Blood-letting benefits party

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 2

Blood-letting benefits party

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington The Labour Party bled profusely at its annual conference in Wellington during the last four days, and emerged healthier and more united for it. All the elements of the coalition forged by Labour — Maoris, workers, urban liberals, and professional-business interests — had their moments. They were still together at the finish. For this the party could thank the political savvy of its Prime Minister, Mr Lange, on the second day and the exhausting degree of intelligence with which its president, Ms Margaret Wilson, chaired the endless hours of debate and voting. On its opening day the conference shaped up as a contest between the pain and anger of many delegates on a whole host of issues versus the reason and defence of successive Cabinet Ministers. Before this conflict de-

generated into undisguised and destructive antagonism, Mr Lange set a different agenda. Some delegates accused him of cynically manipulating the emotions of the conference; most were happy, and even relieved, to hear compassion rather than logical imperatives. What delegates wanted from their Government was not a defence of the economic, social, industrial, health, and other policy actions. The fact that the Government got its own way on all the important remits showed it was never under attack. The Government was not being asked to agree with the critics within its own ranks but to understand them. It was asked to listen.

Mr Lange understood that. So did the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Wetere; the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall; the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs Hercus; and particularly the Minister

of Housing, Mr Goff, whose performance showed great sensitivity. But there were Cabinet Ministers who did not listen.

Some Cabinet Ministers launched counter-attacks. These included the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble; the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas; and the Minister of Employment and Regional Development, Mr Burke, who got a blast out of both barrels for his handling of these portfolios. Many delegates had come to the conference to bleed for the regions and interests they represent. They wanted Cabinet Ministers, whom they thought of as “their” Cabinet Ministers, to bleed with them.

Those Cabinet Ministers who would not bleed did not arouse disloyalty; they aroused anger and resentment against themselves. Loyalty to the Government was never in doubt at the conference; loyalty

to some members of the Government certainly is now.

A year out from a General Election, the delegates knew that the key policy decisions in economic matters, restructuring the Public Service and employment had already been taken. These decisions could not be overturned without creating an electoral furore.

Instead, the delegates came to comment on them, the hurt many were causing, and how inappropriately some were being implemented. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, acknowledged this when he summed up at the end of the conference. It had been a test for the Government’s policies, he said, and particularly the speed and methods of change. The Government was “well pleased” with the level of common sense the conference had shown.

He promised that with

only a year to the election there would be “no more great surprises” and that the year would be spent implementing and finetuning the policies already announced. Delegates came to Wellington looking for a release of their emotions, of the pain, anger and hurt the Government was causing, before going home to fight for its re-election.

This led to a succession of defeats on various issues for the “Broad Left” group and its mentor, Mr Jim Anderton, about which so much had been heard before the conference began. These defeats may have been more apparent than real. The agenda of the “Brod Left” was realistic enough not to expect the conference to humiliate its own Government. That the Left and the Government did not tear each other’s throats out was a tribute to Ms Wilson’s handling of the conference.