PM turns on business 'hard core'

By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter

Prime Minister Helen Clark believes that hostility in the business sector is coming from people refusing to accept the election result last November.

Her comments were made yesterday during questioning about why Business Roundtable leaders are not on the confidential guest-list of the Government's select business forum in Auckland, to be hosted by law firm Buddle Findlay in a fortnight.

"There is a hard core among those who voted for National and for Act who will not accept the outcome of the election and will not accept that the Government was elected on a programme of economic and social policy," she said at a post-cabinet press conference.

"That correction is being made. But some perhaps are not very democratic in spirit."

The Roundtable, itself an exclusive, invitation-only, policy-driven organisation of 50 business leaders, has not been invited to the forum.

Neither its executive director, Roger Kerr, with whom Helen Clark sparred last week over anti-Government advertising, nor its chairman, ASB Bank chief executive Ralph Norris, made the invitation list of 85.

Helen Clark said the list had been devised by ministers and comprised people they believed could be constructive in brainstorming sessions and in a "free dialogue" about ideas for Government and business.

Mr Kerr did not fit the bill.

"I haven't detected much constructive from Mr Norris either," said Helen Clark.

Some Business Roundtable members had been invited, but the guest-list would remain confidential until after the event because she did not want reporters ringing them asking for their "agendas."

She defended her attacks on Mr Kerr against suggestions that she could not tolerate alternative views.

"The predominant response to my office and electorate offices was, 'Thank God someone stood up to Mr Kerr' and why hadn't it been done earlier.

"When people take the Government full on like that, they have to expect a response. If we were to meekly say, 'Oh well, they've got a point' when they had no point, that would make us look a little ridiculous."

She also questioned why National finance spokesman Bill English had weighed in to Buddle Findlay's hosting of the forum on the basis that the legal firm had done close to $1 million of work for Government agencies this year.

"A significant amount of it was charged up under the previous Government."

The Minister of Housing, Mark Gosche, said last night that almost all of his department's $312,724 bill related to legal services contracted under National Housing Minister Tony Ryall.

Mr English said the point was that the Government had to be careful about involving major Government contractors in what was a major political exercise.