Full duties – Deputy P.M.

Press, 20 April 1982, Page 1

Full duties - Deputy P.M.

The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Maclntyre), looking rather pale, but in good spirits, said yesterday he hoped to resume full duties when he recovered from the heart surgery he underwent 13 days ago, reports the Press Association.

Speaking in Green Lane Hospital,. Mr Maclntyre said he would return to his Wellington home when his doctor advised, and gradually catch up with his normal workload. “This is only a temporary thing,” he said of his illness. “They put in some new piping and in theory it’s stronger than before. “When I get medical clearance I will report to the Prime Minister, and I hope he will put me back to where I was.”

Mr Maclntyre was moved from intensive care to a

general ward last Wednesday.

He said he had been out of bed for several days, but his doctor, Mr Kenneth Graham, had not yet indicated when he w'ould be able to leave the hospital. He did not expect that his illness — “something more technical than a heart attack" — would force him to give up any activity.

“I will still go mountaineering and tramping — if I have the time,” he said. Mr Maclntyre, aged 66, said he had no thoughts of retirement, but he had a firm “no comment” on his political future beyond the Government’s present term. He was rushed to hospital after taking ill on his way to Auckland Airport to fly to Wellington for the State opening of Parliament on April 7.