The person performing a Hindu ritual in this viral video is a Yoga Teacher, not the Home Minister of New Zealand. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 6, 2024
A video of a man performing Hindu rituals claimed to be New Zealand’s Home Minister who has converted to Hinduism is viral on many social media platforms. Let’s verify this claim through this fact-checking article.
Claim: The video features New Zealand’s Home Minister, who has adopted Hinduism, performing a pooja.
Fact: The man in the video is actually Brent Goble, a yoga teacher. The Home Minister of New Zealand is Hon Brooke van Velden, a different person. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
The initial investigation involved identifying the Instagram watermark on the viral video “@ibrentgoble”.
A quick internet search led us to Brent Goble’s Instagram account, where we found the same video posted on 02 November 2023, marking the naming ceremony of his son Alex. He noted in the caption- ‘..While Hinduism isn’t part of my upbringing, I love taking part in the rituals that are important to my wife and in-laws…’ According to his Instagram bio, Brent Goble is a Yoga  Teacher.
A post shared by Brent Goble (@ibrentgoble)
To further confirm the claim about the New Zealand Home Minister, we referred to the official government of New Zealand website, Beehive.govt.nz. Here, it was found that Hon Brooke van Velden (check this and this) currently serves as the Minister of Internal Affairs of New Zealand and not Brent Goble.
By comparing Brent Goble and Hon Brooke van Velden’s images and identifying the person in the video, it was clear that the person performing the rituals is Brent Goble.
To sum up, the viral video does not feature New Zealand’s Home Minister but Brent Goble, a yoga teacher.