Anderton-Lange rift for caucus

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 1

Anderton-Lange rift for caucus

By

MICHAEL HANNAH,

Parliamentary reporter The president of the Labour Party, Mr J. P. Anderton, says he will continue to speak on party policy, in spite of likely criticism from Labour members of Parliament at their caucus meeting tomorrow. Mr Anderton faces questions from his party leader, Mr Lange, tomorrow, concerning a speech he delivered to the party’s Auckland regional conference last Friday. In the speech, Mr Anderton outlined his understanding of Labour Party policy. However, he also criticised the party for its inability to get its message across to the public. He also alleged that some members of the party believed unemployment had to rise for inflation to be controlled and New Zealand’s balance-of-payments problems to be solved. Mr Lange has since criticised the speech for “knocking” the party, and he says he will ask Mr

Anderton to name those members who believe unemployment should rise. He has also been reported as saying that Mr Anderton had reneged on an agreement on their respective roles, a point Mr Anderton rejected yesterday. "I think there’s no way in which the president of a party, and certainly not the Labour Party, can have less

rights than any other member of the party,” Mr Anderton said. While there was an “understanding” between himself and Mr Lange, that his primary interest was “organisational” and Mr Lange’s was “political,” he did not accept that he was not to speak on policy matters at all. Mr Anderton said he gave

“four or five” speeches a week and he included comment on policy in them. It was “impossible” not to give policy in speeches. “I’ve always done it, never flinched from it, and I can’t imagine there’ll ever be a time when I would,” he said. He argued that the party’s public image would benefit from showing that it could face issues realistically. Most of his speech as reported had resembled the first page of the party’s constitution in its manifesto, and this type of publicity could only have done the party good, he said. “I have no problems with the content of the speech. I still stand by the content,” he said. However, he declined to comment on what effect criticism of his speech might have on the party’s standing. “I’ve said I’m not into commenting on anything Mr Lange said about my speech,” he said. Nevertheless, the speech

and subsequent reaction and their effect on the party’s image is likely to be a sore point with Labour members of Parliament. Reports of the speech appeared in Auckland newspapers and on radio broadcasts on Saturday, the same day the Heylen Research Centre conducted its latest poll of support for the political parties. The poll will, however, have missed Mr Lange’s reaction to the speech. Nevertheless, Mr Anderton’s criticism of the party comes only a fortnight after the last poll placed Labour three percentage points ahead of the Government, a gain Mr Lange attributed to the party’s show of unity over a sustained period. Mr Anderton said yesterday that he was not aware a poll was being conducted on Saturday. He also doubted that anyone could have predicted a poll was to be taken then, as pollsters had dropped their previous pattern of polling on the first Saturday of a month to a random procedure.

Heylen’s senior projects manager, Mr Allen Wyllie, confirmed from Auckland that Heylen had changed its polling pattern to prevent politicians from deliberately influencing a particular poll. He also confirmed that Heylen had polled last Saturday. Mr Anderton said that it would not have made any difference to him if he had known when the poll was to be taken. “I’m not that desperate for publicity,” he said. Nor did he believe that reports of his speech on Saturday would have influenced the poll. Whatever the reaction to Mr Anderton’s speech, reaction to the division between him and Mr Lange is likely to be unfavourable. Mr Lange is sensitive to the party’s image of unity and the effect internal squabbling can have on the party’s support. Only a fortnight ago, basking in the latest poll which placed Labour three points ahead of the Government, Mr Lange said the

improved showing was the result of a show of unity by the party. He then told “The Press” that the party had benefited from “one sustained period of quite clear unity.” “The Labour Party has to pursue a strategy which means that every passing day without division means a day in the bank in terms of unity,” he then said. Asked at the time what would stop Labour winning the General Election, Mr Lange had replied: “Upheaval, uproar, disruption.” Asked whether he was confident this would not happen, he said: “Confident it won’t happen, because our people see the consequences.” Results of the “Eyewitness” - Heylen poll conducted last Saturday are due to be released on May 11. Before then, the results of a poll by the National Research Bureau should have appeared, but this would show no impact from Mr Anderton’s speech as it was taken a week earlier.