By John Percy
WELLINGTON — The New Zealand Alliance conference met in Wellington on April 6-7 and placed the party in full campaign mode. Elections must be held by October, the first under the multi-member proportional system (MMP) that will result in any parties winning more than 5% of the vote being proportionately represented in parliament.
The Alliance brings together five parties that have rejected the new right, neo-liberal austerity politics espoused and implemented by both the NZ Labour Party and the National Party. The five are the NewLabour Party, which split from Labour in 1989, the Greens, the Democrats, the Maori party Mana Motuhake, and the Liberals.
The conference presented the 65 constituency candidates, continued negotiations on working out the list of candidates to be elected under the proportional system, and discussed policy, campaign strategies and even post-election preparations.
During his keynote speech, Alliance leader Jim Anderton announced a major initiative for the Alliance — a campaign to collect 400,000 signatures on a petition to force the government to put to a referendum its decision, announced a week before the conference, to sell off all the remaining plantation forests in New Zealand.
The Alliance plans to collect the required signatures of 10% of New Zealanders in time to put the referendum to the people at the same time as the election, so that the $10 million cost of an extra poll could not be used as an excuse by the Nationals.
Despite a major fall in the Alliance's ratings in the polls just before the conference, and a rise in support for New Zealand First led by Winston Peters following his attacks on immigrants, the mood of the delegates and candidates was enthusiastic and confident.
Coming issues of Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly will carry more extensive reports of the Alliance conference.