The term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics", was coined by journalists at the New Zealand Listener by analogy with Reaganomics to describe the economic policies followed by Roger Douglas after his appointment in 1984 as Minister of Finance in the Fourth Labour Government. Rogernomics was characterised by market-led restructuring and deregulation and the control of inflation through tight monetary policy, accompanied by a floating exchange rate and reductions in the fiscal deficit.^[1] Douglas came from a background of Labour Party politics. His adoption of policies more usually associated with the political right, and their implementation by the Fourth Labour Government, were the subject of lasting controversy.

Douglas and the Development of Economic Policy, 1969–1983[link]

Douglas became a Labour member of parliament at the 1969 general election. He showed his interest in economic policy in his maiden speech, in which he argued against foreign investment in the domestic economy.^[2] His case for external protection of the domestic economy and government involvement in investment was characteristic of the Labour Party of the time. From 1972–1975, Douglas was a junior minister in the Third Labour Government, where he won a reputation for his capacity for innovation.^[3] This government followed a broadly Keynesian approach to economic management.

As a minister, Douglas was innovative in context of the public sector. As Broadcasting Minister he devised an administrative structure in which two publicly-owned television channels competed against each other.^[4] He was among the government’s leading advocates of compulsory saving for retirement, which he saw not only as a supplement to public provision for retirement but as a source of funding for public investment in economic development.^[5] The superannuation scheme he helped design became law in 1974, but was disestablished by Robert Muldoon almost as soon as the National Party won the 1975 election.^[6]

Douglas maintained his interest in economic issues in opposition. He framed his chief concern as the deep-seated problems in the structure of the economy that had contributed to deteriorating economic performance and a standard of living that was slipping in comparison to that of other developed countries. In 1980, he described New Zealand as a country living on borrowed money, unable in spite of the record efforts of its exporters to pay its own way in the world.^[7]

The economic policy of successive governments had left the domestic economy sheltered and unresponsive to consumers. Inflation, which was more than ten per cent a year throughout the seventies, was high by the standards of the country’s major trading partners. There was a persistent fiscal deficit. The public sector was inefficient. A large part of the economy was controlled by regulation, some arbitrary or inconsistent. The political consensus of the post-war years produced stability at the cost of innovation.^[8] Both major political parties maintained the high levels of protection introduced by the First Labour Government from 1936 onwards, and since 1945 both parties had aimed at maintaining a structural shortage of labour. Beneficiaries of the regulated economy flourished in both public and private sectors.^[9]

Douglas argued that only radical action would improve the economic outlook. In 1980, he released an "Alternative Budget" that attacked what Douglas called the Muldoon government’s “tinkering” with the economy. He wrote that twenty years of pandering to entrenched interests had dampened productive investment. The Labour leadership saw his proposals and their unauthorised publication as unfavourable comment on Labour policy. The Labour leader Bill Rowling publicly rebuked Douglas.^[10] Douglas then published his thinking in the form of a book.^[11] Alongside far-reaching proposals for reform of taxation and government spending, it advocated a twenty per cent devaluation of the dollar to increase the competitiveness of exports. Although radical, it took an eclectic approach and did not hint at the abandonment of Labour’s Keynesian policy framework.^[12]

Douglas became increasingly frustrated by what he saw as the Labour Party’s reluctance to deal with fundamental issues of economic policy. He claimed in 1981 that Labour had an image as a party that would promise the public anything to be elected. He argued that the party should agree on its economic policy before it agreed on anything else, and allow economic reality to play a part in its decision-making. Unable to convince Rowling of the merit of his case, a disillusioned Douglas decided to stand down from parliament at the 1981 election.^[13] One of those who persuaded him to stay was Labour’s deputy leader David Lange who offered to make Douglas Minister of Finance if Lange was prime minister after the 1984 election.^[14]

After Labour’s narrow loss in the 1981 election, Douglas found a growing audience in the parliamentary party for his view that Labour’s established approach to economic policy was deficient. His colleague Mike Moore claimed that there was a public perception that Labour policy sought “to reward the lazy and defend bludgers”.^[15] Douglas’s case for a radical approach was strengthened by the belief among many of his parliamentary colleagues that the economy’s deep-seated problems could only be solved by extensive restructuring. It was understood that some restructuring must follow the Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia, which took effect in 1981 and reduced barriers to trade between Australia and New Zealand.^[16] At the same time, many economists were arguing for the greater use of competition as a tool of policy, and expressing concern about excessive or inappropriate regulation of the economy.^[17] In 1983, Lange succeeded Rowling as Labour leader. He gave Douglas responsibility for economic policy and made it clear that economic policy would determine other policy.^[18]

Although Douglas was innovative in his approach, and his open disregard for Rowling had earned him a reputation as a maverick, he remained within the mainstream of economic thinking in the parliamentary Labour Party.^[19] He argued in 1982 that the government should actively support small business, and intervene to stop the aggregation of assets by big business. In his view, the government should use the tax system to encourage productive investment and discourage speculative investment. Until the end of 1983, Douglas saw exchange rate, tax and protection policies as means of actively shaping the business environment. In August 1982 he supported a contributory superannuation scheme as a means of funding industrial development and in February 1983 he wrote a paper called “Picking Winners for Investment” which proposed the establishment of local consultative groups to guide regional development. In a paper dated May 1983 Douglas argued that an unregulated market led to unhealthy concentrations of market power.^[20]

A New Direction, 1983-1984[link]

At the end of 1983 there was a marked change in Douglas’s thinking. He released a paper called the “Economic Policy Package” which called for a market-led restructuring of the economy. The key proposal was a 20 per cent devaluation of the dollar, to be followed by the removal of subsidies to industry, border protection and export incentives. The paper doubted the value of “picking winners” and saw only a limited place for government funding of economic development.^[21] His colleague Stan Rodger described the paper as a “quite unacceptable leap to the right”. It immediately polarised opinion in the Labour Party.^[22]

