Is Hipkins at it again?

Chris Hipkins has three times misled NZers on matters of high intensity. He did it with Charlotte Bellis, he did it with the women who went into Northland and he did it with reports of guns in the Hawke’s Bay.

Now he seems to be at it again. The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he admires the entrepreneurship of the Christchurch company which offered agriculture help to Ukraine but ultimately New Zealand had processes on how aid is delivered.

New documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show how a direct request from the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mykola Solskyi, for high-speed and mobile grain stackers from MHM Automation was declined.

Hipkins told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that to his understanding the Kiwi company had approached the Ukrainian Government who then accepted the offer for the grain stackers. The company then approached the New Zealand Government requesting funding.

So Hipkins says the company approached the Ukrainian Government, but the Herald two days ago reported:

New documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show how a direct request from the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mykola Solskyi, for high-speed and mobile grain stackers was declined.

By May 16 last year, when Solskyi approached Christchurch-based MHM Automation, which builds huge, high-tech grain stacking machines that help in the storage and handling of bulk grain and wheat, Russia’s aggression had knocked out 15 million tonnes of the country’s grain storage capacity.

So is the Herald’s reporting correct, or is Hipkins correct?