Mr Anderton faces two-man challenge

Press, 4 February 1982, Page 2

Mr Anderton faces two-man challenge

PA Wellington The president of the Labour Party, Mr J. P. Anderton, faces two challenges for his post from an Auckland unionist Mr Allan O’Neill, and the member of Parliament for Te Atatu, Dr M. E. R. Bassett.

Nominations for the presidency were made public by party headquarters, yesterday, which confirmed that Dr Bassett would also challenge the sitting senior vice-presi-dent, Mr Stewart McCaffley.

The elections will be held at the party’s sixty-sixth annual conference in Wellington on May 10 to 14. Reports late last month indicated that some members of PaMigment agreed to put their rjarpes forward in a bid to .oust' Mr Anderton.

Mr O’Neill was the only challenger to Mr Anderton’s position last year. Dr Bassett, Labour’s Shadow Minister of Health, has been a Reading critic of Mr Anderton, '■ particularly over the president’s eviction *

from the office of the chairman of Air New Zealand, Mr R. A. Owens, two weeks ago. The party leader (Mr

Rowling) has supported Mr Anderton for a fourth term as president. Of Doctor Bassett’s nomination, Mr Rowling said last week it would be “a good exercise for Dr Bassett to test the opinion of' the party on his own standing.”

The conference will see a battle for the position of junior vice-president. The incumbent, Mr Dan Duggan, who is also aiming for a fourth term, will be challenged by five candidates.

Mrs Margaret Wilson, of Auckland, and the chairman of the party’s Wellington region, Mr Geoff Woolford, are among those nominations. The retirement of the member for Eastern Maori, Dr Peter Tapsell, from the New Zealand council, means the selection of a new representative from seven nominations.

The Pacific Island representative, Mrs Tala Cleverley (Wellington) will seek a second term on the council, and will be challenged by five opponents, including a Christchurch City Councillor, Mrs Louisa Crawley.

Thirty nominations have been received for five party representatives for the policy council. The election takes place only once every three years, after a General Election.

Nominations include Mr David Caygill, Mrs Ann Hercus and Mr Philip Woollaston, all members of Parliament, Wellington City councillors Rosalyn Noonan and Helene Ritchie, and the party’s director of publicity, Mr Simon Walker. Members of Labour’s

Shadow Cabinet will now be elected, although Mr Rowling will retain the power to appoint them to-portfolios, or. fire them.

Mr Rowling announced the change yesterday after an all-day caucus meeting at Parliament.

Previously the decision over who was eligible for the Shadow Cabinet was in the hands of the Leader, who also appointed each member to a portfolio and could stand them down as well. The caucus will continue today when the Shadow Cabinet will be elected and appointments made.