Nelson told how to vote

Press, 27 September 1988, Page 2

Nelson told how to vote

WILLIAM HOBBS

By

in Nelson

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, has chided Nelson people for toying with their votes at General Election time. He told a lunchtime meeting of National Party people in the electorate yesterday that Nelson had dabbled in politics with its support for independents, an apparent reference to the long period until the late 1940 s when Nelson returned an Independent member of Parliament and more recent times when the former Labour member of Parliament, Mr Mel Courtney, received strong support as an Independent.

After elections were over Independents went back to their jobs and the people who voted for them were left without effective representation, Mr Bolger said.

His recent visit to the West Coast had shown that although that region had never returned anyone but a Labour member of Parliament it had very little to show for its long support, he said. • Similarly Nelson had very little to show for its long support of Labour. Nelson needed a strong voice in the next Government and that meant supporting a National candidate.

Mr Bolger said the level now of unemployment in Nelson of 3300, or more than 12 per cent, and unemployment in New Zealand all . told were an indictment on backbench Labour members.

This was because they had failed to adequately represent their constituents by standing up to the Government over its economic policies.