P.M. tells teachers to ‘piss off’

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 4

P.M. tells teachers to ‘piss off’

PA Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, told a group of teachers to “piss off’ during a demonstration at a Wellington playground yesterday. A group of about 13 striking teachers tried to raise their stalled wage settlement with him at a function in the Wellington Botanic Gardens’ playground. They positioned themselves with a banner some distance from where he was launching balloons with kindergarten chil-

dren. As he drew near the group, a teacher, Mr Abe David, approached him to discuss the wage talks. After a brief exchange, Mr Lange, visibly annoyed, leaned towards the group and said, “Actually, I think you should piss off.” Mr David said the group was upset at this dismissal, as many teachers had supported Labour at the last elections. The group had not intended to disrupt the function, but had hoped Mr Lange would discuss

the settlement statement. Later, Mr Lange said he was unrepentant about his comment to the teachers. He regretted it "not for a moment”. The group had used the children’s function — the launching of a new playground safety standard — and deliberately stood in his way. Asked if the teachers’ protest would jeopardise their chances of reaching acceptable settlement with the Government, he said, “It will ensure that they won’t.” The Leader of the Opposition, Mr McLay, suggested last evening that Mr Lange stop abusing schoolteachers.

Mr McLay said Mr Lange should deal with the serious industrial relations problem which existed in New Zealand secondary schools. . Mr Lange had had to wait until he became Prime Minister before he could summon up the courage to tell a teacher in the playground to “remove himself,” said Mr McLay. “For the sake of tens of thousands of secondary school pupils, I hope that it doesn’t take a similarly long period for him to solve .the teachers’ pay dispute;’ Mr McLay said.