ACT leader Rodney Hide has resigned as leader of the ACT party, saying former National Party leader Don Brash is the right person to lead the party into the November 26 election, and he supported Brash as leader
Hide and Brash held a news conference Auckland at midday, arriving together to make the announcement. Hide had told Brash this morning he supported him to lead the ACT party.
Hide will keep the ministerial portfolios he holds in the current National-led government, including Minister for Local Government, and Minister of Regulatory Reform.
Former National leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash said in the weekend he would challenge for the leadership of ACT.
See Alex Tarrant's article on Tuesday detailing the likely leadership bid.
Brash joined the National Party in 2002 after stepping down as Reserve Bank Governor and soon after rolled then-leader and current Finance Minister Bill English. Brash then led National to a narrow election defeat in the 2005 election before stepping down for current Prime Minister John Key.
In recent years Brash has chaired the government's 2025 taskforce, which was set up as part of National's coalition agreement with ACT following the 2008 election. The group was tasked with looking at ways New Zealand could catch up with, and match, Australian incomes by 2025, leading to a series of recommendations considered too radical by centre-right National, which largely ignored the suggestions.
Brash told the news conference he and Hide had not decided whether Hide would stand as an ACT member at the November 26 election. Whether Brash was appointed to cabinet depended on Prime Minister John Key, they said.
Dunne wants the votes
Meanwhile United Future leader Peter Dunne was first out of the blocks following Hide's announcement, saying Brash's hostile takeover of ACT would delight one in twenty voters, but that alarm bells would be ringing for the other 19.
“Today the reality of what will be at stake in the November 26 election has been spelt out clearly for all New Zealanders – and it should scare them. National will lead the next government. Labour is in meltdown and out of the game," Dunne said in a media release.
“There is only one question now – which party do New Zealanders want to be influence that government – Don Brash’s ACT driving them to the far right, the Maori Party pushing them to activism and race-based laws, or UnitedFuture keeping National anchored in the centre?” Dunne said.
“The vast majority of New Zealanders – and easily nineteen out of twenty – will be horrified at the thought of a Don Brash-led ACT forcing National to the right. John Key will be horrified at the prospect of being dragged to the right,” he said.
“Don Brash is a rigid right-wing ideologue – give him influence and a hand on power and watch the New Zealand we know become a harsher, more brutal place,” Dunne said.
Labour's warning
Labour leader Phil Goff said a new "extreme right-wing deal between National and an Act party led by Don Brash would have a devastating impact on the lives of middle and low-income New Zealanders".
“John Key has described Don Brash as an extremist. But he has also made it very clear that he is prepared to work with his former boss in a future Government. That would be a disaster for our country," Goff said in a media release.
“We know what Don Brash stands for. He wants to slash the minimum wage by NZ$100 a week – putting more New Zealanders into poverty. Superannuation would also be on his hit list. Don Brash wants savage cuts to Government spending, including health and education. Working for Families and interest-free student loans would be gone and there would be a wholesale sell-off of our valuable community-owned state assets," Goff said.
“This is what Kiwis could expect under a Government led by John Key and Don Brash," he said.
“We know how close Don Brash and John Banks are to National. Don Brash is National’s former leader and they are both National Party members. The links are already there and there are grounds for suspicion that today’s outcome is the result of collaboration between the two parties."
A relationship involving Don Brash and John Banks, at the head of the Act Party, would allow National to pursue all the policies it had wanted to pursue but had been afraid to admit to so far, Goff said.
“These are not the kinds of policies mainstream New Zealanders support. These are the kinds of policies that will hurt middle and low-income New Zealanders at a time when they are feeling the financial squeeze as a result of rising prices and National’s shambolic handling of our economy," he said.
“Labour will fight tooth and nail against the agenda of Don Brash and John Key. Our policies are designed to grow our economy, create jobs and higher incomes, put our children first and stop asset sales. The policies of a Government led by John Key and Don Brash will do the opposite and devastate our country,” Goff said.
(Updates with Brash background, Phil Goff, Peter Dunne comments)
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