‘Labour offers good old days’

Press, 23 November 1981, Page 23

‘Labour offers good old days’

Labour offers a return to the good old days of economic and social reform to provide everyone with a job, home, hospital bed, school desk, and money in their pocket, says Labour’s member for Fapanui, Mr M. K. Moore. Mr Moore told an election audience of about 50 that under a Labour government even some of New Zealand’s “refugees” overseas might return home. The National Party was asking New Zealanders for a “blank cheque” to spend on its ‘‘think big” projects, to encourage monopolies, and to put more than 100,000 people out of work, he said. “Every day sees more and more holes apearing in the ‘think big’ strategy. So many holes are appearing in that bucket that we will be under way by next week,” he said. The Labour Party believed the big energy projects would help, not save, the country's fuel problems and would make sure the economy itself became strong enough to enable further energy prospecting in about 30 years time.

The country’s future lay in encouraging small manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Businesses should get working capital at reasonable interest rates and be backed up with export marketing and packaging skills. New Zealand would have to sell more value-added or processed products overseas. Wool could be scoured here, and meat processed as much as possible. “The real danger to the country is the monopolies growing. They stifle creativity,” said Mr Moore. “I am not against the Hugh Fletchers and James Watties but what we need is 50 of them working for different companies.” Labour’s employment policy would abolish the dole and use that money to train young people in a trade or have them working on public or community schemes. Labour would bring the housing crisis under control by using the Housing Corporation, building societies, and trustee savings banks to provide more money for lowinterest mortgages. Housing Corporationmortgages

would be transferable. A stable building industry would be created by training sufficient skilled workers and levelling out the boom-and-bust cycle all builders dreaded.’ “One house provides another five jobs downstream. Whatever happens in three years time there will still be

a housing problem but under a Labour government it will no longer be a crisis." said Mr Moore. In Christchurch, Labour would discount electrieitv because the South Island uni’t power price was higher than in the North Island and because of the city's pollution problems.