Representation

Press, 23 September 1983, Page 16

Representation

Sir, — The idea of the Mayor of Christchurch (Sir Hamish Hay) for proportional representation to elect the city’s local bodies teamed nicely with the article on the campaign to elect the House of Commons in Britain on a similar basis. The New Zealand Labour Party owes its present position to the 1911 election when the second ballot was used and Hindmarsh, Payne, Robertson and Veitch won seats in Parliament. This led to greater success in 1919 when Christchurch South, now called Sydenham, and some other city seats, were won. Few Labour supporters seem to know their own history. At least two explanatory books are in the Public Library — Brown’s, written during the first Labour Government, and Gustafson’s “Labour’s Path to Independence,” published in 1980. Some Labour soul searching seems necessary. Why does Christchurch Labour need so much new blood from outside its ranks? The voters here have the right to query this state of affairs. — Yours, etc., A. M. COATES. September 21, 1983.