By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter
The simmering feud in the Alliance is drawing to a head with a provocative attack by leader Jim Anderton on the party's governing council in a letter to 4000 members.
President Matt McCarten, who chairs the council, called the letter "unhelpful".
The letter was sent in the name of Mr Anderton and deputy leader Sandra Lee at the weekend.
It attacks what they consider an opposition-type of attitude to the Labour-Alliance Coalition, and the "inadequacies" of the party organisation.
It ends by offering members two heavily loaded choices:
* Stay on course as commonsense, constructive coalition partners, working for Alliance values and policies; or
* Head off on an alternative course of opposition politics.
The letter was paid for from the account into which seven MPs have diverted their tithes. The seven are Mr Anderton, Sandra Lee, Matt Robson, Grant Gillon, John Wright, Kevin Campbell and Phillida Bunkle.
Three MPs have continued to pay their tithes to a council-controlled account - Laila Harre, Liz Gordon and Willie Jackson.
Mr Anderton is also setting up his own mailing list.
The row between the factions erupted last November after a divisive conference.
Mr Anderton said yesterday that he had not been able to write to members until now because he had just received the membership list.
But Mr McCarten said the list had been held in a parliamentary computer since December and a hard copy was printed off for Mr Anderton on February 7 at the leader's request.
Mr Anderton said a significant number of the Alliance council had not been able to accept a constructive coalition with Labour, and the council "is even going to consider whether it wants to be a coalition partner with Labour after the next election".
Mr McCarten said he did not understand what Mr Anderton was getting at.
The council last month unanimously supported a long-term commitment to a coalition with Labour.
In a barely disguised attack on Mr McCarten, Mr Anderton said in the letter that he was concerned at the state of the party organisation.
"You deserve to be told about the serious inadequacies of it," he wrote.
"Unfortunately some Alliance members at a senior level have done little other than try to find ways to attack the Government."
Almost no effort had been put into building branches and membership.
Mr McCarten in turn criticised Mr Anderton's failure to convene the election campaign committee since November.
"And it's difficult to move forward when over half the caucus has not indicated whether they are going to stand for the Alliance next election."
Mr McCarten said the party organisation was in the same state as it had been at an equivalent time before the last election.
"Our poll rating has halved, but I hope I'm not going to have to take responsibility for that."
In another development in the feud, the Herald has learned that Mr Robson is trying to stop a regular National Bank transfer from a party account to one controlled by the Alliance council.
Last Thursday, the bank informed Alliance general secretary Gerard Hehir of Mr Robson's move and asked for his advice as a party office-holder.
The bank informed Mr Hehir that both Mr Robson and Sally Griffin, a parliamentary staffer and fellow Anderton loyalist, had written to the bank to try to put a stopon the account, which accumu-lates about $30,000 a year.
Automatic payments of certain members' pledges are paid into the account. Its funds are transferred to a general Alliance account every month.
Mr Robson and Sally Griffin wanted the transfer stopped, further fuelling the view that the Anderton faction is planning to break away or provoke the Alliance council to expel the Anderton camp.
The account of interest to Mr Robson and Sally Griffin was known as the "Pledge to NewLabour" account.
It has been running since the NewLabour party was formed in 1989.
When NewLabour voted to wind itself up in 2000 and merge into the Alliance, members gave oversight of the account to an eight-member management group.
Sally Griffin, as the former general secretary of NewLabour, was on the committee.
Two weeks ago, she wrote to the 100 or so members contributing to the account, which is held at a Wellington branch, to ask them to redirect their automatic deductions to an account controlled by Mr Anderton and party whip and Democrats leader Grant Gillon.
Asked for comment, Mr Robson said through a spokesman that "he wasn't interested in discussing any relationship he may or may not have with any bank".
Anderton savages party council
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