Douglas characterised the policy package as restrained and responsible, and an appropriate response to the country’s economic difficulties.^[23] He acknowledged the contribution to the package of Doug Andrew, a Treasury officer on secondment to the parliamentary opposition, among others.^[24] W H Oliver noted the close alignment of the package and Economic Management, Treasury’s 1984 briefing to the incoming government.^[25] His assessment was that Douglas was predisposed towards the Treasury view because its implementation required decisive action and because greater reliance on the market solved what Douglas saw as the problem of interest-group participation in policy-making.^[26]

Division in Labour over economic policy crystallised when a competing proposal was submitted to the Labour Party's Policy Council. Its proponents included Rowling and others who had resisted his replacement as leader. It argued for a Keynesian use of monetary and fiscal policy. It was sceptical about the ability of the private sector to promote economic development. Economic restructuring was to be led by the government, which would act within a consultative framework. In this way, the social costs of restructuring would be avoided.^[27]

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. 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.^[28] 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.^[29]

Minister of Finance, 1984-1988[link]

The key element of Douglas’s economic thinking was implemented after Labour won the 1984 election but before it was formally sworn into office. This was the 20 per cent devaluation of the New Zealand dollar. The announcement of the snap election immediately provoked selling of the dollar by dealers who anticipated that a change of government would lead to a substantial devaluation. The result was a currency crisis that became a matter of public knowledge two days after the general election. Muldoon refused to accept official advice that devaluation was the only way to stop the currency crisis and provoked a brief constitutional crisis when he initially declined to implement the incoming government’s instruction that he devalue. Both crises were soon settled when Muldoon accepted that he had no choice but to devalue.^[30] Although devaluation was a contentious issue in the Labour Party and was not part of Labour’s election policy, the decisiveness with which the incoming government acted won it popular acclaim and enhanced Douglas’s standing in the new cabinet.^[31]

The reformers argued that the speed with which the reforms were made was due to the fact that New Zealand had not adjusted to Britain’s abandonment of the empire, and had to move quickly to ‘catch up’ with the rest of the world.^[32] Douglas claimed in his 1993 book Unfinished Business that speed was a key strategy for achieving radical economic change: "Define your objectives clearly, and move towards them in quantum leaps, otherwise the interest groups will have time to mobilise and drag you down".^[33] Political commentator Bruce Jesson argued that Douglas acted fast to achieve a complete economic revolution within one parliamentary term, in case he did not get a second chance.^[34] The reforms can be summarised as the dismantling of the Australasian orthodoxy of state development that had existed for the previous 90 years, and its replacement by the Anglo-American neo-classical model based on the monetarist policies of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School.^[32] The financial market was deregulated and controls on foreign exchange removed. Subsidies to many industries, notably agriculture, were removed or significantly reduced, as was tariff protection. The marginal tax rate was halved over a number of years from 66% to 33%; this was paid for by the introduction of a tax on goods and services (GST) initially at 10%, later 12.5% (and eventually in 2011, 15%), and a surtax on superannuation, which had been made universal from age 60 by the previous government.^[35]

Immediate results[link]

New Zealand became part of a global economy. With no restrictions on overseas money coming into the country the focus in the economy shifted from the productive sector to finance.^[36] Finance capital outstripped industrial capital^[32] and redundancies occurred in manufacturing industry; approximately 76,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 1987 and 1992.^[33] During wage bargaining in 1986 and 1987, employers started to bargain harder. Lock-outs were not uncommon; the most spectacular occurred at a pulp and paper mill owned by Fletcher Challenge and led to changes to work practices and a no-strike commitment from the union. Later settlements drew further concessions from unions, including below-inflation wage increases, a cut in real wages.^[37] There was a structural change in the economy from industry to services, which, along with the arrival of trans-Tasman retail chains and an increasingly cosmopolitan hospitality industry, led to a new ‘café culture’ enjoyed by more affluent New Zealanders. Some argue that for the rest of the population, Rogernomics failed to deliver the higher standard of living promised by its advocates.^[32]

Over 15 years, New Zealand's economy and social capital faced a steady decline: the youth suicide rate grew sharply into one of the highest in the developed world;^[38] the proliferation of food banks increased dramatically;^[39] marked increases in violent and other crime were observed;^[40] the number of New Zealanders estimated to be living in poverty grew by at least 35% between 1989 and 1992;^[41] and health care was especially hard-hit, leading to a significant deterioration in health standards among working and middle class people.^[42] In addition, many of the promised economic benefits of the experiment never materialised.^[43] Between 1985 and 1992, New Zealand's economy grew by 4.7% during the same period in which the average OECD nation grew by 28.2%.^[44] From 1984–1993 inflation averaged 9% per year, New Zealand's credit rating dropped twice, and foreign debt quadrupled.^[45] Between 1986 and 1993, the unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 11%.^[46]

Legacy[link]

After Rogernomics, the New Zealand Labour Party was paralysed by infighting for most of the next six years, as former Trade Minister Mike Moore became Leader of the Opposition (1990–1993), followed by Helen Clark, whose first term as Leader of the Opposition was undermined by Moore's populist personal faction. However, Clark survived and steadily gained ground during the third and final term of the Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley administrations. Much like Tony Blair in the United Kingdom, Clark decided on a compromise solution, combining advocacy of the open economy and free trade with greater emphasis on fighting the New Right consequences of social exclusion.

The policies of Ruth Richardson, sometimes called "Ruthanasia", are often seen as a continuation of Rogernomics. Richardson was Finance Minister in the National Party government from 1990 to 1993.

