Party keynote issues

Press, 23 August 1984, Page 2

Party keynote issues

Defence, health, and education will be the keynote issues at the first conference of the CanterburyWestland division of the New Zealand Party at the week-end. The conference, one of a series of divisional conferences being held before the party’s national meeting in, Wellington next month, comes on the anniversary of the formation of the party last year. Although the division will celebrate the anniversary with a dine and dance on Saturday evening, the party leader, Mr Bob Jones, is not expected to attend. The deputy leader, Mrs Janie Pearce, will address the conference on Sunday. About 75 people, from 17 electorates in the northern South Island, will take part in the conference, to be held at the Christchurch Town Hall. One of the remits calls for the New Zealand Party to adopt a policy of “positive neutrality.” It advocates the setting-up of facilities such as an international peace institute or world data bank, making New Zealand the “data centre” of the world in the same way that Switzerland is the money centre of the world. Another remit calls for foreign aid to the Pacific to be tied to programmes which promote the cultural and economic independence of States and to decrease the “growing colonial-type” reliance on New Zealand. Remits call for an end to the payment of the domestic purposes benefit to single women, who should “look to the father or parents for financial support,” and for the unemployment benefit to be paid only to those who earn less than the average wage.