Bolger presses Clark on campaign

Press, 6 October 1989, Page 1

Bolger presses Clark on campaign

PA Wellington The Cabinet authorised a public relations company, Consultus, to ask business leaders to head a campaign to promote the impression of economic recovery, the Acting Prime Minister, Ms Clark, revealed in Parliament yesterday. She said the Government agreed in principle with the $430,000 campaign, to be known as Project Opportunity. “The only specific project to which the Cabinet agreed was that of the concept of special economic advisers being discussed further with possible participants,” she said in response to questions from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger. She declined to elaborate, saying the Government had no report on that. “I understand some approaches may have been made in confidence but time has moved on and the project has quite simply lapsed,” she said. In its $50,000 Cabinetcommissioned feasibility study on the campaign, Consultus told the Government it should set up a group of up to four special advisers on economic opportunity. “The group should be chosen from the following: Hugh Fletcher, Bob Jones, Michael Fay, Joe Pope, Bronwyn Holdsworth, Jim Graham, Sue Suckling,” the study said. Ms Clark said Consultus approached the Government with the concept because it thought business confidence did not match the positive economic indicators. The Government commissioned a feasibility study in April and saw it on June 21. “The Government agreed that there should be a feasibility study to look at that hypothesis. The hypothesis quite simply didn’t hold a lot of water when tested," she said. She defended the failure of the Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, to remember the campaign until Mr Bolger leaked copies of the feasibility study. “Many matters go before the Cabinet. Not all members recall all of them,” she said. Asked about a survey mentioned in the study, Ms Clark said it was a Consultus-commissioned survey of business leaders.