In New Zealand advocates of radical economic policies are often branded as "rogergnomes" by their opponents, linking their views to Douglas's and the supposed baleful influence of international bankers, characterised as the Gnomes of Zürich.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bell, Judith (2006). I See Red: The shocking story of a battle against The Warehouse. Wellington: Awa Press. ISBN 0-9582509-7-9. 
• Douglas, Roger (1987). Toward Prosperity. Auckland: David Bateman. ISBN 0-908610-70-X. 
• James, Colin (1986). The Quiet Revolution. Wellington: Allen & Unwin New Zealand Ltd in association with Port Nicholson Press. ISBN 0-86861-722-9. 
• Kelsey, Jane (1995). The New Zealand Experiment: A World Model for Structural Adjustment. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-130-1. 

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The Honourable Peter Dunne MP
Minister of Revenue
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 October 2005
Prime Minister	Helen Clark John Key
Leader of United Future
Incumbent
Assumed office 2002
Deputy	Judy Turner
Preceded by	Position Established
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Ohariu (Previously Ohariu - Belmont)
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 July 1984
Preceded by	Hugh Templeton
Personal details
Born	(1954-03-17) 17 March 1954 (age 58) Christchurch, New Zealand
Political party	United Future New Zealand

Peter Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament who leads the United Future political party. He has served as a Cabinet minister in governments dominated by the centre-left Labour Party as well as by the centre-right National Party. From 2005-2008 he held the posts of Minister of Revenue and Associate Minister of Health as a minister outside of Cabinet with the Labour-led government. After Labour suffered an election defeat in 2008 to the National Party, United Future was reduced to having Peter Dunne as its sole MP. However, in a deal between United Future and National, Dunne retained his two portfolios outside cabinet.^[1]

Dunne entered Parliament for the Labour Party in 1984 and resigned from Labour in 1994.

Early life and family[link]

Peter Dunne was born in Christchurch. He gained an MA in political science from Canterbury University before studying business administration at Massey University. He worked for the Department of Trade and Industry from 1977 to 1978 and then for the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council until 1984. He served as Deputy Chief Executive of the Council from 1980 onwards. In 1976, he married highschool chemistry teacher Jennifer Mackrell, and they have two sons.

Member of Parliament[link]

Labour MP[link]

In the 1984 elections, Dunne successfully stood for Parliament, winning the seat of Ohariu as a candidate of the Labour Party, defeating National MP Hugh Templeton. Bob Jones, leader of the New Zealand Party (not to be confused with New Zealand First) also stood in the seat, splitting the National vote, and ensuring a Labour victory in the seat. He held that seat in the 1987 elections, after which he became a Parliamentary Undersecretary. Later, in 1990, he became Minister of Regional Development, Associate Minister for the Environment, and Associate Minister of Justice. He retained his seat again in the 1990 elections, but the Labour government suffered defeat, and Dunne lost his ministerial posts.

In the 1993 elections, Dunne won the seat of Onslow, which covered much the same area as his former Ohariu seat. He found himself, however, increasingly at odds with the majority of the Labour Party – Dunne tended to support Labour's right-leaning faction rather than the party's more unionist wing. With the departure of leading right-wingers like Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and David Caygill he found himself isolated. In October 1994 Dunne resigned from the Labour Party, becoming an independent. A short time later, he established the Future New Zealand party (not to be confused with a later party of the same name).

United New Zealand Party[link]

In 1995, however, a group of MPs from both Labour and National decided to band together and form a new centrist party. Dunne, who had already quit his party in a similar way, decided to join the larger group. Together, the defectors and Dunne established the United New Zealand party, with a total of seven MPs, led by Clive Matthewson. United eventually established a coalition with the National Party, with the deal seeing Dunne return to Cabinet as Minister of Internal Affairs and Inland Revenue.

The 1996 elections, however, saw United almost completely wiped out – Dunne, by virtue of his personal support, won the newly-formed seat of Ohariu-Belmont, but all other United MPs suffered defeat. As the sole surviving United member in the House, Dunne became the party's leader. Towards the end of the parliamentary term, Dunne became part of a varied assortment of minor parties and independents who kept the National Party government in office after its coalition with New Zealand First collapsed in August 1998. Dunne retained his seat in the 1999 elections. In this contest, the National Party put up no candidate in his electorate.

United Future New Zealand Party[link]

Shortly before the 2002 elections, Dunne's United merged with the Future New Zealand party (not to be confused with Dunne's own earlier party of the same name). Dunne remained leader of the new group, called United Future New Zealand. In the 2002 elections, Dunne retained his seat despite challenges from both major parties. Mostly as a result of a strong performance by Dunne in a televised political debate, United Future surged unexpectedly in support, winning 6.69% of the nationwide party vote. In Parliament, United Future came to an agreement to support the governing Labour Party, although the two parties did not enter into a formal coalition arrangement. Dunne remained United Future's leader.

United Future New Zealand working with Outdoor Recreation[link]

United Future, like other minor political parties working in coalition, suffered in the polls. The United Future entered an agreement to work formally with the Outdoor Recreation Party, a registered political party formed to represent the views of hunters, fishers, trampers and recreational users of the marine and natural environment.

Dunne retained his seat in the 2005 general election but his party's proportion of the nationwide vote diminished considerably, with a corresponding loss of seats in Parliament.

Fifth Labour Government[link]

On 17 October 2005 Dunne gave his support to a new Labour-led Government, with the support of Winston Peters’ New Zealand First Party and Jim Anderton’s Progressive Party.

Dunne’s decision to support a Labour-led Government disappointed some. During the election campaign Dunne and National Leader Don Brash publicly sat outside an Epsom café over a cup of tea as a demonstration to the electorate that Dunne could co-operate with the National Party. This demonstration saw the majority of National supporters in Ohariu-Belmont combine with United Future and other Dunne-supporters to return Peter Dunne with a comfortable majority. National won the party vote in his seat by 3.57% over Labour. Dunne's party received 5.55%, while the Green Party, which Dunne had criticised heavily in the campaign, received 5.84%.

