Brethren distributes two more pamphlets

National leader Don Brash yesterday apologised to the public, and to his deputy, Gerry Brownlee, for misleading statements about pamphlets produced by the Exclusive Brethren. The same day, the sect began distributing two more.

The new pamphlets, on security and senior citizens, were distributed in Auckland yesterday. They are similar to the anti-Greens and anti-Government pamphlets that came out a week ago in that they promote alternatives to Labour but do not mention National.

The new senior citizens leaflet says "the Labour Party isn't what it used to be. They don't care about the elderly ... except in election year!"

The security pamphlet says "Are you really safe? How do you feel about Labour's security policies? ... It's time for a change."

Prime Minister Helen Clark seized on the security pamphlet as containing National Party policy and said it raised issues about how closely National had worked with the sect.

"What we know is that these people have met two or three times with Dr Brash, including quite recently. We know about the time of the first meeting 18 months ago, they started planning this campaign."

Helen Clark pointed to a statement in the pamphlet on bio-security - "establish a response unit for bio-security emergencies" - as being directly from bio-security policy.

Dr Brash yesterday acknowledged he had let his colleagues down and that some of his statements might have misled the public, but insisted it had not been deliberate.

"I certainly have to apologise for misleading the public," Dr Brash said yesterday.

On Thursday night on Close Up he said he had nothing to apologise for, then earlier yesterday he said he was apologising "only if there is any confusion created by my comments this week".

Earlier this week Dr Brash said he did not know who was behind the anti-Government, anti-Green pamphlets. He later revealed he had met members of the sect up to four times in the past 18 months, but the following day revealed that in his most recent meeting, about a month ago, they had told him they would be producing pamphlets.

He believes he let down Mr Brownlee and other colleagues by not telling them what he knew, which led to Mr Brownlee essentially making false statements on National Radio when he said no one in National knew about the pamphlets.

"It would have been helpful to Gerry Brownlee, certainly, if I had done that because I put him in a very awkward spot," Dr Brash told reporters in Feilding yesterday. "He was not aware of this and he denied therefore that the National Party was aware of it."

Dr Brash also turned his guns on journalists, saying questions should be asked about journalists who belonged to the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union, which was funding pro-Labour advertising.

"Nobody seems concerned of the fact that most of the reporters at Radio New Zealand are members of the engineers union, which is actively campaigning against the National Party," Dr Brash said.

Union secretary Andrew Little said Dr Brash's suggestion of political bias was unwarranted.

Journalists who were union members had no links with the organisation's political activities.

- additional reporting by Ruth Berry, Ainsley Thomson and NZPA