Labour ‘keen’ on Johnson Report

Press, 13 May 1981, Page 3

Labour ‘keen’ on Johnson Report

; iiamentary Reporter The Labour spokesman on Education, Mr C. R. Marshall (Wanganui), is “pretty keen" on the . Johnson Report. However, he told the Labour Party conference in Wellington yesterday that it would be reckless for the conference to pass a remit seeking the full implementation of the report when the party became the government “in 1981/’

The remit was put to the conference, and was lost.

The Johnson Report, called “Growing, Sharing, Learning,” was prepared by the Government, committee on health and social education and released in September 1977. It takes a close look at the education system, especially such subjects as health, sex education, and recreation in schools.

After a debate involving more than 28 speakers, the conference passed remits saying that integration of private- schools should be true integration, not just increased State aid to private schools, and that all negotiations on integration of private schools should be carried out in public, with sufficient time for the views of all parties to be heard,. However, priority in education spending should be given to existing State schools, particularly when they were not equipped to official standards. The conference also asked for a commission of inquiry to review and disclose “the secret deliberations” of the State aid conference leading up to the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act, 1975.

It also sought retraining and training facilities to prepare all age groups for “the changing requirements of the labour market.” and a new emphasis on pre-school education.

Mr Marshall said that a Labour government would pay the salary of a national literacy co-ordinator, who would be reponsible for or-

ganising volunteers to help the 100,000 adults in New

Zealand with literacy problems.

A report of a trade union committee set up to promote the interests of the trade union movement inside the Labour Party was not discussed at all at the conference yesterday. The report, which was mildly critical of the Labour Party, showed “the unity between the trade unions and the Labour Party,” the party's president (Mr J. P. Anderton) told the confer-

ence. The writer of the report, and vice-chairman of the Labour Affiliates Council, Mr D. J. Duggan, said the newly appointed council was intended to bring a very close liaison between the Federation of Labour and the parliamentary political team. “We have far too often seen our parliamentary team punch-drunk because they are not acquainted with the important principles behind trade union stands on issues,” Mr Duggan said. To applause, he added that; the Labour Party, and particularly a Labour government, needed a strong,

responsible and responsive trade union movement., Mr Duggan said that multi-national companies had made their investment conditional upon lack of obstruction in the economy. “Their definition of Jack, of <. obstruction means, a govern--' ment-controlled trade union * movement,” he ’.said. .“No* self-respecting; trade union; movement would ever allow itself into the clutches - of a government hell-bent on the movement’s destruction.”-*

The Press Association reBorted from, the conference. lat the question of'private ownership ’of television yesterday caused a big and unresolved split between rank-and-file Labour Party members and the party's parliamentary wing. The Labour Party Spokesman on broadcasting, Mr J. Terris (West Hutt) advocated the establishment of a third television channel, /allowing.. private interests to take over

one of the existing commercial channels.

Labour’s caucus committee on broadcasting, he said,

supported the establishment of a third, non-commercial channel and the involvement of the private sector in television. It was hoped that the new channel would be used mainly for home-grown television programmes. A new funding system would levy the two commercial channels, one of which would be State-owned, to fund the non-commercial channel.

But conference delegates made it clear that they had no sympathy with the concept of private sector involvement in television, or in any other media. The conference yesterday gave Mr Anderton a huge endorsement of his stewardship over the last year. The' 600 delegates reelected Mr Anderton president by a majority of more than 800 votes in a two-way contest with Mr A. O’Neill, an organiser for the Carpenters’ Union in Auckland and an Auckland trades councillor. The final count was 1088 votes to 199.

MrS. McCaffley, general secretary - of the Drivers’ gFederation, was re-elected unopposed as senior-vice president, and Mr D. J. Duggan, secretary of the Workers’* Union. won a four-way fight for they* junior vice-presi-dency. y ;■ -The youth representative on the Labour Dominion Council Will be Mr N. J. Barnett and Mr P. Tapsell ■ will be the Maori representative. Mr Barnett is chairman of the Himutaka branch of

. the party and Mr Tapsell is a ..•formerDeputy Mayor of Rotorua?; The former chairman of the Combined State Unions, Mr I. Reddish, easily won a seat on the-party executive. When a . vote was taken covering 15- candidates for five positions Mr Reddiish received 919 votes. His nearest rival was the president of the Engineers’ Union, •Mr F.- Anderson, who received 773 votes.