Party to reselect Fendalton candidate

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 8

Party to reselect Fendalton candidate

Nominations have been reopened for the New Zealand Party candidate in the Fendalton electorate.

The president of the party, Mr Malcolm McDonald, said yesterday that not all members in the electorate had been formally notified of the selection meeting held on February 9. The meeting had been advertised publicly. Nominations would be reopened “to ensure a fairly representative selection meeting” could be held, said Mr McDonald. He said that the candidate selected at the February meeting, Mr Eton McKenzie, had agreed to a second selection meeting, which would be held within two months. Mr McKenzie said last evening that he welcomed the reopening of nominations. There was a feeling that the original selection

meeting could have been more representative and that it should have been more widely publicised, he said.

He felt that the original selection should have been over a longer period and was surprised how short it had been. He believed that the seat could be won by the party by a small margin and that to do this it was imperative that the party “bend over backwards” to allay any concern.

By reopening the nominations the party could avoid any “back-biting” that had occurred within the Labour Party in the Sydenham and Dunedin Central seats.

“Can you imagine Mr Anderton, for example, putting his seat on the line?” Mr McKenzie said.

The decision was in keeping with New Zealand Party philosophy and symbolic of

the openness the party believed in. “We stand for freedom and I am offering that option,” he said. While he wanted to be the party’s Fendalton candidate, “make no mistake about that,” Mr McKenzie said he welcomed the chance to make sure that it got the best candidate possible.

So far, Mr McKenzie is the only one of the three contenders at the first selection who has expressed an interest in seeking the nomination again. The other two nominees at the first meeting were Mrs Ann Seay and Mr Michael Sansom. Mrs Seay said last evening that she doubted very much if she would seek the nomination again. Mr Sansom, who withdrew his nomination at the last meeting, said he would not put in a nomination again.