Dunne's decision to work with Winston Peters also couterpointed Dunne's previous comments about Peters' reliability. In one well-publicised press release Dunne reworded one of Peters' well-publicised campaign phrases by saying "Can we trust him? No, we can’t!"^[2]

Don Brash expressed a lack of amusement with Dunne's decision to support a Labour-led coalition government. Brash expressed astonishment at Dunne accepting the important ministerial portfolio of Revenue while remaining outside Cabinet. Asked if he considered Dunne guilty of dirty dealing, Brash said he would not use those words.^[3] Representatives of business, however, welcomed the appointment.^[4]

After the New Zealand general election, 2005, United Future retained only two list Members of Parliament, Judy Turner and Gordon Copeland. Copeland left the party in May 2007 to re-form the Future New Zealand Party, after opposing Dunne over Sue Bradford's private members bill against parental corporal punishment of children. After Copeland's departure, Judy Turner remained the only United Future List MP in Parliament.

Dunne supported Sue Bradford's Child Discipline Act.

Fifth National Government[link]

United Future's share of the party vote declined further in the 2008 election, to less than one percent.^[5] However Dunne retained his electorate. The National Party won most seats overall and formed a minority government with support from Dunne, the Maori Party and Act New Zealand. Dunne retained his position of Minister of Revenue and also became an Associate Minister of Health. However, like Ministers from the other support parties, he remained outside Cabinet.^[6]

Dunne attracted attention during this term due to his decision to "plank" on a live TV programme following the deaths of a number of young people doing it in contrast to his normally sensible image.^[7]

Political philosophy[link]

Dunne sees himself as a centrist and generally describes his policies as based on moderate liberalism and common sense.

He strongly supported the decriminalisation of homosexuality when it became an issue in the mid 1980s, and has consistently favoured more liberal drinking laws. In a 2008 interview, he suggested it may be time to review New Zealand's abortion laws and leave the decision to a woman and her doctor, based on informed consent.^[8]

Since 2007, Dunne has rebranded United Future as a modern centre party, based on promoting strong families and vibrant communities. He wants United Future to become New Zealand's version of Britain's Liberal Democrats. Dunne has summarised his political views in two books, Home is Where My Heart Is (2002) and In the Centre of Things (2005).

In 2010, Dunne, as Minister of Revenue he introduced the Taxation (Income-sharing Tax Credit) Bill to Parliament in September 2010, to give effect to UnitedFuture's policy of allowing couples raising dependent children up to the age of 18 years to share their incomes for tax purposes. The Bill was referred to a select committee and was reported back to Parliament in March 2011, and is currently awaiting its second reading. In April 2011, the government announced the establishment of a statutory Game Animal Council, another UnitedFuture initiative agreed to as part of the 2008 confidence and supply agreement.

Republicanism[link]

Dunne strongly supports a New Zealand republic, and holding an early referendum on the future of New Zealand's head of state is now part of United Future's policy programme.^[9] In 2004, he chaired the Constitutional Arrangements Committee. Dunne also supports the creation of a New Zealand Day and has sponsored a members' Bill on the issue.

Criticisms[link]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (May 2012)

Although preaching liberalism and policies that are based on common sense, Dunne has often been seen as having a very obtuse and one sided view on the subject of drug law reform. He is well known for putting down emergency bans on substances that he doesn't personally agree with no consideration of any scientific studies or recommendations, often times this only results in people finding alternatives that are usually more dangerous. Dunne's actions have often led people to question his political stance. Despite being democratic and liberal, without even opening up the subject to debate or taking scientific research into consideration, he takes an oppressive stance on drug laws and undemocratically puts through legislation without the consent or opinion of the masses (often having negative effects on the community). ^[10]

Medical Marijuana[link]

Despite the Law commission's recommendation^[11], Peter Dunne took a hard line stance on the subject of medical marijuana quoting “If the active ingredient of cannabis is seen as essential or beneficial for pain relief there are already pharmaceutical forms of it available that provide measured doses and quality control,” Dunne decided that there will be no medical trials permitted by the government on medical cannabis and that the subject was closed to debate ^[12]

Synthetic Cannabinoids[link]

After passing a law that allowed the government to impose an emergency ban on any substance, Dunne banned all synthetic cannabis alternatives saying that there wasn't enough research on them to prove their safety. However clinical trials done before the ban showing their safety were disregarded by Dunne. People contacted Dunne telling him that they had some success in using synthetic cannabinoids as an alternative to medical cannabis, Dunne responded via his youtube Vlog after the ban saying "a lot of people claim they have a benefit from it, frankly I don't see it" further putting his liberal and democratic political standpoint under scrutiny ^[13]

Political works[link]

• Dunne, Peter (2002). Home is Where My Heart Is. Wellington, [N.Z.]: United Future New Zealand. ISBN 0-473-08433-3. 

