‘Unlikely’ that Dr Wall will be dropped

Press, 29 December 1980, Page 21

‘Unlikely’ that Dr Wall will be dropped

PA Wellington The candidacy of Porirua’s member of Parliament, Dr G. A. Wall, is unlikely to be laid on the line, in spite of reports that Dr Wall’s Labour electoral committee has asked that a selection meeting be held in the area. Members of the Porirua Labour electorate have written to the New Zealand Labour Council, the party’s governing body, asking for a selection meeting because of dissatisfaction with Dr Wall’s stance in the recent Labour leadership crisis. Dr Wall was named as one of the rebel members of Parliament who did not support Labour’s leader (Mr Rowling) in the recent leadership crisis. However, the party’s president, Mr J. P. Anderton, said that if a selection meeting were held in Porirua, it would only rep- * resent a confirmation of i Dr Wall as the candidate i at next year’s General > Election. Nominations for the Porirua candidate had closed . and could not at this stage be re-opened. Dr Wall’s was the onlv name put forward when the nominations closed a month ago. The Labour Party council had considered the matter at its meeting at Parliament on December 19. The

i letter was signed by a t number of what they “pre- s sumed to be delegates of the Porirua Labour Elec- t torate Committee," Mr < Anderton said. i Whether a selection . meeting would now be allowed depended on whether the letter was a formal request by the whole committee. The council was not sure of this. Labour’s general secretary, Mr J. A. Wybrow, said it appeared that the letter was not a formal application but more probably “an expression of j dissatisfaction.” The council’s executive would look into the mat- . ter in the New Year. | Dr Wall declined to c comment. Other Wellington La- 1 bour members of Parliament named as opposing 1 Mr Rowling’s leadership 1 were Eastern Hutt’s Mr T. s J. Young and Heretaunga’s Mr R. L. Bailey. Both I were asked last week to 1 explain their actions to s their electorate com- t mittees. Their explanations were accepted. «