Douglas way to be avoided—Lange

Press, 14 April 1989, Page 2

Douglas way to be avoided—Lange

By

PATTRICK SMELLIE

in Wellington

The Government has no intention of following the kinds of labour market reforms advocated by the former Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas.

The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, made this clear in a speech to hotel workers in Auckland yesterday. “The extreme Right says that to get change they would take away all the protections there are for working people,” he said. “That is not only wrong, it would never work. You cannot have a successful economy where most of the people who work in it feel threatened by it. “I have no interest in any deregulation whose only possible outcome is the payment of lower

wages.” There was a difference between the labour market and the financial market “where you shift your assets by punching a button,” he said. “There is nothing gutless in putting the needs of people before the demands of harsh and unproven dogma.” Mr Lange said the Labour Relations Act had already caused a big change in industrial relations practices. In an apparent reference to the present hotel workers’ industrial action,

he urged the unionists to recognise the needs of the tourism industry. “If New Zealand is to have a competitive edge, if you want to create jobs for yoUr members, then you have to adapt to the needs of the industry. “The Government firmly believes that there has to be change in the labour market or there can never be growth in the economy,” he said. But the way to achieve that would be sought through the compact being negotiated with the trade union movement by

the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Moore. “The compact means the Government will consult with trade unions over economic and social policy. “It will not mean any surrender of responsibility — the Government will retain its right to finally determine economic and social policy.” But the way forward was different to five years ago, when the Government had been forced to follow policies in “smashthrough mode,” he said.