• Dunne, Peter (2005). In the Centre of Things. Wellington, [N.Z.]: Dunmore Press / United Future New Zealand. ISBN 1-877399-03-5. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikinews has related news: New Zealand girls planned "undie run" defended by politician

• Profile at United Future party
• Profile at New Zealand Parliament
• Releases and speeches at Beehive.govt.nz
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.co.nz

The Right Honourable Jim Bolger ONZ
Jim Bolger at a foundation of KiwiRail press conference, July 2008
35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 2 November 1990 – 8 December 1997 (7 years)
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Paul Reeves Catherine Tizard Michael Hardie Boys
Deputy	Don McKinnon (1990–1996) Winston Peters (1996–1997)
Preceded by	Mike Moore
Succeeded by	Jenny Shipley
Constituency	King Country; later renamed Taranaki-King Country
25th Leader of the Opposition
In office 26 March 1986 – 2 November 1990
Preceded by	Jim McLay
Succeeded by	Mike Moore
Personal details
Born	(1935-05-31) 31 May 1935 (age 77) Taranaki, New Zealand
Political party	National
Spouse(s)	Joan Riddell (m. 1963)
Children	9
Profession	Politician, businessman
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Brendan "Jim" Bolger, ONZ (born 31 May 1935) was the 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was elected on the promise of delivering a "Decent Society" following the previous Labour government's economic reforms, known as Rogernomics. Shortly after taking office, his government was forced to bail out the Bank of New Zealand and as a result reneged on a number of promises made during the election campaign. His term in office saw the introduction of the MMP electoral system in 1996.

Early life[link]

Bolger was born in Opunake, Taranaki, one of five children^[1] born to immigrants from Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. He left Opunake High School at age 15 to work on the family farm.^[2]

In 1963 he married Joan Riddell, and they moved to their own sheep and beef farm in Te Kuiti two years later.^[1] During this time Bolger became involved in local farmer politics. In the late 1960s he was asked to accompany the then Minister of Finance Robert Muldoon to see for himself the difficulties faced by farmers in the area. As Bolger travelled around the district, he became experienced with Muldoon's adversarial style.^[1]

Member of Parliament[link]

Bolger entered politics in 1972 as the New Zealand National Party Member of Parliament for the King Country electorate. He represented this electorate, renamed Taranaki-King Country in 1996, until his retirement in 1998. In 1975 he was made a cabinet minister under Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, first as New Zealand's Minister of Fisheries and Associate Minister of Agriculture (1977), later as Minister of Labour following the 1978 election.^[3]

After the defeat of National at the 1984 general elections, Bolger and deputy leader Jim McLay challenged Muldoon for the leadership of the party. McLay succeeded, making Bolger his deputy, but in 1986 Bolger made another attempt and unseated McLay. Following an unsuccessful election in 1987, National under Bolger went on to win the biggest landslide in New Zealand history in 1990. As a result, Bolger became Prime Minister at the age of 55.^[4]

Prime Minister[link]

Three days after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Bolger's government needed to bail out the Bank of New Zealand, then the largest bank in the country. The cost of the bail out was $380 million, but after rewriting its budget, the government needed to borrow $740 million.^[5] This had an immediate impact on Bolger's direction in government, with the first budget of his premiership being dubbed the "Mother of All Budgets".^[6]

Economic policy[link]

Bolger's government initially continued the economic and social reforms of the previous Labour government, with Finance Minister Ruth Richardson implementing drastic cuts in public spending, known as "Ruthanasia", particularly in health and welfare. The first budget specifically reversed National's election promise to remove the tax surcharge on superannuation.^[6]

Following the close 1993 general election Bolger demoted Richardson to the back benches and appointed Bill Birch, who was seen as more moderate. During Birch's tenure, spending on core areas such as health^[7] and education increased.

Bolger's government also passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994.

His government also introduced the Building Act 1991, which is seen by some as the most crucial factor leading to the leaky homes crisis in the decade following its introduction.^[8]

Foreign policy[link]

Bolger's government continued the previous Labour government's anti-nuclear policy.

Electoral reform[link]

Bolger opposed electoral reform,^[4] but despite his party's opposition held a referendum on whether or not New Zealand should change from the British-style electoral system of 'first past the post' to one of proportional representation. In 1992, New Zealanders voted to change to the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. This was confirmed in a binding referendum held at the same time as the 1993 general election, which National won. Bolger had originally proposed a return to a bicameral system, with a Senate elected by Single Transferable Vote,^[4] but this proposal was dropped in the face of support for electoral reform.

National identity and republicanism[link]

Bolger's government passed the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act 1992. During the 1994 Address-in-Reply debate, Bolger argued in favour of a New Zealand republic. Bolger denied that his views relate to his Irish heritage.^[9] Bolger's call for a republic was publicly disavowed by three Cabinet ministers (John Carter, John Banks and Simon Upton), and support for a republic was recorded at one third of the population. Proposals to end the status of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the country's highest court of appeal also failed to gain parliamentary sanction; however the Fifth Labour Government replaced the right of appeal in 2003 with the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

Bolger's government also ended the awarding of British honours in 1996, introducing a New Zealand Honours System. At a conference on the "Bolger years" in 2007, Bolger recalled speaking to the Queen about the issue of New Zealand becoming a republic: "I have more than once spoken with Her Majesty about my view that New Zealand would at some point elect its own Head of State, we discussed the matter in a most sensible way and she was in no way surprised or alarmed and neither did she cut my head off."^[10]

MMP politics[link]

In 1996 New Zealand had its first election under MMP, and Bolger became caretaker Prime Minister until a coalition with a majority in parliament could be formed. Both Bolger and Labour leader Helen Clark sought the support of New Zealand First, which held the balance of power in the new House. Its leader, Winston Peters, had left the National Party to form his own party, and opposed many of the free-market reforms implemented by National, and Labour before it. In December a coalition was formed between National and New Zealand First, with Peters being appointed to the new post of Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer (senior to the existing post of Finance Minister, which was given to National's Bill Birch).

Treaty of Waitangi settlements[link]

Bolger's government settled three major claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. Largely due to the work of Bolger's Minister of Justice and Treaty Negotiations, Sir Douglas Graham, the Ngāi Tahu, Waikato-Tainui and fisheries settlements were reached. However, the creation of the so-called "fiscal envelope" of $1 billion for all settlements of claims – an effective limit on what the Crown would pay out in settlements – by the Bolger government was an unpopular move with Māori.

