12 September 2005

Explain the Aussie link, Don

Labour MP Pete Hodgson today said Don Brash needs to explain what role its Australian advisors, Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor, are playing.

“Today, National’s general manager, Steven Joyce, denied National was getting advice from Mr Crosby, and is reported saying the Australians were simply ‘doing polling, but it was not push-polling’.

This is in contradiction to earlier statements. A leaked National Party board minute (covered by the NZ Herald in July) has already revealed that Crosby-Textor are doing more than just polling. The Australians have been involved since last year in shaping National’s campaign policies.

“Once again, we have National dissembling and obfuscating. Brash has already been caught lying once this campaign. He needs to come clean and explain National’s dirty tactics.

“It is public knowledge that Crosby-Textor are rather notorious across the Tasman for running campaigns for the Liberal Party which focus on race issues and use push-polling.

“It is public knowledge that Lynton Crosby was imported by the British Conservative Party to run their election campaign earlier this year. That campaign featured attacks on minority groups and accusations of push-polling.

“And this election, we have National making race issues and attacking minorities a feature of its campaign, and we also have reports that the Exclusive Brethren are push-polling for the National Party in a number of seats.

“Brash states that he wants a clean campaign which focuses on the issues, yet the hallmarks of his campaign has been dirty tactics, untruths, concealment, and avoiding the issues. This is the leader who launched his health policy and then refused to answer questions on it.

“Brash has spent the campaign avoiding the issues and running away from the media. He should take responsibility for his campaign and come clean on the dirty tactics his party has imported from overseas. It has no place in New Zealand.”

ENDS

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