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DON SCOTT/Fairfax NZ

GREW LEGS: Ben Uffindell, the creator of satirical website The Civilian, sits on the steps of Canterbury University's central library.

A satirical website launched just two weeks ago by a Christchurch man has become an instant hit and is already being heralded as "New Zealand's answer to The Onion".

Former University of Canterbury student Ben Uffindell set up The Civilian as a sideline project, but its success has turned the website into his day job.

The irreverent, satirical site gets an average of 15,000 page views a day and already has more than 2000 likes on Facebook.

It won praise from an unlikely source this week when one of its hoax stories apparently fooled a Kiwi journalist. A story claiming the ACT Party was launching an investigation into how John Banks was their leader prompted a call from one unnamed journalist to the party's president, John Boscawen.

Boscawen issued a press release comparing The Civilian to prestigious US satire newspaper and website The Onion.

"I am honoured that the ACT Party has been satirised in The Civilian following in the footsteps of John Key, Steven Joyce and David Shearer," Boscawen said.

"I had a phone call today from a reporter who had been sent the story and thought she was on to a scoop. I had to break the news that she had been a victim of an April Fools' joke five days too early."

Uffindell said he was surprised by the instant success of The Civilian and the ACT Party press release.

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Satirical spoofs spread word for The Civilian