Muldoon links blamed for demotion

Press, 11 February 1986, Page 9

Muldoon links blamed for demotion

PA Wellington The demoted Opposition finance spokesman, Mr Bill Birch, said yesterday that his fall in ranking was a result of his closeness to the economic policies of Sir Robert Muldoon.

“The change seems to be designed to distance the present National caucus from the past National Administration and I think that’s a mistake,” he said. “To win the next election we must be able to defend the decisions of the previous Administration and I believe they are defendable,” he said from his Pukekohe home. Mr Birch’s removal from the main finance spokesmanship was the most radical change in the reshuffle announced

by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr McLay, yesterday.

Mr Birch’s ranking drops from No. 3 to No. 12 and he takes up the new responsibilities of labour and employment. The former Minister of Energy said his demotion was not a reflection on his performance in the House of Representatives. “Certainly I have no reason to suspect so because it has never been conveyed to me by Mr McLay or anybody else.” He said he would be happy to devote his energies to whatever task the party wanted him to. Asked why Mr Birch had been demoted, Mr McLay said his new labour area was very important; big changes were necessary, particularly in

wage-fixing. Naturally, Mr Birch regretted leaving the economic area, he said. Mr McLay said later that the reshuffle was designed to reinforce and consolidate the change of direction in National’s economic policy. He, however, defended National’s previous “think big” or “growth strategy” policies—of which Mr Birch was deemed one of the principal architects. The new Opposition spokesman on health, Mr George Gair (North Shore), said he was surprised and disappointed at his demotion from No. 4 to No. 11, and his loss of the labour spokesmanship. “The pecking order is not critical to the quality or effectiveness of your

political contribution,” he said.

“Rather it tells you something about your standing, relative to other colleagues, in your leader’s view.” He would be sorry to leave the labour spokesmanship, after the progress made by the Opposition’s caucus committee under his chairmanship in developing new industrial relations policy.

One consolation was a return to his old responsibility in health. Mr Gair was Minister of Health for three years from 1978 to 1981.

Mr Gair, aged 59, who has several times been in hospital, said he was now in the best of health and would again seek the National nomination for North Shore.