THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1989. Mr Anderton’s conscience

Press, 19 April 1989, Page 20

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1989. Mr Anderton’s conscience

The resignation from the Labour Party of Mr Jim Anderton, the member of Parliament for Sydenham, can hardly be a cause of astonishment. For most of the time since he and the Government were elected in 1984, Mr Anderton has been at odds with the direction of Labour’s policy on a score of issues. Amid the rapid, substantial economic changes of the last four years Mr Anderton has been the voice of traditional Labour, a rallying point for thousands of Labour supporters, not only in his own electorate or in Christchurch, who have been disillusioned or upset by the economic changes.

Mr Anderton has fought hard to have those policies modified, or reversed. Generally he has failed. In fairness to his own conscience, and to the party and Government, he could hardly have continued indefinitely to vote for policies that he and his supporters abhorred. He could hardly, in conscience, deny his vote to the Government in Parliament while remaining a member of the caucus and party.

His decision, therefore, can be viewed as being quite simple and straightforward. No hidden meanings have to be sifted out of his statement to make complete sense of his decision. His situation might have led to one other conclusion: to retire from Parliament. This would have enabled him to remain a party member; but he would have been little more than that. His choice is to remain where he believes he can be more effective and, by his own lights, he keeps faith with those who elected him.

The crucial question is what happens now to Mr Anderton and to those who supported him. He remains a member of Parliament, an independent, able to cast his vote wherever Seems best. He is free to speak out even more forcefully against Government policy. He will not want for an audience, or for support, among people inside and outside the Labour Party.

Labour will face a dilemma in the next General Election. If Mr Anderton chooses to stand again for Sydenham, as an independent, offering policies based on those regarded as the traditional ideals of the Labour Party, he would stand a good prospect of re-election, even against an official Labour opponent. That prospect must be daunting for a governing party that has been losing support widely, especially from people who see in Mr Anderton the personification of their beliefs.

Labour could hope to recover Sydenham from Mr Anderton if the policies of the Government were moved a good deal closer to the positions defended by Mr Anderton. That would be small comfort if the same shift cost the party such support elsewhere that it lost the election and was driven into opposition. Such an outcome is not unlikely. Mr Anderton has wide support on the Left of the New Zealand electorate. That is not where an election will be won. Nevertheless, if his decision is taken beyond the question of his own conscience and is read as a device to create a political stir, Mr Anderton’s action cannot be ignored by the Government or the party.

There remains an outside chance that Mr Anderton’s action will provoke other defections from the Labour Party among office holders, and even among Parliamentarians. Having a majority of 17 in a Parliament of 97 members, the Government might weather such a storm for the time being. Even so, with the Prime Minister’s acceptance, if not his support, the party has already forced several of its most Right-wing members of Parliament out of Cabinet and on to the back bench. More defections, from the Left, in support of Mr Anderton, would contribute to the appearance of a party in disarray.

The question would have to be asked whether the Government could complete its term of office under its present programme and policies, or whether it would have to change direction in order to get party support for re-election. Mr Anderton can claim, perhaps quite fairly, to better represent the traditional ideals and policies of the New Zealand Labour Party. The Government, so far, has maintained that, to achieve traditional goals traditional policies will no longer serve. An economic revival may yet prove the worth of this change of heart. In the past, party defectors have soon been forgotten or bypassed. Mr Anderton’s resignation from the party may prove more of a political milestone because it has been planted on an exceptionally rocky road. The outcome will rest less on what Mr Anderton now does or says than on the direction taken by the economy in the next few months before the party’s Dominion conference. He will not be there; many of those who support him will be.