Anderton challenges 'random' Moore to debate

Mike Moore is hypocritical. He was part of a campaign of destruction and denigration against his own party leader, Bill Rowling

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Mike Moore is being challenged to debate his NZ Herald op-ed today by Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton, who is the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and for Biosecurity in the Labour-Progressive coalition attacked by Mr Moore today.

"When a person accuses others of the politics of destruction, it is incumbent on them to propose a positive alternative. But take a close look at Mike Moore's random abuse: Conspicuously absent is anything constructive. Even as his thoughts race around like a pinball, they hit nothing but the negative button. So let's have a debate and see if he can put up any constructive alternatives.

"Mike Moore's comments are hypocritical. I was in the Labour caucus when he was part of a vicious personal smear campaign against then Opposition leader Jim McLay − so his injured tone about John Key facing some scrutiny is a bit rich.

"Mike Moore doesn't limit his personal attacks to the other side. He was part of a personal campaign of destruction and denigration against Bill Rowling, his own party leader. There was some awful muck-throwing against Helen Clark when she replaced him, too, but you won't find that Mike Moore came out against that.

"It's simply outrageous for him to now claim New Zealand is sliding down the rich country ranking, when the slide happened on his watch and as a result of policies which both he and Roger Douglas were cheer-leaders for.

"Since Helen Clark was elected prime minister in 1999, the economy has enjoyed continuous economic growth − the longest run of continuous expansion in Mike Moore's adult lifetime. That is, perhaps, why he is so bitter. He is a failed politician, and the success of this government exposes the failure of the government he was in.

"He was prime minister for six weeks, so now he is bitter at the success of someone who has been in the job for eight, going on nine, years. One reason Labour failed so badly in the Moore era was that they were poll-driven fruitcakes who believed leadership coups were some sort of management plan for a political party. Now he wants to start another coup! Not only was he a bitter failure, he still can't see the reasons for his failure.

"He wants the limelight, because that is all Mike has ever wanted. His sentence construction and the rambling organisation of his thoughts are a pretty good clue to the lack of clarity of his ideas. Let him defend his bitterness in front of a public audience and we'll see how his scrambled ideas stand up to some scrutiny.

I'm happy to challenge him to a public debate − any time, anywhere − to give him the opportunity to defend the load of rubbish he has just dumped into the political arena, "Jim Anderton said.