Douglas: we must catch up to Australia

JOHN SELKIRK/Dominion Post

ROGER DOUGLAS: The ACT founder says his political comeback has been inspired by New Zealand falling further behind Australia economically under the Labour-led Government.

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ACT Party founder Sir Roger Douglas says his concern over the growing economic and social gap between the New Zealand and Australia inspired his political comeback.

Sir Roger, 70, a former Labour finance minister and ACT Party founder, yesterday announced he would stand for ACT as an electorate candidate at this year's general election.

The announcement, to about 200 delegates at the ACT annual conference in Auckland yesterday, was enthusiastically welcomed by activists.

Just where he will stand has yet to be decided, but Sir Roger said it would most likely be a South Auckland electorate, near where he lives in Hanua.

The announcement ends a long and difficult estrangement between Sir Roger and ACT Party leader Rodney Hide.

Sir Roger turned his back on the party when Mr Hide took the reins, saying it had moved from being a party of policy substance to a reactive headline hunter.

In recent weeks there has been talk of reconciliation, culminating with Mr Hide announcing Sir Roger had "committed his formidable skills and experience to the 2008 ACT campaign".

Sir Roger told media his decision to stand was motivated by the growing divide between New Zealand and Australia.

"It's time a lot of New Zealanders stopped sitting on the sideline.

"When New Zealand gets to a position where we are $100 a week in wages lower than Tasmania we ought to ask ourselves what are we doing to ourselves."

Sir Roger dismissed suggestions his decision to stand for Parliament was not a choice many pensioners would make.

"I will put in a lot of energy, I will be supporting Rodney.

"I will be trying to cover some of the ground he will not be able to."

Among Sir Roger's roles will be putting together a full slate of candidates, a task which he has already started on .

"He [Hide] can concentrate on marketing our policy and I can concentrate on the nuts and bolts."

Sir Roger was quick to deny he was a fair-weather friend.

"I don't think I abandoned them - I was just giving them some help on the sidelines.

"Rodney and I are working well together.

"He's got a big role, he's gonna be the person who is going to front for ACT, the person who can sell our message.

"I am there in a support role."

The healing of the rift between the two men was motivated more out of "the mess Helen Clark is making of this country" rather than a change of Mr Hide's leadership style, he said.

Sir Roger acknowledged ACT's low polling but said it would be harder to get to 2 percent than it would be to get to 7 percent.

"If we get to 2 or 3 [percent] then we become relevant and then we'll get to 7 or 8 [percent]."

National were "looking good" in the polls but Sir Roger questioned what they would be like without ACT.

"ACT in many ways can give backbone to the National Party." Sir Roger, who was finance minister under Labour's David Lange in the 1980's and was famous for his deregulation of New Zealand's economy, said he did not expect his controversial reputation to hamper his comeback.

He fell out with Mr Lange over economic policy, especially his desire for a flatter tax system and later left to form the ACT party with another former Labour minister, Richard Prebble.

"I actually think I'm not radical.

"I just follow commonsense.

"What I did in 1984 was introduce basic commonsense policy - it was the policy of Muldoon which was rather radical," Sir Roger said.

NZPA

- NZPA