20 November 2006

Don's Injunction Is A Bit Fishy

Don Brash should stop trying to lay a trail of blue herrings and tell the public exactly why he doesn't want certain emails made public, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters.

"Don Brash should stop the humbug. He knows who the leaker is. This court action is just an elaborate charade to make out the National Party has not riven by discord and dissent under his leadership, but it achieves little except to demonstrate once again his complete lack of political smarts.

"In fact it may well be that National's strategy committee has once again pulled the wool over Dr Brash's eyes by convincing him to seek this temporary injunction.

"I'm sure their real interest was in giving John Key an early Christmas present by protecting him. It is clear the emails also reflect poorly on Key, but National want to keep those details hidden until Key has been safely ensconced as leader.

"It is time National came clean. The public wants to know what the fuss is all about. If the emails are just about National Party organisation, then no-one will be interested, and New Zealand First has always been clear it would never use the personal stuff.

"However I understand the leaker has distributed the emails quite widely, and I can't be held responsible for anyone else's actions. What I can say is that when the police first became involved, a staff decision was made in my absence to destroy any emails we had.

"This has echoes of Richard Nixon's attempt to keep the Watergate tapes from the American people. What's in the emails Don?"

ENDS

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