Party conference hard on Ministers

Press, 30 August 1986, Page 3

Party conference hard on Ministers

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

For some Cabinet Ministers the Labour Party conference on its first day was not a good place to be.

The mood was to hold some Ministers, and the Government in general, accountable for backsliding from party principles. When he speaks to the conference today the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, is expected to offer some sweeteners to recapture lost ground with many of the delegates.

Little criticism was made of the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall, or the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs Hercus. The detail of their portfolios was debated but there was general satisfaction with them personally.

The Minister of Trans-

port and Railways, Mr Prebble, was the target of trenchant criticism —

particularly for his reorganisation of the Railways Corporation and his plans to permit a rival carrier to compete with Air New Zealand.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, also came in for his share when he tried to deflect the conference away from its clear intention to assert itself against the Parliamentary wing of the party on policy issues. Some delegates showed no restraint in treating some Cabinet Ministers as enemies of the Labour Party and the working class traditions it stood for.

This foreshadowed the debates still to come on the Government’s policies on economic manage-

ment, restructuring the public service, and unemployment.

Distrust was shown of what was seen as big business dominance of the Government, ignoring the needs and aspirations of working people. The party’s radical Left wants accountability. Its guns are now training on the Minister of Labour, Mr Rodger; the Minister of Employment, Mr Burke; the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas; the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Caygill; and finally on Mr Lange. Mr Lange will speak to the conference at midday today. His address may be the last chance the Gov-, ernment will get to recapture the support of the middle ground at the conference for some of those policies most controversial within its own ranks.