COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL MR ROWLING’S LEADERSHIP GIVES LABOUR NEW IMAGE

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33694, 18 November 1974, Page 16

COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL MR ROWLING’S LEADERSHIP GIVES LABOUR NEW IMAGE

(By

CEDRIC MENTIPLAY)

WELLINGTON, November 17.—The rising of Parliament at the end of the 974 session has meant no rest for the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling). ,Vhile' being actively concerned in measures to offset the effects of the world economic crisis he is deeply involved in planning for the fateful political year, 1975. “In summary, the whole programme for me at present is in planning,” Mr Rowling said in answer to my questions. “This is for the session ahead, for the use of the Ministers, for the manifesto, and for the general deployment of our people.”

This year, Mr Rowling’s position has been akin to that of a new general, abruptly called in to take over another general’s battle in its concluding stages. For him 1974 started much as the previous year had ended. There was no indication that he would end the session in any other capacity. He, for one, did not expect to assume the Prime Ministerial mantle. Mr Kirk died on August 31, and Mr Rowling was elected Prime Minister on September 6 — incredibly only nine weeks ago. And those weeks have been anything but normal ones.

“It has been a hand-to-mouth existence, largely because of the pressures which have existed,” he told me. “As far as I or Bob Tizard was concerned, neither of us had been in any way prepared for the change of role. Parliament was sitting, so that we had to adapt rapidly to the requirements of the House as it affected us both. “On top of that, there was no shortage of crisis situations. There were the Australian devaluation, the general world economic situation — fairly rough, with consequences to the New Zealand economy — and there was home-grown inflation, with the impact of the wage order coming through. Then we had the visit of the Shah of Iran, and more recently that of the Prime Minister of Japan (Mr Tanaka) ... “All of these things have happened inside a couple of months, to a team not quite geared to the situation, and on top of the routine work required of us as Ministers and as electorate representatives. ..” So “hand-to-mouth existence” is as good a description as any. Mr Rowling had literally no time for longterm planning. If he had taken over earlier, he might have “changed the bowling”. As it was, he had to play out the game according to ; the laid down. In retrospect, he is well pleased , with the result -. In emergency he was prepared to hold over a few more bills, but the emergency did not occur. , Working together

I questioned Mr Rowling about alleged differences within the Government

party. These were not hard to guess at. At his first press conference, shortly after having been elected Prime Minister, Mr Rowling spoke about Mr Kirk’s published remarks about disloyalty and laziness. He added a third, positive requirement: “The ability of Cabinet Ministers each to co-operate with the other.” To my questions this time, Mr Rowling said: “We all felt there were gaps. There still are, but they can be closed up, and they are not too profound. There was a gap with the back-benchers too. It started to show in caucus, sometimes forcefully. ..” These things could not wait, and they have not waited. On Tuesday nights, starting at 5.30 p.m., Mr Rowling has been “at home” to back-benchers in his suite on the top floor of Parliament * Buildings. Backbenchers go up there to have their say, to tell, and at times to be told.

“They can talk on anything,” Mr Rowling said. “Mostly, I find, they want to look back over things and give a viewpoint on direction; either that, or they have something they think we should be looking at. Usually it develops into a pretty lively discussion; but a much less formal one than we would have, even in caucus.”

Some Ministers are using the same technique, if they have important visitors. Back-benchers join them in a social half hour.

This may seem a small thing. Actually, it is not. New members, particularly in a Government party, get the impression they are a fifth wheel. “It makes them feel they have a contribution to make — which they have — apart from being asked to stand up in the House in debates.”

Infernal talks Another “small thing” may be the fact that he has re-opened the Cabinet di-ning-room, which was closed in the first few weeks of the Labour Administration. It may have been that the closing of the Cabinet di-ning-room was to obviate the feeling that Cabinet Ministers were a race apart from ordinary Government members. If so, it had some

unconfortable side-effects, particularly for some busy Ministers.

Mr Rowling, pursuing his ideal of close co-operation between Ministers, has reopened the room, and has quickly proved his point. “It is a place where Ministers who have little or no time can see each other and exchange views,” he told me.

"Two, three or four Ministers — more sometimes — want to get together, and it is just not practicable during a morning, or during the sitting hours of the House. They can go down there, have their lunch fairly casually, and just talk freely. It is working out pretty well again.

“This is all part of the exercise, the one on having them work together and discuss things through with one another. It’s too easy to get isolated. I have found Ministers who’ve never been in this back room here (in the Prime Minister’s suite), and we’ve been the Govern* ment for two years.” Mr Rowling uses the Cabinet dining-room himself. “If I want to see a Minister, or maybe a couple, I give them a ring, or send the boys around, and ask them what they are doing at lunchtime.” The important thing about this system, as Mr Rowling well knows, is that it does not upset the Ministers’ own office schedules, and it gets them together and relaxed. The Ministers’ dining-room, of course, is for Cabinet members only. There are no alien ears. Wider scope The work of the Cabinet, now that sessional pressures are off, will immediately take on a wider scope. An indication of this is that Mr Rowling has called for two important papers, which will provide a grounding for discussions at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. One paper by the Minister of Finance (Mr Tizard) is on liquidity and its effect on smaller businesses ' and undertakings; the other, by the Minister of Immigration (Mr Colman) is on immigration patterns between Australia and New Zealand. Before he made this announcement at the weekly news conference, Mr Rowling told me that it was his intention to have the Cabinet do something more than just going through Cabinet papers, “which tends to preoccupy us”.

This, somewhat surprisingly, will be a new thing for this Cabinet. Mr Rowling intends that all members of the Cabinet will have a full knowledge of the economic situation and the measures intended to offset their effects. Whatever has been the pattern of the last two years, it is apparent that the new pattern is different. Those who predicted Labour’s disarray after the death of Norman Kirk were justified in the prediction, because there was no clear-ly-defined line of succession and little discernible Cabinet cohesion, but the result has not confirmed the prediction. In 1975 Labour is likely to be stronger than ever in the unity that comes from team-awareness.