The battle for Dunedin South

The battle for Dunedin South gets more bitter, reports the ODT:

The bitter battle between two factions of Labour Party supporters in Dunedin South worsened this week with the resignation of a branch official as allegations of mismanagement came to light.

Julie Morton, a supporter of Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope, resigned on Wednesday as secretary-treasurer of the South Dunedin branch….

The issues of concern raised by the current office-holders were in relation to the previous executive’s operations, including the transparency with correspondence, financial reporting and other concerns with respect to constitutional decision-making and destruction of electronic data. …

The Otago Daily Times has learned that in March this year, Mr Benson-Pope wrote to the incoming branch chairman Richard Page.

His letter questioned a $10,000 donation which was included in the 2006 financial accounts.

Records show the donation was made to the Montecillo Veterans Home and Hospital.

You know you have problems when the local MP is writing letters like that to branch committees. And I must say I am surprised any branch of a party would donate money to any cause apart from the party or the candidate.

At the April meeting, Mr Benson-Pope asked for a report clarifying who made the decision and when it was reported to, or discussed with, the branch.

However, the auditor had noted in his report on the 2006 accounts, some 11 months later, that there was no authorisation in any minutes made available to him.

“The hard drive of the branch computer was formatted prior to the recent handover, so the actual date of the creation of that document was impossible to assess,”
Mr Rackley said.

Destroyed documents etc. All very murky.

Does Benson-Pope sound like someone planning to fade quietly from the scene?