By John Percy
New Zealand Alliance leader Jim Anderton outlined a bold plan to rescue the country's remaining unsold pine plantations at the party's national conference, held in Wellington April 6-7. A week prior to the conference, the National Bolger government had announced its intention of selling the vast North Island forests off to the highest bidder.
In his conference keynote speech, Anderton revealed that he had delivered a request to the clerk of the House of Representatives that morning for a referendum on the sale of the forests under the citizen-initiated referendum act.
Under the NZ constitution, the government is required to hold a referendum on receipt of a petition signed by 10% of the population. The required number of signatures has been obtained for a number of such referendums, but only once in recent times has one been successful — the campaign to save the firefighting services.
The Alliance plans to collect 400,000 signatures, well over the required 250,000, in order to allow for duplications and incorrect addresses. It will collect the signatures by canvassing from door to door, and through street meetings.
The forests, valued at around NZ$2.1 billion, stretch for hundreds of square kilometres across the centre of the North Island.
It appears that a successful buyer of the forests would not only have access to the enormous timber resources (New Zealand produces a very large proportion of world pine exports) but would also be able to dispose of the land itself.
Although almost every other public asset in New Zealand has already been sold off, the rush to sell the forests was probably prompted by the imminent election, due by October. This election will be the first under the multi member proportional (MMP) method. All parties reaching a 5% threshold will get the appropriate representation in parliament.
The Alliance will challenge the government to hold the referendum at the same time as the election, and thus save the $10 million it would otherwise cost.
Visiting a million homes
The Alliance vowed to doorknock 1 million houses (out of a total 1.2 million) in its quest to gather signatures against the forests sale and to tell New Zealanders about the Alliance election campaign.
Matt McCarten, national campaign director for the Alliance, outlined the ambitious election campaign plans to the 65 candidates, the campaign managers in each electorate and the conference delegates assembled at the Victoria University Wellington Student Centre.
The enthusiasm and confidence were very evident, and were even remarked on by journalists covering the conference. This was in spite of a steep dive for the Alliance in the opinion polls to 8-10% in the previous week, and the rise in the polls of Winston Peters' New Zealand First, following his demagogic attacks on Asian immigrants.
The Alliance is the only party to take a firm public stand against the thinly veiled racism of the so-called "immigration debate." In this climate, a family of Somali refugees had a brick through their window, and other Asians had their houses attacked just before the conference.
But the Alliance was clearly undaunted by the polls. If anything, they firmed up the resolve to really get stuck into the campaign in earnest, and stand firm on the issues. They spurred on the conference to put the initial election preparations aside, where concerns over preselections tended to crowd out actual campaigning, and get down to business.
"It's time for the concept of public good to strike back", Anderton told the conference. The other parties want the market to regulate everything, the supposed "trickle down effect". The governments of New Zealand — six years under Labour and six years under National — had gambled $20 billion away on the market "like a giant casino". The deregulation of the '80s was "like the Wild West without a sheriff".
He questioned the ethics of these people that "greed" was a motivating force. "We believe New Zealand is better than that. We believe cooperation is a motivating force."
It was a matter of priorities — "frigates versus a free health system."
Dreamers
As Matt McCarten explained to the conference, "We all joined the Alliance because we're dreamers and believers. We'll always be on the periphery of the mainstream." Therefore the Alliance shouldn't expect to be treated favourably by the media, and would have to go to the people directly, going house to house and holding thousands of street meetings.
"If we wanted to be in the mainstream, we would have stayed in Labour and National." The Alliance was a coalition against the new right, he said. It needed to go back to a grassroots election campaign and meet the people who have suffered at the hands of Nationals and Labour.
"We need a return to the streets", explained McCarten. "And we've got to have fun while doing it."
The "people-oriented campaign" outlined by McCarten resolved to hold 7000 street meetings; get a million copies of the Alliance Manifesto directly into people's hands, doorknocking a million homes; and get a placard or billboard up in every street in every electorate.
McCarten outlined the Alliance's ambitious goals for recruiting new members, its goals for mobilising supporters on election day, for fundraising by raising pledges from Alliance members and for organising its publicity and raising its profile.
Each electorate was ranked nationally according to a weighted points system covering all the campaign goals. A chart showing where each stood at the moment was unveiled to a meeting of candidates and organisers, and electorates were encouraged to compete against each other.
Presently at the top of the list was Jim Anderton's electorate of Wigram in Christchurch, leading the way in members joined up, money raised and supporters organised. Anderton threw down the challenge to all the candidates, to campaign and organise, and outperform his electorate. "If you do, I guarantee you one thing, you'll be in parliament after October."