Recounts

Press, 17 November 1981, Page 32

Recounts

Staying at home TELEVISION cameras will be with the Leader of the Labour Party (Mr Rowling) in Richmond on election evening. For the first time Mr Rowling will be televised live from?, his electorate as the resultS;Come in. Both this year ancD-'in 1978 the Leader of the Opposition has insisted on staying : in. Richmond to see the ' results come in. "That 1 is wHere I belong. This is where I am going to be." he said;/while in Richmond for a Campaign meeting. In 1975,-Television New-Zealand flew Mr Rowling from Nelson to "Wellington in a light plane on election evening. In 1978. Mr Rowling told T.V.N.Z. they could come to him. They sent a' film team to Richmond. But it was unable to transmit live into the network for what it said were technical reasons. This

year. Mr Rowling has. again iaid he will-be staying'at Richmond. T.V.N.Z. is reported to have overcome its technical ' problems and u’ill be sending an outside broadcast van for its transmission. The Tasman Labour Party committee has hired the Richmond Town Hall for what it says will be a victory celebration. Donation offered AN independent candidate -for Tauranga. Mr Colin MacGillivray. will give $lOOO to a charity if the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) agrees to a 30-minute debate with him. Mr MacGillivray. who wants • to debate the unemployment, inflation and Government expenditure issues with Mr Muldoon, wants the meeting to be in ■the Wellington Town Hall: Mr Muldoon has not com-

mented on Mr MacGillivray's request. Work defended . THE NATIONAL ’Party candidate for Napier. Mr Kevin Rose, has acknowledged a person erecting political billboards was oh a job skills work programme, but said he was sure ■ there had been no compulsion. His Social Credit opponent. Mr Martin Hine, said National , had used unemployed people on the programme to erect one of the party's billboards, calling it a “blatant and illegal use of public funds.’’ However. Mr Rose said he was sure the person involved had done the work voluntarily and he called Mr Hine's allegation "pathetic." Right bar! A MARRIED couple were standing hesitantly at the entrance to the hotel at Governors Bay one evening last week. They were, confused by the signs and were trying, to decide on their choice of bars for a quiet celebration. A member

of the hotel, staff saw* their indecision and'asked them if they were looking for where MfsMnn Hercus was' holding her%Labour Party election meeting. They asked which bar- she was using for her meeting; their indecision was over, they entered the other.

‘Outdrawn ATTENDANCE figures at meetings addressed by the three party leaders.appear to be assuming a new importance, to journalists covering the. campaign, and. certainly the Prime Minister (Mr Mui-, doori). -At both Tiis meetings in,-; the-. Nelson district, jour;nalistsWent to almost extrSr" ordinary lengths to estimate the audiences — almost getting- to :the situation where .there were disagreements over whether-,there"were 851 in a hall- or 862. But head counts . arg now obviousy counting. Mr.rMuldoon made extensive? reference to the numbers he was drawing to his-meetings compared withthe Others. At Nelson on Thursday evening he proclaimed that he had “outdrawn ...” “John Wayne” yelled a voice from the back. . Not for long . THE DEPUTY Mayor of East Coast Bays, Mr. I H. D. Wilcox, followed a man through. the streets of his district after dark one evening. The man was sticking Social Credit posters on bus shelters. Mr Wilcox took them off as fast as they went on. He was pleased with himself as he drove home,

until he noticed something: all. the posters had already been replaced Yes A MAN canvassing for the National Party- in an Auckland area Labour Party stronghold gives people the chance to give him a quick brush-off when he knocks on their doors. He starts out like this: “I'm from the National Party. Do. you want me to leave now?" $lOO donation THE independent National candidate for Western Hutt, Mr Donald McPherson, has found an unexpected source to finance his $lOO nomination fee. The money has come from the Miramar National Party’s electorate committee. Mr McPherson, decided to abandon the National Party to which he has belonged since the Party begin, and run independent because of successive failures to be selected as the official National Party candidate for a number of seats. After announcing his nomination last week. Mr McPherson said he was approached on Saturday by the chairman of the electorate committee. Mr Fred Muys, who wanted Mr McPherson to return National Party election material he had been storing. “I said they couldn’t take the material unless they paid in a rental, and I, suggested a fair price would be the $lOO nomination fee I had to pay to run in Western Hutt." Mr McPherson said.