Resignation[link]

Growing opposition to Bolger's slow pace led Transport Minister Jenny Shipley to stage a caucus room coup in 1997. Bolger was out of the country at the time, and when he returned he found that he did not have enough support in his caucus to remain as party leader and prime minister. Rather than face being voted out, he resigned on 8 December, and Shipley became New Zealand's first woman prime minister. As a concession to Bolger, he was made a junior minister in Shipley's government.

Life after politics[link]

Bolger presides over a student's graduation at the University of Waikato.

He retired as MP for Taranaki-King Country in 1998, prompting the 1998 by-election and was subsequently appointed to the position of Ambassador to the United States. On his return to New Zealand in 2001, he was appointed Chairman of the state-owned New Zealand Post and its subsidiary Kiwibank. He also chairs Express Couriers Ltd, Trustees Executors Ltd, the Gas Industry Company Ltd, the Advisory Board of the World Agricultural Forum, St. Louis, USA, the New Zealand United States Council, and the Board of Directors of the Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy. Bolger was made a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1997.

Bolger was elected Chancellor of Waikato University on 14 February 2007, succeeding John Jackman. In April 2007 Bolger revealed at a conference that he suffers from the painful nerve disease trigeminal neuralgia, which is not life-threatening.

On 1 July 2008, almost 15 years after his National-led Government sold New Zealand Rail Ltd, the Labour-led Government repurchased its successor Toll NZ Ltd (less its Tranz Link trucking and distribution arm), having repurchased the track network in 2003. Bolger became chair of the company, renamed KiwiRail, a position he held until 1 July 2010. Some people, including Winston Peters, view this as hypocritical. In response, Bolger acknowledged his involvement in privatising New Zealand Rail, remarking that "my life is full of ironies."^[11]

Bolger and his wife Joan are Roman Catholics with nine children. Bolger voted pro-life whenever the issue came up in a conscience vote. He is a member of Collegium International.^[12]

Retiring politician journalist Peter Luke said that Bolger was "[t]he most under-estimated prime minister I have come across. He made up for his lack of education by having an innate ability to relate to the aspirations of ordinary Kiwis. And, as many civil servants discovered to their cost, his image of being a simple King Country farmer did not mean that he would not understand their reports and unfailingly point to the flaws in them."^[13]

Trivia[link]

• Bolger is the only New Zealand Prime Minister to be born in Taranaki.^[1]
• Bolger was affectionately nicknamed "the Great Helmsman" for his master of MMP.^[4]
• During a public appearance with an Irish Prime Minister, Bolger (who tended to mirror those he was talking to) spoke in an Irish accent.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jim Bolger

• Prime Minister’s Office Biography

The Right Honourable Helen Clark ONZ SSI
Clark in 2010.
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 April 2009
Secretary-General	Ban Ki-Moon
Preceded by	Kemal Derviş
37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 5 December 1999 – 19 November 2008
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Michael Hardie Boys Silvia Cartwright Anand Satyanand
Deputy	Jim Anderton Michael Cullen
Preceded by	Jenny Shipley
Succeeded by	John Key
27th Leader of the Opposition
In office 1 December 1993 – 5 December 1999
Deputy	Michael Cullen
Preceded by	Mike Moore
Succeeded by	Jenny Shipley
11th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 8 August 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime Minister	Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore
Preceded by	Geoffrey Palmer
Succeeded by	Don McKinnon
29th Minister of Health
In office 30 January 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime Minister	David Lange Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore
Preceded by	David Caygill
Succeeded by	Simon Upton
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mount Albert
In office 28 November 1981 – 17 April 2009[1]
Preceded by	Warren Freer
Succeeded by	David Shearer
Majority	14,749[2]
Personal details
Born	(1950-02-26) 26 February 1950 (age 62) Hamilton, New Zealand
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Peter Davis
Alma mater	University of Auckland
Signature

Helen Elizabeth Clark, ONZ (born 26 February 1950) was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand serving three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008, making her the fifth longest serving person to hold that office.^[3] She has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the third-highest UN position, since 2009.^[4]

Born in and raised just south of Hamilton, Clark graduated from the University of Auckland in 1974 and became political in her teenage years, involving herself in the New Zealand Labour Party from a young age. A junior lecturer at the University in the early 1970s, Clark entered local politics in 1974 in Auckland but was not elected to any position. Returning to lecturing at University after studying abroad, she successfully ran as a Member of Parliament for the Mount Albert electorate in 1981, a position she held until her resignation in 2009. During the 1980s and early 90s, Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour government, including Minister of Housing, Minister of Health and Minister of Conservation. She would hold the position of Deputy Prime Minister for a year.

After Labour's strong showing in the 1993 election, Clark challenged the Labour leadership of Mike Moore and won, becoming the Leader of the Opposition. After failing to win the 1996 election, she led the Labour Party to a sweeping victory in the 1999 election. As Prime Minister of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, Clark's government presided over nearly a decade of economic growth, while still maintaining a large internal government deficit.^{[neutrality is disputed]}

Clark's government implemented several major economic initiatives including Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and KiwiSaver. Her government's other major policies included the Working for Families package, increasing the minimum wage 5% a year, interest-free student loans, creation of District Health Boards, the introduction of a number of tax credits and overhauling the secondary school qualifications by introducing NCEA. Her government also introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which caused major controversy and was eventually repealed in 2011. In foreign policy, Clark advocated a number of free trade agreements with major trading partners, including becoming the first developed nation to sign such an agreement with China, deployed New Zealand Defence Force personnel to the war in Afghanistan, rejected New Zealand deployment to the Iraq War and ordered a military deployment to the 2006 East Timorese crisis alongside international partners.

