PM gives Anderton Cabinet guarantee

By FRANCESCA MOLD political reporter

The Prime Minister has indicated she will keep Jim Anderton in her Cabinet after the next election even if she does not need his vote to form a coalition.

Helen Clark described Mr Anderton as a "very, very good" minister during a Radio Pacific interview.

"Look, Jim will be there, right. It's a question now of how many he brings with him but he's been a very, very good minister in this Government and it's certainly a role that I would like to see him play again."

Mr Anderton is expected to retain the Wigram seat in Christchurch, where he holds a 9885-vote majority.

But he is unlikely, as indicated by poll ratings, to bring other MPs into Parliament via his new Progressive Coalition.

In his Budget-day speech, Mr Anderton distanced himself from the dysfunctional Alliance Party he still claims to lead, aligning himself with Government achievements.

Mr Anderton was expelled by the party when he said he would not stand for the Alliance at the next election, preferring to create a new "political vehicle".

Cabinet minister Laila Harre was elected leader in his place but has been unable to take up the position of Alliance leader in Parliament because that would trigger the party-hopping legislation.

In his speech, Mr Anderton hit out at the behaviour of the MPs who had chosen to stick with the Alliance.

"There are some of my colleagues that want to differentiate," he said.

"Well, the Government's on 55 per cent and the Alliance is on 1 per cent. That's pretty good differentiation, I think."

In her speech on the Budget yesterday, Ms Harre detailed for the House the Alliance's achievements as part of the Coalition.

She highlighted paid parental leave, new money for early education, the Equal Employment Commissioner and youth initiatives.

Ms Harre said the Alliance would seek votes among the fertile ground of those opposed to the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment, traditionally the Greens' territory.

She said the Greens had ruled themselves out of governing with Labour by taking a no-negotiation stance over the moratorium on genetic modification.