Left claims win over Govt

Press, 30 August 1986, Page 1

Left claims win over Govt

By

PATRICIA HERBERT

in Wellington

The Left wing was exalted yesterday at having scored a direct hit against the Government in the first session of the Labour Party Conference. They claimed victory when delegates endorsed a New Zealand Council recommendation that conference remits automatically become policy if passed by a two-thirds majority on a card vote.

This was carried comfortably against opposition from the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, and the secretary of the caucus, Mr Bill Jeffries.

Later, however, the Chief Whip, Dr Cullen, was to state that he had supported the decision and the party president, Ms Margaret Wilson, was to deny it meant that the Left had captured the middle ground. “I do not interpret it like that because since 1982 the party has been searching for ways to have a greater say in policy-making and what happened today was a continuation of that process,” she said. Rather, she believed it demonstrated that the party’s mainstream had wanted the change —

“not a faction outside.” Still, the Left were buoyed by the result and are now approaching today’s critical debate on the economy with even more confidence and aggression.

Also, the cool reception the Prime Minister, Mr

Lange, gave the outcome would tend to support their analysis. He said it would be “really quite wrong in principle for any party to assert the right of a small segment of society to dictate what will be implemented in Government by effectively excluding the whole of the Parliamentary process.”

Mr Palmer took a similar view, saying it was ultimately the responsibility ■ of Parliament to govern. Ms Wjlson denied there was any contradiction, drawing a distinction between the forming of policy and its implementation.

They were, she said, "very different issues.” “The decision today was saying what goes in the (election) manifesto. I do not know of any way in fact to make governments do exactly what you want them to do all the time ' — not in a democratic sysstem, for the very practical reason that circumstances do change,” she said. The conference’s determination to exert more control over the Parliamentary wing reflected dissatisfaction over economic policies.

Mr Jeffries told delegates that he recognised this but asked them not to respond by approving a move which could only undermine Labour’s credibility. Mr Palmer, realising that the mood was against the Government, tried to contain the damage by proposing an amendment

which would give the caucus a power of veto on conference decisions, but this was defeated. The resolution will be returned for final adoption next year and, if passed, will be written into the party constitution to come into effect after the next General Election.

It will, however, have an immediate impact on an already controversial issue; the Cabinet’s proposal to remove the controls on foreign buying of New Zealand land.

A remit opposing this will be put to the conference today and is confidently expected to pass by a huge majority. This will place the Government in an awkward position as a bill is being drafted now for introduction probably this year. Should it go ahead with the legislation in the knowledge that the party opposes it, relations will be strained even further. The member of Parliament for Gisborne, Mr Allan Wallbank, has led opposition in the caucus to the bill, threatening to cross the floor

Yesterday he said he thought it should be abandoned, given the rule change decision, if the party comes down as expected on the land ownership question.

Mr Palmer, however, would give no guarantee saying the new rule would not have constitutional force until after the conference in 1987. Further reports, pages 3, 8