Brash should quit before he gets pushed, says Prebble

Richard Prebble

Former Act leader Richard Prebble has taken a swipe at National, saying the party is dreaming if it thinks it can form a Government and that Don Brash should quit before he gets pushed.

Mr Prebble's scathing comments about National - supposedly Act's closest ally and potential coalition partner - and Dr Brash were made in Act's online newsletter, The Letter.

But last night Act leader Rodney Hide was distancing himself from the comments, saying they were Mr Prebble's view.

When asked if he agreed, Mr Hide said: "Well, I don't want to get into a public spat. Not this close."

There is an outside possibility that National could form a coalition Government with Act and United Future, but it would need a confidence and supply agreement from New Zealand First and the Maori Party.

But Mr Prebble, who retired from Parliament at the election, said Dr Brash was dreaming if he thought he could form a coalition, since he had "eaten his allies".

"Our advice to Brash is to tell Murray McCully to stop plotting and concede that National cannot form a Government even if the specials [special votes] result in the Greens falling below the threshold."

Mr Prebble said Dr Brash never had control of his caucus, an echo of comments he made earlier in the year that caused tension between the two parties.

Dr Brash's time as leader of the National Party was up. Finance spokesman John Key would be the next leader, said Mr Prebble.

"Our advice to Don is to go now before the boys push him."

Last night, Mr Prebble told the Herald he would not be surprised if Dr Brash resigned after the results of the special votes are announced on October 1.

Although Mr Hide, who returned to Wellington yesterday with Act's second MP, Heather Roy, would not endorse Mr Prebble's comments, he criticised National's campaign strategy.

"The National Party's strategy of saying they could win 51 per cent and govern on their own was absolutely wrong-headed.

"If National had shown it could work with other parties, Don Brash would be Prime Minister today," said Mr Hide.

However, he believed that National could still form a coalition Government.