Her government was defeated in the 2008 election and she resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. She resigned from Parliament in April 2009 from her Mount Albert electorate and was replaced by David Shearer, current Labour Party leader, to take up the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme which was strongly supported by the government that succeeded her in New Zealand. Forbes magazine ranked her 20th most powerful woman in the world in 2006^[5] and 50th in 2012.^[6]

Early life[link]

Clark was the eldest of four daughters of a farming family at Te Pahu in the Waikato Region. Her mother, Margaret McMurray, of Irish birth, was a primary school teacher. Her father, George, was a farmer. Clark studied at Te Pahu Primary School, at Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland and at the University of Auckland, where she majored in politics and graduated with an MA (Honours) in 1974. Her thesis focused on rural political behaviour and representation.^[7]

As a teenager Clark became politically active, protesting against the Vietnam War and campaigning against foreign military bases in New Zealand. She has declared herself agnostic.^[8]

In 1971 Clark assisted Labour candidates to the Auckland City Council.^[9] Clark was a junior lecturer in political studies at the University of Auckland from 1973 to 1975. In 1974 she sought the nomination for the Auckland Central electorate, but lost to Richard Prebble.^[9] She instead stood for the Piako, a National safe seat.^[10] Clark studied abroad on a University Grants Committee post-graduate scholarship in 1976, and then lectured in political studies at Auckland again while undertaking her PhD (which she never completed) from 1977 until her election to Parliament in 1981 (her father supported the National Party that election).

Clark's husband, Peter Davis

She married sociologist Peter Davis, her partner of five years at that time, shortly before that election (under pressure from some members of the New Zealand Labour Party to marry despite her own feelings about marriage – her biography reports that she cried throughout the ceremony, although she attributes that to a headache).^[11] Dr Davis currently^[update] is a professor in medical sociology and heads the Sociology Department at the University of Auckland.

Clark has worked actively in the New Zealand Labour Party for most of her life. She served as a member of the Party's New Zealand executive from 1978 until September 1988 and again from April 1989. She chaired the University of Auckland Princes Street branch of the Labour Party during her studies, becoming active alongside future Labour Party politicians including Richard Prebble, David Caygill, Margaret Wilson, and Richard Northey. Clark held the positions of president of the Labour Youth Council, executive member of the Party's Auckland Regional Council, secretary of the Labour Women's Council and member of the Policy Council.

She represented the New Zealand Labour Party at the congresses of the Socialist International and of the Socialist International Women in 1976, 1978, 1983 and 1986, at an Asia-Pacific Socialist Organisation Conference held in Sydney in 1981, and at the Socialist International Party Leaders' Meeting in Sydney in 1991.

Member of Parliament[link]

Helen Clark first gained election to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 1981 general election as one of four women who entered Parliament on that occasion. In winning the Mount Albert electorate in Auckland, she became the second woman elected to represent an Auckland electorate, and the seventeenth woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament. At the 2005 general election Clark won 66% of the electorate votes, or 20,918 votes with a 14,749 majority.^[2] During her first term in the House (1981–1984), she became a member of the Statutes Revision Committee. In her second term (1984–1987), she chaired the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Select Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, both of which combined with the Defence Select Committee in 1985 to form a single committee.

Cabinet Minister[link]

In 1987, Clark became a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth Labour Government, led by David Lange (1984–1989), Geoffrey Palmer (1989–1990) and Mike Moore (1990), first as Minister of Housing and as Minister of Conservation, then as Minister of Health and later as Deputy Prime Minister.

Clark served as Minister of Conservation from August 1987 until January 1989 and as Minister of Housing from August 1987 until August 1989. She became Minister of Health in January 1989 and Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister in August 1989. She chaired the Cabinet Social Equity Committee and became a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee, of the Cabinet Committee on Chief Executives, of the Cabinet Economic Development and Employment Committee, of the Cabinet Expenditure Review Committee, of the Cabinet State Agencies Committee, of the Cabinet Honours Appointments and Travel Committee and of the Cabinet Domestic and External Security Committee.

Leader of the Opposition[link]

From October 1990 until December 1993 Clark held the posts of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Opposition spokesperson for Health and Labour and member of the Social Services Select Committee and of the Labour Select Committee. After the National Party won the 1993 general election with a majority of one seat, Clark challenged Mike Moore for the leadership of the parliamentary Labour Party and became Leader of the Opposition on 1 December 1993. She led the Opposition during the National-led Governments of Jim Bolger (1990–1997) and Jenny Shipley (1997–1999).

Prime minister[link]

Official portrait of Helen Clark (2005)

When the New Zealand Labour Party came into office as part of a coalition following the 1999 election, Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the first to have won office at an election. (The previous Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley took office as the result of a mid-term party-leadership challenge.) During her term in office women held a number of prominent elected and appointed offices in New Zealand, such as the Governor-General, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice.

Clark was Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage from 1999 until 2008. She also had ministerial responsibility for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and for Ministerial Services. Her particular interests included social policy and international affairs.

As Prime Minister, Helen Clark was a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilise the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

As Leader of the Labour Party, Clark negotiated the formation of successive minority coalition governments. Even though some commentators^{[citation needed]} saw stable government within the relatively new MMP electoral system as unlikely, Clark's supporters^{[citation needed]} credit her with maintaining three terms of stable MMP government.

First term[link]

The first such coalition (1999–2002) linked the Labour Party with the Alliance Party (1999).

In 2000, Labour MP Chris Carter investigated the background of one of Clark's Cabinet colleagues, Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels. During the investigation, Clark referred to John Yelash as a murderer. However, the court system had convicted Yelash of manslaughter. Yelash sued Clark for defamation, resulting in an out-of-court settlement.

Clark with Paul Wolfowitz at the Pentagon on 26 March 2002.

