Leadership Election Issue

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31097, 28 June 1966, Page 18

Leadership Election Issue

One of the important issues in the coming election would be leadership, the Undersecretary of Finance (Mr R. D. Muldoon) told students of the University of Canterbury last evening.

Mr Muldoon said the present Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) lacked formal training and experience.

“The promotion of a backbencher to the leadership of the Labour Party says little for the senior members of the party,” Mr Muldoon said. “Mr Kirk may be shrewd and energetic, but he has less control over his back-bench-ers than any previous leader I can remember. I cannot remember in my time a more noisy Opposition.”

Mr Muldoon admitted that the present Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) also lacked extensive formal training. “But he more than makes up for it by the 30 years’ experience he has had in the house,” he said. “Lack of both qualifications is very serious in this day and age. It is even worse that only five of the seven graduates in the Labour party voted for Mr Kirk as

leader. Mr Holyoake has 100 per cent of his party’s support—not just 25 to 10.” Mr Muldoon said that nine members of his party would retire this year. “This compares with one sacked, and one who has resigned because of his conscience, from the Labour Party,” he said. “I see no govern-ment-changing mood in this country at the moment; there are just not six seats which Labour could win back.”

Mr Muldoon said there was strong evidence that the Labour Party was being overshadowed by the Federation of Labour. He suggested that the situation was not far removed from a point where Mr T. H. Skinner would find a place in a Labour cabinet. It was obvious that a Labour university policy would contain higher bursaries and lower fees, Mr Muldoon said. Mr Muldoon said that it appeared inevitable that a Lab-

our government would introduce a capital gains tax. “This is just paying death duties every year whether ybu die or not.” Discussing the Vietnam question, Mr Muldoon said New Zealand was in a classically historical situation A potential source of conflict lay in the close proximity of low populated countries with a high standard of living and densely populated countries with a low standard of living. Asian communism could act as a catalyst to such a situation and had to be contained. When one student said he thought 125 troops was a “pretty small force for such an important situation,” Mr Muldoon replied that New Zealand was a “pretty small country.” Mr Muldoon avoided a question involving Article 4 of the S.E.A.T.O. agreement A student remarked that he was exceptionally good at not answering questions.