THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1984. Portfolios under Labour

Press, 25 July 1984, Page 20

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1984. Portfolios under Labour

The Prime Minister-elect, Mr Lange, will have surprised even some of his colleagues in his allocation of portfolios to the members of his Cabinet. Several of the allocations were predictable, even inevitable; the allocation of agriculture and fisheries to Mr Moyle, or of education to Mr Marshall, are examples. Others had been announced earlier, such as Mr Lange’s taking foreign affairs himself, following the precedent of the Kirk and Rowling Ministries of the third Labour Government, in which the Prime Minister was also Minister of Foreign Affairs. Few people, however, and Mrs Hercus herself might well have been among them until the last few days, would have predicted that the member for Lyttelton would be the Minister of Police, and that the newly-created portfolio of consumer affairs — until now her selfappointed domain — would go elsewhere. The position of Mr Moore as third in seniority in the new Cabinet reflects the importance placed on overseas trade and marketing, and on tourism, by the Labour Party. This importance was emphasised during the election campaign, but it has also meant that the finance portfolio — never likely to go to anyone else but Mr Douglas — is further down the list than it has been since Mr Kirk was Prime Minister. Mr Moore’s added responsibilities for publicity and, curiously, recreation and sport, hint mischievously that he will be encouraged to have his way in making use of New Zealand sportsmen and women to promote tourism, lamburgers, or what-have-you.

Mr Douglas will be assisted in the finance portfolio by two associates. Mr Caygill is also Minister of Trade and Industry; his finance responsibility sits easily with this and, in any event, had been widely predicted. The other Associate Minister of Finance is Mr Prebble. His duties here have less direct connection with his other tasks — transport, civil aviation, and railways, as well as the newly-created post of Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. Since Mr Lange has determined that this last post should be created, Mr Prebble, as the best acquainted and most frequent speaker on the subject, is the obvious choice. His three other portfolios will keep him busy enough. Maori Affairs has been given precedence over two other portfolios that have grown in importance and in controversy in recent years: lands and forests. Mr Wetere, as expected, has been given all three. The increased emphasis on Maori Affairs, and the creation of new portfolios for Island and women’s affairs, the latter held by Mrs Hercus, will require delicate handling by an administration that has pledged to unify the community and. has made much of its commitment to consensus. Mishandled, the portfolios could aggravate division and pander to sectional interest.

The pacifists of the new Left in the Labour Party will be content that the defence portfolio has gone to Mr O’Flynn, the Minister of State, who will also be the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and have an associate responsibility for overseas trade and marketing. This joining of responsibilities will make Mr O’Flynn an important link between Mr Lange and Mr Moore, and between the sometimes contradictory requirements of foreign policy

and ■ selling exports. Concern for the environment has resulted in this portfolio going to Mr Marshall, perhaps unexpectedly. His only other Cabinet duty is education. The environment porfolio has increased stature as well as being better placed for more detailed attention than hitherto. Mr Tizard will be kept busy with energy and science and technology, the energy portfolio in particular being one to which he has applied himself in recent years. Allocation of health to Dr Bassett will surprise no-one, but he has also been given a curiously truncated local government portfolio. Civil defence, for instance, together with internal affairs and the arts have gone to one of the most junior Ministers, Dr Tapsell, who will be an Associate Minister of Local Government. It may be that Dr Bassett’s overseeing of this portfolio is intended to be mainly just that; his responsibilities as Minister of Health could easily require his full-time attentions. Mr Rodger, a former president of the Public Service Association, understandably has the responsibility for labour and for State services, but the labour portfolio, too, is only a part of its former self. A special Minister of Employment has been created, relieving the Minister of Labour of this responsibility. The labour portfolio might now be more accurately described as the responsibility for industrial relations.

Mr Lange has followed through the Labour Party’s proclaimed commitment to job creation and the reduction of unemployment by assigning employment as a separate responsibility. This has gone, as widely forecast, to Mr Burke; but it is not his first responsibility — regional development is — and Mr Burke is lower in Cabinet seniority than many would have expected. A Minister with a higher ranking, but seeming to have little enough to do, is Mr Hunt. Mr Hunt is the PostmasterGeneral, an almost titular head of a trading corporation that pretty well runs itself, and is also Minister of Broadcasting. Mr Hunt is an industrious and capable Parliamentarian who will not be taxed by these meagre responsibilities; unless, of course, greater changes to broadcasting, as yet unannounced, are contemplated. Mr Lange’s Cabinet shows some signs of meeting the personal preferences of the Ministerial material chosen for him by his caucus; the whole seems pretty well balanced. As a group, they are long on enthusiasm and short on experience — only four have served in a Cabinet before — but they will have the chance to demonstrate the collective leadership expected of them. The new Ministers will have to deal with the same civil service, the same bureaucracy, the same problems, and the same pressures from the community that faced the previous Government. Mr Lange plainly expects that his Ministers will be visible in the performance of their duties and that he, as Prime Minister, will be less concerned in the detail of the various portfolios than his predecessor seemed to be. The closer scrutiny by the public will leave the new Ministers little room for error in the performance of their duties. Mr Lange will do well to direct attention to his colleagues and be less ready to answer for, or instead of, them.