Labour refuses to give up fight

Press, 21 December 1978, Page 1

Labour refuses to give up fight

PA Wellington A costly Supreme Court battle will decide who eventually becomes the member of Parliament for Kapiti. National’s Mr B. E. Brill, who held the seat for three years, was nine votes behind on election night and 15 down when counting of special votes ended. But a magisterial recount put him 23 votes in front of Labour’s Mrs Margaret Shields. Now Labour will lodge an election petition which will take the battle into February. The general secretary of the Labour Party (Mr J. F. Wybrow) said yesterday the party was convinced

that Mrs Shields had a strong case. “The grounds will be various but the ruling of the Magistrate will certainly be one,” Mr Wybrow said.

The executive director for the National Party (Mr B. Leay) said a final decision had not yet been taken. “But we will have to defend Mr Brill and that is our only option under the act.” The Chief Justice and two Supreme Court judges will form the Electoral Court. Their decision is final. A previous petition brought by the Labour Party supporting the de-

defeated Wellington Central candidate, Mr D. Shand, in 1975 was dismissed for lack of evidence. Labour is prepared to spend up to $20,000 to get Mrs Shields into Parliament.

“It depends to a great degree how long the court takes,” Mr Wybrow said. “If we take a petition on narrow grounds I would not expect it to take too long. But if we open the field wider, it will become very expensive.” Labour has 48 days left to file the petition naming the grounds. The National Party is likely to file a counter-petition.