Vital issues listed

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 6

Vital issues listed

Issues which emerged during the last election campaign and caused a loss of support for the National Party were those still most talked about by party supporters, said the party’s Can-terbury-Westland divisional chairman (Mr M. F. Hunter). He told the conference that these were the size and power of the bureaucracy, industrial unrest, South Island problems, and a need to return to the party’s basic principles. A more sympathetic understanding from Government spokesmen was needed on difficulties in the South Island, particularly energy and transport, he said. “An equitable electricity price and an equal opportunity for our manufacturers to compete in North Island markets through balanced freight rates are needed,” Mr Hunter said. The Government was taking a "more public stance” on industrial disputes, and this was already having a beneficial effect, he said. A "more reasonable attitude” was hoped for from the new leader* of the Federation of Labour. Mr Hunter said that if New Zealand was to re-

cover economically hard work and dedication were required, which could only be achieved through the principles of private enterprise. "The National Government must demonstrate its willingness and ability to restore and cherish the . rights of the individual,” he said.

He said that the Labour Opposition’s “familiar tactics of acrimony and personal abuse” would set the tone for the new Pasliamentary session. It would be a change if Labour speakers adopted a constructive stance. Mr Hunter asserted that the Labour Party’s “electoral malpractice chickens” had “come home to roost” in the Hunua judgment this week. “I wish there was some way, without resorting to the courts, to prove the electoral malpractices that we know of here and those that we suspect,” he said. November 25, 1978, had not been a good day for the Canterbury-Westland division of the National Party, which had lost two Christchurch seats, said Mr Hunter. However, no evidence existed of supporters’ mov-

mg to Labour. Instead, the Social Credit vote had more than doubled, and thousands of National voters had stayed home, he said.

Mr Hunter said that he commended Mr Muldoon's moves towards indirect taxation, and looked forward to the second half of the equation that reduced direct tax. The decision to dismantle price controls was also welcome, he said. Mr Hunter said that he was waiting for the Budget “not without a little trepidation.” Hard times required strong decisions and stem action, and the benefits of economic restructuring were likely to be long-term rather than short-term, he said.

It was unlikely that taxation could be reduced, but Mr Hunter urged an examination of death duties, especially in respect of farms. The property speculation tax —“another failed Labour policy”—should be removed. “The National Party is the rightful home of all who cherish our way of life and are prepared to do something about it,” said Mr Hunter. He urged party suporters to understand what the Government was doing so that they could pass this on.