Greens trying to fundraise on back of defamation case

The Greens have announced:

The Green Party has launched an appeal to cover the costs of defamation action being taken against the party by Conservative Party leader Colin Craig.

Or is it!

The fine print:

You should know that any funds not used in the court case will go towards the Green Party’s work to create a smarter, cleaner, more compassionate New Zealand for all of us.

So actually it is a plea for campaign funds. You see it is highly likely that the Greens will use the taxpayer funded leader’s budget to cover Norman’s legal costs. They have every right to do that, but don’t be surprised if they use that fund to cover most of the costs, and then pocket all the donations for their election campaign.

On Facebook, a Green party member, Alan Bell, comments:

Totally misguided and somewhat deceitful. Nothing to do with free speech. Russel could well have spoken about Green policy without referring to Craig. Does the Green party so underestimate our intelligence as to infer we are unable to evaluate Craig for ourselves? Do the Greens plan to repeal the Defamation Act? Will the Greens introduce policy that means access to the courts is available to all rather than only the wealthy? Russel made his bed and should lie in it – his political stunt backfired. As a paid up member of the Green party I expect my representatives to stand up for the rights of all NZers including women and homosexuals and respect my ability to gauge for myself the policies of other parties. Craig has a right to defend himself against defamation – I despise the man and hope his case falls over. But I also think positing this as a defence of free speech and LGBT and womens’ rights is a load of bollocks and a stain on the integrity of the party. MPs are are on far more than “middle income” (as Cunliffe should know) so you lot can pay for it.

Another person, Graham Hooper comments:

Rusell could have made a speech defending the rights of Women and Gay people without mentioning Colin Craig. Why give the Guy any News coverage? You MPs get a Good pay. if You feel that you should waste money on Paying Lawyers then your Choice but there is an election coming up why not just say sorry and put the money towards an election

So sounds like some unrest with members and supporters.

Hat Tip: Pete Goerge