Clark speech lays claim to National turf

The Prime Minister yesterday tried to raid National's traditional policy stronghold by claiming Labour now wore the mantle of the party showing real "economic vision."

But Helen Clark's speech opening this year's sitting of Parliament fell short of spelling out any major fresh economic initiatives, instead listing a host of policies already unveiled by the Government.

Despite that, the speech signalled that the Labour-Alliance Coalition intends making economic direction and management one of its strengths in voters' minds in the lead-up to the 2002 election.

"This Government has a passion for economic transformation," Helen Clark told MPs in language normally the domain of National's Jenny Shipley.

The Prime Minister's annual statement - a set-piece supposed to outline the Government's programme for the year - concentrated on Coalition efforts to forge New Zealand as an "economy of innovation."

Social policy took a back seat and there was no reference to flagship Alliance policies like the People's Bank or the introduction of paid parental leave - policies unpopular with the business community with which Labour now wants to build an economic "partnership." In doing so, Labour hopes to trump National in a policy area where it has traditionally enjoyed greater credibility.

"If we embrace innovation wholeheartedly, we can be in the top half of the OECD, not falling to the bottom," Helen Clark told the House, calling on the nation to develop a "shared vision" when it came to modernising the economy.

"We will continue to do all in our power to build an economy less dependent on commodity price fluctuations, good weather and a low dollar."

Opposition parties dismissed the PM's statement as mere rhetoric. New Zealand First's Winston Peters warned Labour that the economic slump in the US meant the local economy was now at a temporary high-point.

Mrs Shipley called the speech "a triumph of spin over substance" and questioned how long the PM's latest buzz-phrase - "economic transformation" - would last.