‘Govt All Black” team ‘unbeatable’

Press, 4 October 1984, Page 23

‘Govt All Black” team ‘unbeatable’

PA *■ Wellington Events of the 1981 Springbok tour were as meaningful to New Zealand as Gallipoli or World War 11, said the Labour member for Hamilton East, Mr J. G. Dillon, in his maiden speech in Parliament

He said that the rugby tour “caused this country to be torn in two.” “How sad it would be if our real love of and for the game of rugby were to become an unbridled passion which blinded us to the damage we would do by having our team, our All Blacks, tour South Africa in 1985,” he said.

Mr Dillon used the analogy of a rugby team to describe the Government. “As an All Black side to take on the world I give you the leadership of the Prime Minister as the hooker, flanked by education and full employment,” he said.

“The two locks are added value for our exports and tourism — to give drive to the front row — with the breakaways housing and health. The No. 8 is tax reform.

“The back-line has open Government, Parliamentary reform, and Bill of Rights as the shining inside backs. Environment is centre. “Anti-nuclear stance and foreign policy are the wings.

At full-back is law and order.

“With that team, New Zealand is unbeatable."

Mr Dillon, a lawyer, said that acts and regulations poured out of Parliament “in a veritable torrent”

“I do not accept that such volume of legislation is justified or necessary,” he said. “After all we are a total population of less than 3.5 million, a population akin to a middle-size city in other parts of the world.” Mr Dillon said that he wanted to add his voice to those calling for care and clarity in drafting laws. “Much of what lawyers and judges say is incomprehensible to the lay person,” he said. “The" legal system should be clear and there is an obligation on lawyers, judges, and draftsmen to ensure this.” Mr Dillon devoted much of his speech to his electorate, including the announcement of a proposal to build air ships in Waikato. A local man, Mr P. W. C. Monk, a “recognised expert in the field,” was in Britain finalising a proposal for New Zealand to build a minimum of 10 small airships suitable for tourism, economic-zone surveillance, training, and other purposes. “This is the first public disclosure of the plan. It is

an exciting and challenging prospect. I trust that it will receive enthusiastic support from the Government and investors,” he said.

“Already there is a letter of intent . . . notifying an equity investment of SUSI million from Socofi S.A. of Geneva.”