New Zealand prime minister calls elections

WELLINGTON — Prime Minister Helen Clark called elections for Nov. 8, tying her claim to a historic fourth term in New Zealand to strong environmental credentials amid a faltering economy and rising support for the conservative opposition.

Already among the longest-serving elected women leaders in the world, Clark is hoping she can extend her nine years in office for another three years and equal the record for New Zealand's longest-serving leader in a century.

"I do believe the future of New Zealand is at stake," Clark told a news conference Friday at which she announced the election date. "I believe that Labour has shown through its record in office that we can be trusted with the future of New Zealand."

Clark, 58, faces an uphill battle, with recent opinion polls showing that the conservative National Party has its best chance in a decade of winning the elections in the South Pacific nation of about 4.3 million people.

John Key, the 47-year-old head of the National Party, is a multimillionaire former investment banker and currency trader with a fresh team that includes only a few former ministers from its time in government in the 1990s.

Trailing the National Party by 10 points in recent polls, Clark's center-left government is suffering from voter fatigue after nine years in power, amid a widespread feeling that change is needed.

Despite presiding over the longest period of growth in a generation, Labour is going into the election with the economy in recession and facing "a difficult" next two years, according to the nation's central bank.

Clark's government is being blamed in part for the economic downturn, and has been hit by scandals including campaign finance investigations into Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who leads a party that supports the ruling coalition.

The National Party has adopted a raft of Labour policies and signaled it will maintain a bipartisan approach to foreign and defense policies. But it has promised to speed up infrastructure development, introduce personal tax cuts starting next April, and cut bureaucracy and red tape.

Charging Labour with having "a gas tank of ideas that's running on empty," Key pledged Friday to "sharply grow the economy," lift wages, get tough on criminal gangs and provide "opportunity for children and families."

"National is going to be a prudent, strong manager of the economy," he told reporters.

New Zealand politics is dominated by the two largest parties — Labour and National — though the political landscape is full of smaller players that often snare significant portions of the vote.

A change of government would not signal any major turnover in foreign policy, including New Zealand's long-standing anti-nuclear stance and opposition to the Iraq war, but would indicate strong dissatisfaction with Labour after nearly 10 years in power.

By calling the elections for Nov. 8, Clark set a relatively long campaign period to give her party a chance to win back the many voters who have switched their loyalties to the conservative opposition.

The campaign period also allows the effects of tax cuts due to begin Oct. 1 to be felt by workers.

The announcement comes just days after Parliament passed legislation implementing Clark's plan for a national carbon trading scheme to help combat global warming. Clark's aim is to make New Zealand — known worldwide for its pristine environment — the world's greenest economy.

Clark has been a lawmaker for 27 years, the Labour Party leader since 1993 and prime minister since 1999. She is the country's first elected female prime minister and the first Labour leader to serve three terms in office since 1949.

Clark has a somewhat austere image that is nevertheless down-to-earth and respected by many New Zealanders. She is also a skilled political operator who has retained power by brokering deals with a clutch of minor parties.

Key was an investment banker in Singapore, London and Australia and joined the New York Federal Reserve's Foreign Exchange Committee before entering politics in 2001. He was National's spokesman on finance issues until his election as party leader in 2006.

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Helen Clark calls election for November 8

news.sbs.com.au

Thu Sep 11

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