There was stalemate in the Policy Council. As the 1984 election drew closer, Labour's deputy leader Geoffrey Palmer drafted a compromise that contained elements of both proposals. The Palmer paper was broadly worded, and it made no mention of devaluation. It anticipated some form of understanding between government and unions about wage restraint. It allowed for extensive consultation about economic policy and stated that necessary structural change would be gradual and agreed. When Muldoon unexpectedly called an early general election, the Labour Party adopted Palmer's paper as its economic policy. Lange said that Labour went into the election with an unfinished argument doing duty as its economic policy.