People giving up hope — Sir John

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 1

People giving up hope — Sir John

PA Wellington Narrow political > policy differences were being magnified by acrimonious debate and party leaders trying to outdo each other in personal abuse, said a former Prime Minister,' Sir John Marshall, last evening. The uncharitable climate in high politics had spread to other areas of confrontation, particularly industrial relations, he said. In an address in Napier to the Bay of Plenty-East Coast regional conference of Jaycees, Sir John called for people of good will and tolerance to “build bridges of reconciliation” across the divisions within society.

He said that there was no doubt the former approach of consensus in the political arena had been replaced by one of confrontation between, and dissension within, the parties. “This has led to personal antagonism of a kind which did not exist in my time,” he said.

Sir John said that paradoxically the antagonism between the parties has been accompanied by a blurring of the issues of policy and principles which

should and did provide the electorate with real alternatives to vote for. “But as the gap between policies has narrowed, the differences have been magnified by acrimonious political debates and by party leaders trying to outdo each other in personal abuse. “This uncharitable climate in high places has permeated into other areas of confrontation and particularly into industrial relations.

“There is not much wrong with our labour laws, but there is. not much right with the prevailing mood on both sides of the industrial fence,” he said. Sir John said that New Zealand had the machinery for good industrial relations and for the speedy settlement of legitimate disputes. “We have mediators, conciliators, disputes' committees, compulsory conferences, and a system of arbitration. “It does not work because the attitudes of confrontation have replaced the attitude of consensus through compromise,” he said. Sir John said that the breakdown of the arbitration system had left deep divisions in the industrial scene which. had to be bridged if New Zealand was to enjoy the industrial peace it once had. “But an improvement in industrial relations will not happen by exhortation,” he said. “Institutional arrangements for conciliation and arbitration are there to be used and must be used.”

On the political front, Sir John said that he could not see much change to present attitudes “in the short term.” “But I am comforted by the knowledge that there are members on both sides of the Rouse who would welcome a return to the old style of politics when we debated vigorously about politics and not about people.” Sir John said that the buoyant confidence and stability and security of the past decades had gradually been eroded. “From being a united and homogeneous nation we have become a, divided people. Dissension and antagonism have become the prevailing mood in politics,

industrial relations, and race relations.” Class distinction had become more obvious, marriage and family relationships less secure, feminists more aggressive, and protagonists on social and community issues such as abortion and the environment had become more vehement and less willing to compromise, he said.

“The criminal class grows more and more violent and active. High unemployment is producing disillusioned young people at odds with society.

“We are a divided country. Too many people are shouting at each other. Not enough people are listening. . “The crying need of our times is for people of good will and tolerance and patience to set about the task of building bridges of reconciliation across the divisions which separate us,” said Sir John. In the area of race relations, Sir John attacked the attitudes of a group within the National Council of Churches (N.C.C.) exposing what it believed to be injustices perpetrated by the early colonists on Maoris and revealing what it believed to be latent racial prejudices and institutional racism.

“People who behave like that N.C.C. group are not building bridges. They are building barriers,” he said. “The most compelling evidence to refute the charges of deep-seated racial prejudice is the fact of intermarriage between Maoris and pakehas.