Friends of SIT also friends of National?

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt yesterday said he was not aware of Friends of SIT supporters the Talley brothers' alleged links to the National Party -- as outlined in Nicky Hager's book The Hollow Men -- and insisted he was not pushing a political barrow in his scrap with the Government.

Mr Hager's book claims Nelson businessmen Michael and Peter Talley, who have business interests in Southland, offered Don Brash $1 million to help get the National Party elected in the 2005 election. The book alleges Dr Brash entertained the idea but it was never taken up.

The Talleys have said the claim is rubbish, and when contacted this week by The Southland Times, Michael Talley reiterated this and said his family was not aligned to any political party.

The Southland Times asked Mr Shadbolt if the Talleys had provided the bulk of the money -- as one of the corporate Friends of SIT -- for his campaign to try and reverse government funding cuts for the Southern Institute of Technology -- during which he urged voters to vote for National not Labour in this year's election.

"When I got interested in the issue I pledged confidentiality and I've got to stick to that. I'm not prepared to say (how much money the Talleys gave).

They were certainly enthusiastic," he said.

Last month Mr Shadbolt said the "big supporters" of his campaign were businesses like Talley's.

Yesterday Mr Shadbolt said he had only approached the Talleys as a representative of the local business community.

"I honestly wasn't aware that that they were in The Hollow Men." He maintained he had no links to the National party.

Mr Talley said he did not think Mr Shadbolt was pushing any political party's agenda but in relation to the campaign said: "He's gone a wee bit overboard on it, I think".

Talley's made a point of keeping politics out of its workplaces, he said.

South Port chief executive Mark O'Connor said he was reasonably comfortable with how Mr Shadbolt had conducted the campaign but added that South Port was not "entering into the fray of a political polarisation or a political positioning ...".

NZAS operations general manager Paul Hemburrow said NZAS supported SIT.

"However, we do not and cannot participate in politics that are outside our scope of operation."

- © Fairfax NZ News