P.M. denies Labour tilting to Left

Press, 13 April 1988, Page 8

P.M. denies Labour tilting to Left

PA Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, yesterday denied he was backing Leftwingers on a “stampede through the Labour Party.” r. “The Government has no recourse to the levelling prescriptions of the Left,” he said in an article in the “National Business Review.” “Ideals of central economic planning and the enforcement of equality seem to me to be so far out of kilter with our capacities, character and circumstances as to be unachievable.” i. Mr Lange said that although the Government was committed to “enhancing social equity,” inequalities were unavoidable in a mixed economy such as New Zealand’s.

However, acceptance of inequalities was conditional on the existence of a “floor that prevents us from accidentally falling into the abyss of dire poverty.” For this reason it was necessary to regard social and economic polices as integrated. Mr Lange criticised the Opposition for calling for a complete deregulation of the labour market, calling it a move “to encourage a destructive resistance to innovation.” “The Government’s view is that individuals are more likely to take part willingly in the process of change in the economy if they have an obvious stake in the outcome, if change, instead of looming as a threat, presents itself as an op-

portunity. “Economic efficiency and social equity alike argue not for the Government’s withdrawal from the labour market but for its more active involvement in assisting individuals to move from one form: of employment to another.” Mr Lange said that while, in economic’policy, the Government could stand back, it (could not take that approach' to social policy. “It cannot declare itself indifferent to | the performance of any of its schools or hospitals,” he said “The goal of social policy in the mixed economy is still best summed up as equality; of opportunity; it cannot function like the car market or house market.”