Tit for tat, if at all possible

Press, 21 November 1981, Page 6

Tit for tat, if at all possible

PA . Levin An irate Michael Murphy Was waiting outside the Levin Memorial Hall when the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) arrived there for a lunchtime meeting yesterday. Mr Murphy gave the Horowhenua member of Parliament (Mr G. W.’ F. Thompson) this message: “You have cost me my job, and I’m going to do my best to cost you yours.” A former National Party member, Mr Murphy told journalists that he would now do everything he could to tip the Government out of power on November 28. The reasdn: until recently he has been working as the Horowhenua representative for Skybus, the airline whose operation was almost scuttled by the Associate Minister of Transport (Mr Malcolm). Mr Murphy said it was disgraceful that the Government had “allowed people all this time to be signing up members” of the airline’s Aqua Avia Society. “People have been putting their money up in good faith. Why did they allow them to throw their money away? "The whole thing stinks.” The National Party was

supposed to be interested in free enterprise but had "shot down” an organisation that had 40,000 members, he said. “Surely this should have been tested in court some time ago. Why wait until the eleventh hour and have Aussie Malcolm say it appeared to be illegal?” Mr Murphy said he had worked for only a short time selling memberships, and had signed up about 100 people. He had now given up the job.