John Armstrong: Back to basics to head off a crisis

Start by putting the "Labour" back into the Labour Government.

That response was not quite what Labour Party bosses had in mind when they called for "new thinking" to revitalise the party.

But that is what they got at their weekend conference as rank-and-file delegates combined with trade union affiliates to send a firm message to Helen Clark and her ministers.

Delegates piggy-backed off one another at an economic policy session to remind the Government that while it talked loftily of creating a "high-wage, high-skills" economy, the reality was somewhat different for many workers. They experienced an ongoing struggle to preserve wages, conditions and ultimately jobs as cost-cutting managers engaged in constant restructuring exercises which always resulted in redundancies, while work was outsourced, sometimes to cheap foreign labour.

Frustration centred on Air New Zealand, with around 1600 jobs under threat and the Government, as majority owner of the airline, seemingly unwilling to rein in the management.

The surprise was not in what was being said, but the fact that it was being said at all.

For years, Labour Party conferences have been dead zones when it comes to genuine debate - something sacrificed to preserve an image of complete and utter unity.

Quite why the party should suddenly find its voice, if only in mild fashion, might have several explanations.

This was Labour's 90th birthday conference, one conducted with delegates somewhat shell-shocked and facing the Herculean task of raising more than $800,000 while also trying to clear a $600,000 election-year deficit in the party's accounts.

At such times parties seek solace in "reaffirming core values" - a phrase repeated throughout the weekend and the central theme of the Prime Minister's keynote speech.

Delegates' willingness to speak out may also have sprung from the call for "renewal", which sees Labour groping for a fresh policy agenda to knock back accusations it is standing still.

There may also have been the feeling that Labour has been sucked too far to the centre by the compromises of seven years in power.

The pledge card fiasco has shown the leadership is fallible - perhaps prompting the party to start questioning some of its decisions.

That was certainly the case during a session getting to grips with Labour's "economic transformation" thrust, with delegates clearly worried that this was not sexy enough to compete with National's far simpler panacea for growth: tax cuts.

Labour's answer is to neutralise tax cuts as an issue.

Judging from the Prime Minister's acknowledgment that "adjustments" are needed for taxpayers missing out on Working For Families tax credits, Labour's tactic seems to involve drip-feeding expectations of a tax cut, while keeping those expectations low, before ultimately delivering more than everyone expected.

It is the classic Clark strategy of under-promising and over-delivering.

However, what this conference wanted from Helen Clark was some visionary talk. It got it with her ambitious plan to confront climate change and make New Zealand the first country to be truly environmentally sustainable and "carbon neutral".

No detail of how or when. But no matter. Like the anti-nuclear policy, this is the kind of big idea that excites party activists and through which Labour can reclaim some of the political high ground.

After a rough, grubby couple of months of basement politics, the party needed to lift its sights. And it needed to restore its belief in itself. The conference did that - and the party has emerged the stronger for it.

Don't write off Labour just yet.