Election probe discounted

Press, 29 March 1982, Page 1

Election probe discounted

Labour Party officials would be "wasting their time” if they investigated the General Election results in Avon and Sydenham, said the member of Parliament for Avon, Mrs Mary Batchelor, last evening. She was commenting on news media reports at the week-end that the party was investigating election results in electorates where its majority had been reduced in the last General Election. These electorates included Sydenham, Avon, Wanganui and the four Maori seats. Mrs Batchelor said she “knew nothing of a so-called probe into the election result in Avon.” None of the senior party officials in the electorate had heard of the investigation and she doubted whether the report, which quoted a party official, was factual.

Mrs Batchelor's majority was reduced several hundred votes at the last election, although Avon retained the

biggest Labour majority outside the Maori electorates. In Sydenham, Mr John Kirk won just under 53 per cent of the vote last year, compared with 60 per cent in 1978.

“I am sure that the executive of the Labour Party has far more sense than to waste its time probing into a seat

that returns the highest majority in the country." said Mrs Batchelor last evening.

She was disappointed that her majority dropped last year, but the party had used her in other electorates even in the last week of the election campaign.

"There is no way the party can make use of its members of Parliament to that extent and expect them to continue increasing their majorities,” she said. Mrs Batchelor said, she had heard of no dissatisfaction within the Labour Party in Avon.

She had a “tremendous" and supportive team, and its only worry was the weekend's news media reports of an investigation. The member of Parliament for Sydenham. Mr John Kirk, said last evening that he had built up a documented case of local party members out to “make mis-

chief” for him which he wanted aired, possibly at caucus level. "At the very least I would like recognition of the fact that some people have been conspiring against me," he said.

He suspected that malice had been a factor in bringing his electorate result before the council, a result which he said stood up to scrutiny considering an active Social Credit candidate and the fact that he was often involved in campaigning outside his electorate. Publicity about the council investigation of certain election results was alarming and damaging to the party, said Mr Kirk. He suggested that the party should be more concerned about the seats it had needed to win last year to become the government but had not taken.

He planned to ask today for a copy of the information presented to the council.