Invermay charge like animal herd—P.M.

Press, 22 April 1986, Page 3

Invermay charge like animal herd —P.M.

By

MARTIN FREETH

in Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, has likened farmers who mobbed his car a week ago at Invermay to a herd of charging animals and says they could have overturned the car had his driver not sped away. “Reports that we precipitated the charge by taking off in a shower of shingle are absolute rubbish ... I was actually farewelling the dignitaries when the mob broke,” said Mr Lange at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference. “We got through one lot. They rallied at the gate and had another crack at us, waving and firing placards, and using the stakes as spears. “We went into the ‘valley of death’ a third time because there was no other way to go and ther were some rural pro-

testers who, had they been a little more enthusiastic, would never have had to worry about their mortgages again. Their trustees would have.” The incident occurred after Mr Lange had opened a new agricultural research centre at Invermay, and then met a rural delegation at the same time as a mass protest against the impact of Government economic policies. Mr Lange now refuses to meet farmer delegations occasioned by protest rallies against the Government. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, entered the issue last evening, claiming the Government had ignored his earlier warnings of a backlash from the rural sector. “What has happened to rural New Zealand is evil, and hence it is creating a

massive backlash,” Mr Bolger said at a National Party meeting in Blenheim. He urged Mr Lange not to insult farmers “by talking in economic cliches or by arguing economic dogma” but to listen to farmer concerns, particularly at the national rally organised for Wellington on Wednesday, April 30. Replying to reporters’ questions about the Invermay incident, Mr Lange said, “The closest to it I remember was seeing animals in Africa charging in an annual pilgrimage down the valley.” Mr Lange said he did not feel at great risk. “I noticed what was happening but I did not feel a sense of impending demise.” However, he said the farmers could have overturned the car. “Obviously, you don’t charge a car to pat it.”

Mr Lange said he had written to his driver to congratulate him on the job he had done in getting away from the crowd. Asked whether he thought Federated Farmers had been slow condemning the mobbing, he said, “There is an establishment in New Zealand which is going to be slow when it concerns a Labour Government. “Imagine if a trade unionist had gone and done about a tenth of the things that happened at Invermay to the former Prime Minister’s car .. you probably would have had a state of emergency called for.” Mr Lange said no special security precautions would be taken for the rally next week, which will include a march on Parliament and a meeting between Ministers and farmer representatives.