19 September 2006

Brash should explain claims on misleading public

Labour strategist Pete Hodgson is calling on Don Brash to explain why he claims to never have knowingly misled the New Zealand public given his record of highly misleading statements.

Dr Brash was quoted in Manawatu Standard today – as he has been in several other places over the past week – saying, "I have never, to my knowledge, misled the New Zealand public."

"Don Brash's claim to have never misled the New Zealand public needs explaining," Pete Hodgson said.

"From the Brethren to the Business Roundtable, Don Brash's short stint as National Party leader will be remembered for statements which call into question his integrity.”

Pete Hodgson says Brash's lies and misleading statements include, but are by no means limited to:

- Misleading the public (and apparently his Deputy Leader) for weeks about his involvement with the Exclusive Brethren in the 2005 election

- Misleading about the extent of big business involvement in his 2003 coup – calling claims that the far right was behind his coup "insulting" only to have the full extent of his relationship with the Business Roundtable revealed during the election

- Claiming ignorance of GST rules – despite having helped to design GST in the 1980s – in order to justify his illegal overspend

- Intentionally keeping details of National's ACC privatisation policy quiet only to have the plan revealed in a leaked Insurance Council memo

- Claiming that National would not sell off State Owned Enterprises only to have to admit during a TV debate that National did plan to sell Landcorp farms

- Misleading the public on National's nuclear free policy while promising American politicians that under a National government it would be "gone by lunchtime"

"Don Brash likes to claim he is a man of integrity. He should explain how he reconciles that with the numerous examples of telling less than the whole truth," Pete Hodgson said.

ENDS

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