Decision now set in concrete—Anderton

Press, 5 September 1989, Page 1

Decision now set in concrete —Anderton

By

BRENDON BURNS

Prime Ministerial endorsement of Anzac frigates makes it a certainty the Government will buy them, says New Labour’s leader, Mr Jim Anderton. He said yesterday that the decision was now set in concrete, and showed the nonsense of the Labour Party’s “consultative” process with the Government.

Mr Anderton said Mr Palmer’s statement that he supported Anzac frigates would have surprised Labour Party members in the Prime Minister’s Christchurch Central electorate. Three times in-recent months their Labour electorate committee had passed unanimous resolutions against buying frigates, he said.

“Furthermore, while recognis-

ing the collective responsibility of Cabinet Ministers for majority decisions of Cabinet, the L.E.C. requested the Prime Minister to cast his own vote against any (frigate) proposal.” It would be Inconceivable for the Government caucus to leave their new Prime Minister publicly stranded, he said.

Nor would Mr Palmer have been likely to make a statement on frigates without knowing what decision would eventuate. The announcement made nonsense of a claim by the Labour Party president, Ms Ruth Dyson, that the “consultative process” was alive and well, said Mr Anderton. “The Labour Government has always taken consultation to mean instruction in what it intends to do,” he said.