National's 'radical' message a puzzle

By AUDREY YOUNG

Jenny Shipley drew some puzzled faces when she told the National faithful she wanted them to get back in touch with ordinary New Zealanders by daring to become "radical conservatives."

No sooner had they received the leader's message at the Wellington regional conference in Napier than guest speaker Alan Duff bluntly told them they had never been in touch in the first place.

Not noted as a delicate wordsmith, the author singled out for special mention the "arrogant, smarmy little private-school wanker" of a minister in the National Government who was behind market rents for state tenants.

He was unable to later specify whether he meant Mr Luxton, McCully or Ryall, or perhaps all three former Housing Ministers.

Risky as it might have seemed for National to offer itself up for a Duff-bludgeoning, their visitor did not embarrass Mrs Shipley.

He was, in fact, the perfect guest for the party for the time, and was well received.

National has to been seen to be taking some lessons from an unforgiving public, and Duff was someone who could knock the party, urge it to do better - but reinforce the leadership.

Duff also said that most politicians he knew were poor listeners, although Mrs Shipley was an exception. But she was obviously not a great enough leader to have won either of his votes, which went to Labour (electorate) and Act (party).

The Napier conference was the first major party fixture since National's election defeat five months ago.

There was no blood-letting but there are signs of sensitivity. The chairwoman, Bernie Poole, declared certain discussions "in committee" retrospectively, in an attempt to prevent the media reporting that delegates had mentioned the need for bettercalibre candidates and that National should stand in every electorate - including Wellington Central and Ohariu-Belmont.

The weekend rang with the promise of "re" intentions: to reconnect, rebuild, rejuvenate, reinvigorate, reinterpret, refresh, and renew. It followed that Mrs Shipley had to come up with a fresh approach herself.

She unveiled her "radical conservative" aspirations, offering her own interpretation of a phrase as bewildering on face value as shallow depths or smart idiots.

"Radical conservatism means reconnecting with our roots and expressing them in a contemporary way to which New Zealanders right across the social spectrum can subscribe, transcending the traditional right and centre-right line so they think 'yes, that's me'."

And if that definition did not suit, she offered them another: "If you use the American slang version and someone says 'wow, radical' it means cool, it means fashionable, it means it's 'in' and everyone wants to know about it."

It is not an approach that sits comfortably with all members. But it found favour with the oldest delegate, 81-year-old Peggy Carter, from Napier.

"Too many people perceive the National Party as being like I am," said the white-haired woman who has been a member for more than 50 years.

"We can't attract young people if all they see is angora sweaters and pearls. We've got to change. The world is changing."

Woman's vice-president Sue McKenzie, who last year advocated brainstorming sessions over the gin bottle, had her own radical views this year about National using women's interest in gardening, food, fashion and interior design as a way to network and reach potential voters.

Mrs Shipley will take the radical conservative message to four other regional conferences this month. Each region chooses its own fanfare music for the leader's speech.

The Napier organisers chose The Troggs' Wild Thing ("You make my heart sing, you make everything groovy ..."), daring perhaps to be radical, or is that conservative?