In 2000, the then Police Commissioner, Peter Doone, resigned after the Sunday Star-Times alleged he had prevented the breath testing of his partner Robyn, who had driven the car they occupied, by telling the officer "that won't be necessary". Both Doone and the officer involved denied this happened. Doone sued the Sunday Star-Times for defamation in 2005 but the paper revealed they had checked the story with Clark. She confirmed this, but denied that she had made attempts to get Doone to resign and defended being the source as "by definition I cannot leak". Helen Clark also responded by saying that National's friends had funded Mr Doone's defamation-suit.^[12] Opinion on the significance of this incident varied.^[13]

In a report in the People's Daily, Chinese President Jiang Zemin referred to Clark as an "old friend". He hoped to "establish bilateral long-term and stable overall cooperative relations with a healthy development geared to the 21st century", and "broad prospects for bilateral economic cooperation". Clark had strongly supported China's entry into the WTO.^[14]

In 1999, Clark was involved in a defamation case in the High Court of New Zealand with Auckland orthopaedic surgeon Joe Brownlee, resulting in Clark making an unreserved apology. The case centered on a press statement issued by Clark criticising Brownlee, triggered by a constituent's complaint over the outcome of a hip replacement. Clark admitted the criticism was unjustified in that the complication suffered by her constituent was rare, unforeseen and unavoidable.^[15]

Second term[link]

The Alliance Party split in 2002 over the Government's commitment of New Zealand troops to the War in Afghanistan, leading to the imminent dissolution of Labour's coalition of that party.^[16] As a consequence, Clark called an early election and then went into coalition with Jim Anderton's Progressive Party, a spin-off of the Alliance Party (2002, with parliamentary confidence and supply coming from United Future and a "good-faith" agreement with the Green Party).

Clark believes a New Zealand republic is "inevitable",^[17] and her term in office saw a number of alleged moves in this direction, under her government's policy of building national identity. Examples include the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council in London and the foundation of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the abolition of titular Knighthood and Damehood honours (restored in 2009), and the abolition of the title "Queen's Counsel" (replaced by "Senior Counsel").

In 2002, Clark took an unprecedented step and said sorry for New Zealand's treatment of Samoa during the colonial era. Clark's apology was made in Apia during the 40th anniversary of Samoa's independence and televised live to New Zealand where Samoans applauded the prime minister's gesture.^[18]

In March 2003, referring to the U.S. led coalition's actions in the Iraq War, Clark told the newspaper Sunday Star Times that, "I don't think that 11 September under a Gore presidency would have had this consequence for Iraq." She later sent a letter to Washington apologising for any offence that her comment may have caused.^{[19][dead link]}

On 17 July 2004, a motorcade involving police, Diplomatic Protection Squad, and Ministerial Services staff reached speeds of up to 172 km/h when taking Clark and Cabinet Minister Jim Sutton from Waimate to Christchurch Airport so she could attend a rugby union match in Wellington.^[20] The courts subsequently convicted the drivers involved for driving offences, but appeals resulted in the quashing of these convictions in December 2005 and August 2006.^[21] Clark said that she was busy working in the back seat and had no influence or role in the decision to speed and did not realise the speed of her vehicle.^[22]

Third term[link]

Helen Clark at the opening of Waikato River Trail at Whakamaru, 2007

In 2005, following the election of that year, the Labour Party and the Progressive Party renewed their coalition, gaining supply-and-confidence support from both New Zealand First and United Future in exchange for giving the leaders of those parties ministerial positions outside Cabinet.

On 24 July 2008, Clark passed Sir Robert Muldoon to become New Zealand's sixth-longest-serving Prime Minister, and on 27 October 2008 she passed Edward Stafford's combined terms to become the 5th longest-serving Prime Minister.

On 8 February 2008, Clark became the longest serving leader of the Labour Party in its history (although some dispute exists over when the party's first and therefore the first male leader Harry Holland became leader), having served for 14 years, 69 days,^[23][i] by 26 October 2008 she had passed Holland's longest possible term and her position as longest serving Labour Party leader was put beyond doubt. Clark conceded defeat following the 2008 general election to John Key and announced that she was standing down as Labour Party leader.^[24] On 11 November 2008 Clark was replaced by Phil Goff as leader of the Labour Party.^[25]

Clark became the first defeated Labour Prime Minister to immediately resign the party leadership rather than lead it in Opposition.

In 2006, Forbes ranked Clark 20th of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women"^[5] and then at 56th in 2008.^[26]

Mid term, Clark signed a painting for a charity-auction that someone else had painted. Opposition politicians referred the matter to the Police^[27] who found evidence for a prima facie case of forgery, but determined that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.^{[28][dead link]}

United Nations Development Programme[link]

Helen Clark became the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on 17 April 2009, and is the first woman to lead the organization. She is also the Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development issues.^[29] The current government of New Zealand strongly supported her nomination, along with Australia, the Pacific Island nations and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown. She also received the support of the five countries on the UNDP board (Iran, Haiti, Serbia, The Netherlands and Tanzania) and was unanimously confirmed by the General Assembly on 31 March. She was officially sworn in by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 27 April 2009.^{[30][31][32][33]}

In this position, Forbes deemed her the 61st most powerful woman in the world.^[34]

In an interview with New Zealand news agency 3 News on 5 March 2012, she confirmed she would be seeking another four year term as Administrator of the UNDP.^[35]

Honours[link]

The government of the Solomon Islands awarded Clark (together with John Howard) the Star of the Solomon Islands in 2005 in recognition of New Zealand's role in restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands.^[36] This award allows her to use the post-nominal letters "SSI".^[37]

In January 2008 Clark won the United Nations Environment Programme Champions of the Earth award in recognition of the government’s promotion of sustainability initiatives.^[39]

Clark is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.^[40]

Clark was the patron of the New Zealand Rugby League between 2002 and 2011 and has served as the patron of the Mt Albert Lions rugby league club for over 20 years.^[41][42]