David Russell Lange, ONZ, CH (/ˈlɒŋi/LONG-ee; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005), served as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a social-democrat party. He had a reputation for cutting wit (sometimes directed against himself) and eloquence. His government implemented far-reaching free-market reforms. Helen Clark has described New Zealand's nuclear-free legislation as his legacy.

Lange was born in Otahuhu, a south Auckland suburb as the son of a doctor of German stock. His relatives had suffered from prejudice during the First World War due to their German ancestry, and Lange himself would face a political rival in 1984 who tried to discredit him because of his German heritage. He received his formal education at Fairburn Primary School, Otara Intermediate School and Otahuhu College, then at the University of Auckland, where he graduated in law in 1965. He paid his way through university by working in a meat-freezing works. In 1968 he married Naomi Crampton. He gained a Master of Laws in 1970, then practised law in Northland and Auckland for some years, often giving legal representation to the most dispossessed members of Auckland society.

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006.

Born in Auckland before moving to Christchurch when he was a child, Key attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of commerce, also later undertaking management studies at Harvard University in Boston. He began a career in the foreign exchange market in New Zealand before moving overseas to work for Merrill Lynch, in which he became head of global foreign exchange in 1995, a position he would hold for six years. In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001.

Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year. He has held the seat since then. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as Leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory in both the November 2008 and the November 2011 general elections.

Cedric Russell Marshall, CNZM (known as Russell Marshall, born at Nelson 1936) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, who had been a Methodist minister from 1960 to 1972, and school teacher 1955–56 and 1972.

He represented the seat of Wanganui from 1972 to 1990, when he retired. He was a Cabinet Minister from 1984; Minister of Education (1984–87), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1987–90), Minister for the Environment (1984–86), Minister of Conservation (1986–87), Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control(1987–89) and Minister of Pacific Island Affairs (1988–90).

He chaired the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO from 1990 to 1999, represented New Zealand as representative on the UNESCO Executive Board (1995–1999) and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO (1998–2000). He was a member of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to the Lesotho elections in 1993, and chaired the Commonwealth Observer Mission to the Seychelles elections later the same year. He chaired the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa (COMSA)in 1994. From 1994 to 2002 he was chairman of the international education consultancy PINZ (Polytehnics International New Zealand) and Education New Zealand from 1998 to 2002. He was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Nigeria and Ambassador to Ireland (2002–2005). He was a member of the Council of the Victoria University of Wellington, Pro Chancellor (1999) and Chancellor (2000–2002). In 2000-2001 he chaired the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission and was later Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission (2005–2007). In July 2007 he was elected president of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

Tiki Taane is a New Zealand musician and former member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub. Taane left Salmonella Dub on 1 January 2007 to pursue a solo career. His debut album, "Past, Present, Future", was released on 22 October 2007 in New Zealand and has gone two times platinum, achieving a number one single, "Always On My Mind", which is the most successful single of all time in New Zealand. Taane is also the live sound engineer for New Zealand drum and bass act Shapeshifter.

In 1996, Taane was asked to become live soundman to Christchurch band Salmonella Dub, who were becoming one of NZ’s most popular acts. Through this role, Tiki began to earn himself a reputation for his ability to bring a staggeringly powerful live sound to whatever equipment, venue or environment he was faced with. His time with his metal band Braaspadeak had become minuscule and irregular, and while on tour with the Dub, Tiki had composed a dub-reggae track in his hotel room. Once he shared it with Salmonella, they recorded it straight away, and Tiki and his whanau and friends set to work making a music video featuring Tiki on tour at The Gathering that year. This track, "For the Love Of It", shot to the NZ charts, and so he became faced with not only being soundman for the band, but also the public expectation that he perform his hit song at all their gigs.