Don Brash MP
National Party Leader
08 September 2005

Labour wrong on Brethren claims

National Party Leader Don Brash has tonight confirmed that the National Party had no involvement in the preparation, publication or distribution of the pamphlets which have now been sourced to a group of Exclusive Brethren.

“I did not see the pamphlet the Brethren proposed to distribute when they met me, and therefore had no basis to assume the pamphlet which Rod Donald showed to me during a chance meeting in Rotorua on Monday was the one which the Exclusive Brethren had proposed to circulate.

“So when asked by Paul Holmes if I knew who had distributed the pamphlet I made it clear that I did not know, but could confirm that it was not the National Party.

”Once the Exclusive Brethren group came out on Wednesday, there was no doubt they were responsible, and I felt comfortable talking about it today.”

Dr Brash confirmed the National Party has no formal relationship with the Exclusive Brethren Church and receives no funding from them.

“I have checked with the campaign manager this afternoon and he confirms there are some volunteers from the Exclusive Brethren helping with canvassing and putting up hoardings in some parts of the country.

“He tells me the church members have no formal role in the party, none of them are officers of the party, they’re obviously just keen to change the Government. They are part of the huge groundswell of support we have in this campaign,” says Dr Brash.

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