Year under Labour, as P.M. sees it

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 8

Year under Labour, as P.M. sees it

Wellington reporter The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, reviewed the first year of his Government last evening saying that it had launched a real revolution in thought and policy. “No longer is New Zealand prepared to mark time while the rest of the world moves on past us,” he said. “We have gained a new confidence in our ability as a nation to tackle our problems in a way that is both realistic and uniquely New Zealand.” Mr Lange, referring to his recent holiday in Brisbane, said he had deliberately got away from the office to have some time alone to think. It was these thoughts that he communicated yesterday to the Mangere Rotary Club in a wide-ranging and emotive speech which attempted to capture the mood and achievements of the last 12 months. “This Government has embarked on a long journey which will take many years to complete,” he said. “It is a journey which we must make if we are to establish the type of dynamic and caring society which is the essence of what it really means to be a New Zealander.

“I see this as a society based on two key elements: self-reliance coupled with a concern for your mates.” Mr Lange said some had thought the pace was too fast. He acknowledged that it had been hectic and hard but gave an assurance that the most difficult rapids had been successfully navigated. He recalled the gravity of the crisis Labour had inherited and said that it had faced two choices — “To do something, to set forth on a path which would not only recoup our losses but enable us to grow again as a country; or to turn away, to dig in, to remain immobile and pretend it wasn’t happening to us, that in the morning everything would be right again.” New Zealanders had come together to “a very remarkable degree” and had accepted the challenge head on, he said. "The result was that we have all made sacrifices.” The pain was real and people did not need to be reminded that it hurt. Rather they needed reassurance that it was worth it and that relief lay ahead. The rewards were beginning to show; the turning point had been reached, Mr Lange said. The Government had

chosen the course it had, not because of any conversion to or infatuation with a particular economic theory but because it was convinced that it was "a practical, orthodox, commonsense way which will lead us to the type of country and society which New Zealanders want and deserve,” Mr Lange said. The principle of an efficient economy was not at odds with Labour’s traditional aims of social fairness and justice, he said. Rather, it was a necessary first step. But Mr Lange conceded that prices had risen “much higher than is desirable” and that many New Zealanders were confused that while interest rates had peaked their mortgages were still being adjusted upward. There was “actually very little mystery in all this,” he said. The shackles of the freeze had been lifted and New Zealand had been returned to the real world. “It has been a rude awakening but it is an essential part of our long haul back to economic and social sanity.” Mr Lange looked at what the Government had achieved; at the Budget deficit, at the growth in jobs,

at the surge of business confidence and profitability in the last financial year. “The movement to realism and self-reliance in our domestic economy has been extended to foreign, trade and defence policy,” he said. “A positive climate of cooperation with a wide range of countries is being promoted — creating more opportunities for exporters ... We are finding out just how capable we are — that we can stand up in the world and be counted.” The Armed Forces had been better equipped and pointed towards the South Pacific, and New Zealand was being prepared to take independent action should that ever be necessary. “Why? Because the cringe of dependency is not a natural stance for New Zealanders,” Mr Lange said. “I do not agree with those who insist that because New Zealand is small and remote we are unimportant and must cling to others for our protection. We have a great deal more going for us than that.” The initiatives, he said, would have been taken with or without the A.N.Z.U.S. row which he described as a temporary difference of opinion with an old and trusted friend.