Club blamed for disintegration

Press, 1 May 1989, Page 7

Club blamed for disintegration

By

PETER LUKE

in Auckland

The Labour Party’s president, Ms Ruth Dyson, has blamed the Backbone Club for the disintegration of the Auckland regional conference, adding that many club supporters actively promoted dislike of the Prime Minister, Mr Lange.

She warned that club members faced ousting from the party if their behaviour at the conference persisted.

“I have not had such a sad week-end in the Labour Party ever,” said Ms Dyson, who earlier had made a powerful plea for unity to delegates from the party’s biggest and most vital region. Delegates from both Left and Right made a mockery of this plea, as they traded abuse at a level that made Parliament seem a model of decorum.

Later, Ms Dyson was quick to blame the Backbone Club for the unprecedented “lack of tolerance and respect.”

The club’s trade union opponents were the same people with the same ideas as at previous conferences — people able to debate in an acceptable way, she said.

“I think they did that again this week-end,” she said. The new element was the Backbone Club. “I

have never seen such intolerance from the Right.” Ms Dyson said that even at heated previous conferences delegates with contrary views had been able to socialise. But Backbone Club supporters — whom she referred to as a “formalised faction” — had neither attended conference socials nor taken lunch with other delegates. “Physically they can’t even be in the same room as people of different views.”

Ms Dyson said that the party executive wanted to find out from the Backbone Club what their objectives were. But the bottom line was clearly the threat of expulsion.

“I would like to ask the people from the Backbone Club what their objectives are and whether or not they consider it appropriate

that they should remain members of the party.”

Club members, she said, claimed they supported Rogernomics.

“But there seems to be much more of a personal dislike of the Prime Minister from that group as well.”

But she dissociated the former Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas, from this. “I am not sure that Roger Douglas would support promotion of anti-Lange activities.” Although she seemed to hold the Backbone Club primarily responsible for the week-end shambles, she also suggested that recent party tension was a root cause of intolerance.

She specifically alluded to the Jim Anderton defection, the Backbone Club rallies and pressures within the Cabinet and caucus.

Many of the Left-wing delegates who were so angry at the conference had recently been through a harrowing personal time as they reassessed their commitment in the wake of the probable new party, she suggested. Ms Dyson did not believe this week-end’s Wellington conference would produce the same level of clashes. “The Backbone Club is not alive and well in Wellington. Wellington is quite an average normal city — which I have discovered Auckland isn’t.”