LABOR Party heavyweights have told strategists to back down on a smear campaign against the Greens, signalling major rifts within the party only three days before the state election.
Labor sources said last night the dirt campaign, which included a brochure alleging the Greens planned to legalise heroin and an accompanying telephone campaign, had enraged senior party members and candidates.
PRESS PLAY TO HEAR THE MESSAGE
Fresh from a campaign committee meeting last night, Labor state secretary John Dowling confirmed the anti-Greens telephone blitz would be stopped but denied he had bowed to pressure from within the party.
He said the telephone campaign had only been scheduled to run for a short period.
It was stopped just hours after a Sydney-based company employed by the ALP had started hitting voters with the pre-recorded messages, which urged an anti-Greens vote.
Last night Franklin Labor MHA Ross Butler said he was furious at the tone of the campaign, describing parts of it as "intellectually dishonest".
He said the campaign committee had snubbed candidates.
The telephone messages urged people not to vote for the Greens because they planned to give all criminals the right to vote and legalise heroin - claims emphatically denied by Greens leader Nick McKim.
The Greens' justice policy, printed on the party's website, states that the Greens back strong criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for the supply of illicit drugs and the possession of illicit drugs.
Mr McKim last week defended his party's policy on allowing prisoners to vote after it was interpreted by several interstate newspapers as giving convicted Port Arthur killer Martin Bryant the right to vote.
Mr McKim said that the Greens policy would make it a judge's decision to give prisoners the right to vote.
Aside from Mr Butler's criticism, other Labor Party sources yesterday said Mr Dowling had been pressured to discontinue the telephone blitz.
"They were only for today," Mr Dowling said of the recorded messages.
He could not say how many calls had been made.
Mr Dowling said it was not unusual to use that particular form of advertising for only a couple of hours.
"We're moving into a different phase of the campaign tomorrow, which was always planned," he said.
Mr Dowling said no more brochures alleging a Greens plan to legalise heroin would be distributed.
The brochures selectively quote Denison Greens MHA Cassy O'Connor allegedly saying that she would support legalising the opiate.
Mr Butler said it was "intellectually dishonest" for the party to take Ms O'Connor's quote out of context.
"It's not my style of advertising and if I had been consulted about it I would have spoken against it."
Mr Dowling said no candidate had approached him with concerns about the campaign's direction.
The Greens yesterday countered Labor's attacks, sending out their own leaflet to Tasmanian households.
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