LABOUR'S FATAL ATTRACTION

  • Tony Ryall
State Owned Enterprises

Helen Clark's acquiescence to be the political plaything of Mr Anderton this weekend exposes Labour's fatal attraction to the Alliance party, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall said today.

"The Labour Party has turned away from Tony Blair and Robert Reich and embraced Jim Anderton and Pam Corkery. The sensible wing of the Labour party has lost the battle to the left-wing loopies and they didn't even know that this deal had been done!

"Only a handful of Labour MPs knew about this deal with the Alliance before the six o'clock news last night. Helen Clark didn't tell them that she was prepared to share power with the Alliance.

"What else could explain Miss Clark's decision to accept the invitation to speak from a man who said in 1996 that he almost felt 'like doing physical violence' to Miss Clark and her Labour colleagues? (Dom. 22.2.96)

"What will Miss Clark say to the Alliance faithful this weekend? Will she tell them that her contempt for Mr Anderton knows no bounds, as she said in 1990? (NZH 12.9.90)

"Mr Anderton has promised a constructive and positive role for the Alliance in government. Helen Clark has long known what that means: " ?what I've observed about Jim over many years is that he is not a person who works well with others and if he's not in front of something and leading it he soon finds cause to completely disagree with it?my experience and that of many other people, would indicate that he's absolutely not a team player.' (BBC World Service 21.3.94)

"On Radio New Zealand this morning Mr Anderton said the reason why this deal could happen was because Labour had moved its economic policy closer to the Alliance.

"Two star-crossed lovers on the sinking Titanic, but which one of them will drown? Michael Cullen, the snooty free-market intellectual engaged to marry Helen Clark has been dumped for the poor boy command-economy of Jim Anderton on the lower decks of the Titanic.

"A Labour-Alliance coalition would be a fatal attraction for middle New Zealand of higher taxes, stronger trade unions and more welfarism."