Capitalism evil Neary

Press, 9 April 1979, Page 15

Capitalism evil Neary

Modern capitalism was one of the great evils oi I our time." said Mr A. .1. (Neary, a candidate for the 'presidency of the Federation jof Labour, in an interview J with "The Press." j Mr Neary, who confirmed | that he had accepted nomirjation for the presidency, (said that capitalism had ’“failed dismally." i “One of my great concerns is that ’ if you look round the world, everywhere you find the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. It cannot continue this way. The only sc-; lution is democratic socialism," he said. i Mr Neary said democratic | socialism was “a fair and | ‘equitable distribution of the ’ wealth of the nation.” I He will stand against at i least three other candidates] | — Mr W. R. Cameron, of (Christchurch: Mr W. J. i (Knox, of Wellington; and Mr < iR. C. Cowley, of Auckland. I i If elected, Mr Neary said, i • he would encourage unions < I that had disaffiliated to I reaffiliate and unions that < ihad never joined to affiliate, ’ to maintain a unified move- t Intent. f I A proper analysis of “tre{mendous social progress” in | Europe in the last decade I had to be made, to see what \ could be done in New Zea- f land, whose social services i had been cut back, Mr 1 Neary said. He would also 1 aim to ensure that those ( who produced the services!r

received a fair and equitable share of the wealth. On the balance-of-pay-nents problem, it was not possible to cut back entirely on imports without affecting employment, and there also tad to be a certain level of imports to maintain the supply of raw materials, Mr Neary said. "But I am a great believer in selective import control," he said, supporting ths idea of reducing imports, such as luxury goods, that did not contribute to growth in New' Zealand’s gross national ■product. Mr Neary said he was most concerned about unemployment. The F.O.L. had to put a lot of thought into ways of creating jobs, “We have to start selling and promoting New Zealand products more," he said. Nominations for the presidency of the F.O.L. will close on April 9. One of the possible contenders for the post, Mr E. G. Thompson, a member of the executive of the F.O.L. and the secretary of the Waterfront Workers' Federation, will not stand, according to federation sources. Mr Thompson topped the polling in the 1977 and 1978 ballots for the executive and would have been one of tlte favourites for the presidency if he had decided to stand. He will return to New Zealand next week from an overseas visit on union business.