mr Henare, whose two edits can be seen under the username 'HenareT'.
"It's a bit of a beat up by the blogger."
A message on his Wikipedia account states he has been "blocked indefinitely from editing for abuse of editing privileges". The Wikipedia administrator who blocked him, Gadfium, says he did it because he thought the account belonged to a previously blocked editor whom last week "repeatedly added a slur" to Mr Henare's article.
"If the HenareT account really is Tau Henare, and not the same as the earlier editor, then he can add an unblock request on his Wikipedia user talk page."
Mr Yorke says if Mr Henare was banned for editing his own page, it was a "funny" gaffe, rather than anything serious.
"It's not the smartest move the National MP has made, though his career has been blighted by moves that probably weren't the smartest," he writes.
"It helps to explain the current party list placing of Mr Henare."
At the 2011 election, Mr Henare was placed 40th on the party's list, dropping from 26th at the 2008 election.
3 News