Resignation method regretted

Press, 27 September 1983, Page 1

Resignation method regretted

PA Invercargill The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Lange, said in Queenstown last evening that he regretted that the Member of Parliament for Dunedin Central, Mr Brian MacDonell, had chosen to become an Independent and had not presented an argument to the New Zealand Council of the Labour Party over the selection row in the constituency. Mr Lange said that Mr MacDonell had been advised to pursue any grievance through the processes of the council. “He chose not to and that is the end of it — it is quite simple.” Mr Lange said the party would have considered a case put forward by Mr MacDonell and if the party had not, the courts would have.

Mr Lange said that there was now no challenge to the selection of Dr Clive Matthewson as the Dunedin West candidate and when it came to the General Election, Dr Matthewson would have the advantage of going into it as the Labour candidate.

Asked about in-fighting within the Labour Party Mr Lange said that this was hardly the name for it. Those who were doing the fighting had vacated the battleground. “I have no qualms about mv standing in the party and I believe it is massively endorsed by the party,” he said. Asked about Mr Jim And-

erton’s position in the party after the next General Election, Mr Lange said, “Mr Anderton is going to be the member of Parliament for Sydenham, a back-bencher and loyal to the party. That is the discipline one accepts.” Mr Lange was speaking at a press conference before he addressed the Queenstown branch of the National Travel Association. He said that he was confident that the desertion from the Labour ranks of both Mr MacDonell and Mr John Kirk would not affect his party in Parliament. Mr Kirk, he said, was going around the country “breathing fire,” and he would no doubt vote with the Government when he got the chance. Mr MacDonell would, on the other hand, probably vote with the Labour Party more often than not.

Mr Lange considered a lot of fuss was being made about the issue and although Mr Kirk hoped the Labour Party’s election chances would be damaged, he did not believe this would happen. There were 14 months to go until the General Election, and in his view, that time was sufficient for the electorate to refocus on the important issues — unemployment, the housing crisis, and the “education shambles.”

“In my view we can rise above the obsession with the member for Sydenham,” Mr Lange said.