Fendalton Changed
—B. G. Barclay (Labour) We are enjoying the spec-) taele of the sitting member ) finding it necessary to ad-: dress street corner meetings and indulge in expensive ad-; vertising in his endeavour to : retain the seat. This must; surely be a unique expert-) ence for a Cabinet Minister; holding the Fendalton seat: I but is indicative of the! nervousness of the National; Party in Fendalton. I welcome the opportunity i of representing the New Zea- ! land Labour Party in the ] Fendalton electorate at the! General Election, 1963. Fendalton has long been; regarded as a comfortable) seat for political aspirants of: the National Party who have) )an aversion to marginal elec-) | torates. This state of affairs I )no longer exists, and there iis good reason to expect that : current political trends in tihe (United Kingdom, notably the i Luton by-election, will be I repeated in New Zealand this ■ month. “Changed Outlook” I The phenomenal growth of ) residential areas to the northI west of Christchurch city and I largely within the county of ! Waimairi has completely ,) changed the political outlook ;of the Fendalton electorate. ) It is noteworthy that in these i particular a reas three years j ago. five out of seven electors voted Labour, and the ! population here has now | greatly increased. I Furthermore, thanks to the I boundary revision, other areas !of Fendalton formerly pre- ) dominantly National have I been transferred elsewhere. | It appears certain that I Fendalton can no longer be ) regarded as a National Party ; stronghold, but has now be- ! come a marginal seat. | It is refreshing, but not I surprising, to note that the National candidate in Fendalton is somewhat coy in his reference to the 1958 Budget, for we well remember tire words of the Hon. H. R. : Lake, M.P.. as reported in ' “The Press” dated April 18. ; 1958: ”... I would say the ) most effective thing that could i be done at this moment would : be to put a tax of Is on each gallon of petrol that comes into the country. A punishing tariff on motor-cars and luxury goods would be effective in reducing expenditure. There is no need to panic. The people of New Zealand have got to be taught that |in this situation, the Gov- . ernment of the day, any Gov- : ernment. has got to take some unpalatable action.’’
Interest Rates Electors in Fendalton who are struggling to meet interest charges reflected in home mortgages and the purchase of essential commodities, particularly where hire-purchase is involved, are aware that their member, in his capacity as Minister of Finance, authorised the interest rates to be increased, and they are entitled to wonder whether he had their welfare in mind, or the prosperity of money lenders. I believe that the New Zealand Labour Party has a progressive policy involving a planned economy based on expanded overseas trade, with a proper regard for those of us who earn our living, and do not depend for a livelihood on financial speculation. The existing preference for vested interests must give way to a more humane regard for the needs of New Zealanders and their families. I look forward to the General Election. 1963. with enthusiasm. and thank the many well-wishers who are helping towards a Labour victory in Fendalton.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19631121.2.161.1
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CII, Issue 30294, 21 November 1963, Page 19
Word Count
543Fendalton Changed Press, Volume CII, Issue 30294, 21 November 1963, Page 19
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.