19 Dec 1988 - ALP candidates accused of Left bias

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周zhoū一yī 19 12月yuè 1988 - The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995)
Page 1 - ALP candidates accused of Left bias

ALP candidates accused of Left bias

By ROD CAMPBELL

The ACT branch of the Australian Labor Party
announced its full list of candidates yesterday for
the ACT self-government elections and was imme
diately met with accusations of left-wing and
trade-Union bias by the ACT branch of the Liberal

Party.

In a statement yesterday afternoon, the leader of
the ALP team, Rosemary Follett, confirmed the
party's list of 11 candidates. These are, in the order
in which they will appear on the ticket, Ms Follett,
Paul Whalan, Wayne Beny, Elinor Grassby, Bill
Wood, Di Ford, Kevin Gill, Anna Robieson, Mar
tin Attridge, Peta Beelan and Barry Reid.

The ALP's campaign director, David Wedg
wood, said the party would probably respond to
the Liberals' remarks about its team today.

Also buying into the lead-up to the election
campaign yesterday was the Committee for a Casi
no-Free Canberra. Its secretary, Peter Hicks, said
all candidates would be asked to express their
views on the casino issue and whether they would
support a free vote on the matter in the assembly.
The results of the survey, which would be conduct
ed once all nominations were finalised, would be
widely publicised.

The ACT Liberal leader, Trevor Kaine, said the
composition of the ALP team would be a matter of
some concern to the community.

"It seems to us to be heavily dominated by
people who have strong trade-union relationships
and that doesn't augur well, in our view, for the
economic well-being of the territory," he said.

The ALP Right had it right when it said it was
conscious of the fact that the ACT community
would not tolerate an ALP dominated by the Left
and that its reputation for extremes was well
known in the community.

"We think they had it right and I think the

community will think that vvay also," Mr Kaine

said.

Also of concern was Ms Follett's suggestion that

the ALP would be going for virtually a no-change

policy.

UI think she'll find when she understands the
situation ... whether we like it or not, whether
they like it or not, whether the community likes it
or not, there is going to be a need for change with
self-government."

It had been claimed that there was an $80 mil
lion deficit in ACT funding and if that was true —
Mr Kaine said he was not convinced that it was —
this in itself was going to require considerable
change.

A Liberal government in the ACT would have to
determine how that $80 million deficit was going
to be bridged. It would require changes to the way
in which services were delivered and to the admin

istrativc structures through which they were deliv

ered.

"To say you can proceed on a no-change basis
shows an absolute lack of understanding of the
facts of the situation," he said.

A member of the Liberal team, Bob Winnel, said
it was important to recognise that the ACT election
"now represents an attempt by the union move
ment to take over the machinery of government".

This could be seen quite clearly from the fact
that the leader of the Left was leading its ticket, a
former union official (Mr Whalan) was number
two and an "interesting" union official (Mr Berry)

was number three.

Another senior Liberal candidate, Gary Hum
phries, said a Left-dominated ACT assembly did
not mean that Canberra could get the sort of
pragmatic people, like the Hawkes and the
Keatings, who dominated elsewhere in Australia.
"This is the Left, the hard, uncompromising, ideo
logical Left," he said.

An ALP source had a different view of the ALP
preselection outcome. He said the Right had a
majority and the result represented "a bit of a
knockback" for the Left. As well, its leader, Ms
Follett, was not a hard-liner and was "pretty auton
omous". The result, as far as the Right was con
cerned, had been "perfect".

Not just a

protest vote

The latest candidate for the ACT
self-government election is Tony Flem
ing, the director of the Conservation
Council of the South-East Region and

Canberra.

Mr Reming, 30, announced his candi
dacy yesterday with the message that he
was not just an environment candidate
and would be taking a strong interest in a
range of issues. He was not standing on
behalf of the council and was standing
down from his position as director,
which he has held for a couple of years, at

Christmas.

"And I'm going in there to be elected,

not as a protest vote," he said.

Mr Fleming has taken a high profile on
a range of urban and rural issues during
the past two years. As well as campaign
ing against wood-chipping in southern
NSW and environmental degradation in
suburban Canberra, he has been strongly
involved in the council's legal challenges
on inner-city redevelopment and on lob
bying the Government for reform of
Canberra's leasehold system.

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