Ably supported by Hon Trevor de Cleene, Hon Richard Prebble, with Hon Dr Michael Bassett and a couple of others lurking in the shadow of the three who were unequivocal in their commitment to save New Zealand from the massive debt incurred under the reign of Rt Hon Sir Rob Muldoon:1975 – 1984.
Muldoon debt?
“Think Big”. More government ownership of industries better suited to private ownership. NZ Road Services buses at one end of the spectrum and Post & Telegraph at the other, as two examples.
This was a tumultuous term for Labour. 1987 – 1990.
1987 'Black Tuesday' share-market crash whence billions of
dollars were wiped off the value of New Zealand shares in the weeks following
20 October, also impacted as the effects of New York's Wall Street stock market
crash arrived in our antipodean outpost.
Oops. Correction here. Roger Douglas was not the official prime minister, but he may have well been as I saw it from close range i.e., my first of three terms in the Hallowed Halls of Power. Maybe De facto Prime Minister?
Labour also had three Prime Ministers in three years!
Rt Hon’s David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer, Mike Moore.
Interestingly, David Lange and I clashed in the Auckland
Supreme Court a number of times – he as a lawyer defending persons I had
arrested for serious crimes – when I was a detective on Drug Squad.
In spite of an unfriendly relationship which evolved, when I
found myself in parliament, never once did Lange slam me, although his ability
in the debating chamber could have stripped me bare.
Another unexpected outcome was that a “nuclear free” remit
(which had been galvanised by me) from my Hobson electorate to the 1988
National Party conference in Dunedin, culminated in National adopting Lange’s
enduring legacy:
“The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms
Control Act passed into law, establishing this country as a nuclear and
biological weapon-free zone.”
Notwithstanding my respect for David Lange, my opinion of
who ran Labour 1987 -1990, effectively annuls the parody that he was the best
prime minister New Zealand ever endured.
What does compel me to laud Roger Douglas however, is the
courage and leadership skills he possessed to attract disciples, to embrace the
perspicacity he demonstrated to begin the process of changing government
departments to SOEs where leadership survival is predicated on performance and
not as it had been; promotion based on avoiding risks to fill dead men’s boots.
Roger’s legacy?
“The State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 – the key
provisions of which took effect on 1 April 1987 – heralded a major overhaul of
New Zealand’s state sector.”
Rt Hon Sir Rob Muldoon.
I got on well with Piggy.
He provided some level of support when I came under massive media
attention for the content of my Maiden Speech (1) in which I name a number of Maori whom police had
been tracking and what some had been up to. The data was from files I had when
in my last role in the police: Inspector in charge of Criminal Intelligence and
VIP Security. Passage of time,
regrettably, appears to vindicate much of the content of that speech to
parliament.
Back in 1981 he had also accepted my assurance (which he
sought by telephoning me while police were waiting in Taranaki for the Springbok
Tour to end) when I was a squad commander on Red Group, that we could have
stopped the invasion of Hamilton rugby park had we not been locked away by
Commissioner Walton and that Walton’s claim that he could not have stopped the
invasion even had he the entire police force at Hamilton, was a crock of crap. As a result of our conversation, the Tour
went on. (2)
But, in my view Sir Rob was a bit of a user. He used the
police in my view, as meat-in-the sandwich during the 1981 Springbok Tour.
His patronage of farmers; supplementary minimum payments for
lambs which stockpiled due to payment for production exceeding the world market
demand for end product at our price, another example. Outcome?
Maximum voter support from farmers and a deal with USSR to take the
lambs for Lada cars.
When I entered parliament, I had a very basic understanding
of economics: criminal law and part of an Llb had been my diet. By the time I was in my third term as undersecretary
primary industries, and part way through a Master’s degree in
privatisation, the confidence I formerly had for Sir Rob’s “economic miracle”,
increasingly loomed as fealty to Keynesian economics aka a capitalist’s version
of communism i.e., State monopoly intervention in market forces.
Sir Rob’s; legacy? Think
Big.
Therefore, Sir Rob drops off as a contender for my, “Best PM”.
Rt Hon Helen Clark.
Helen tutored me at Auckland University when I was doing a
BA part time while still in the police.
Mid 1970s. A few years earlier,
she and another tutor of mine – ex MP Phil Goff, had both demonstrated against
the Vietnam War.
As I recall; early 1969 – I was a young cop outside the Star
Hotel, Princes Street Auckland, defending South Vietnamese President Air Marshall
Thieu who was waving from the balcony.
From the street, protestors were waving back.
Helen Clark and Phil Goff treated me fairly as a
student. Not sure they liked me but they
never gave me a hard time. Later in parliament Goff reverted to what I
considered to be his true colours, but again, Helen Clark stood out as a
category of her own.
Abuse was not her preferred weapon.
For the brief 9 months in 1994/5 while I was Leader of the
first political party formed under MMP - Right of Centre (reflecting my
economic views) and later re-named Conservative party, I held the balance of
power.
I dealt with the National Party Leader and the Labour Party
Leader and as always, Helen Clark was professional.
It wasn’t Helen Clark’s reign that saw the manufacturing
sector in New Zealand emasculated by the globalist policies introduced by Rt
Hon Sir John Key’s government. An
embrace which progressively has created a New Zealand where we export our logs
to import wooden products which are no longer made in New Zealand and
manufacturing T shirts now beyond the level of many.
But it wasn’t until I had moved on from Wellington that
Helen Clark put a peg in the sand which was and still would have been, the
barrier to “wreckers and haters” (3)
and other misguided Maori who have managed to drive New Zealand to the brink of
serious civil racial conflict, that she earned being placed in the final
run-off for “Best PM”.
In 2004 Prime Minister Helen Clark’s Labour government
passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act which deemed the title to be held by the
Crown.
Alas! Helen Clark’s protection was repealed.
In 2011 Rt Hon Sir John Key’s government replaced Clark’s
peg in the foreshore with the Marine and Coastal Area Act 2011.
Axiomatically, Key is not a contender for “Best PM” for by
my assessment, the irony of the land grab and self-demeaning elevation of Maori
by imposition of artificial “rights”, which now plagues our once tranquil land,
falls squarely at the feet of former Prime Minister John Key and his Attorney
General Chris Finlayson.
Rt Hon Sir John Key.
Aside from Mr Key’s error in judgment (my opinion) re above.
In my assessment, he accumulated too much power in the hands
of the National Party Executive, effectively stripping selection of electorate
candidates from the hands of locals.
With total control of List MP’s, this manoeuvre effectively gives total control
to the Prime Minister and President.
So what? Look at the
pitiful line-up National now presents to the voting public.
Like him or not, not a Muldoon to be found. No renegades like Winston Peters, Ross Meurant, Hamish McIntyre and Michael Laws who did challenge the Prime Minister and his cabal.
The Rt Hon Sir Simon William English?
Arrived in parliament in my second term, as part of the
“brat pack”.
Nice enough chap.
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, PC (11
February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand,
serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the
13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 to 1980.
Vietnam. Waltzing
to the tune of Uncle Sam.
Well! That’s about
the line-up of contestants
If I’ve missed a few who were Prime Minister, it’s not that
I forgot them. It’s simply that they
don’t resonate, in my view, rather than say uncharitable things, I prefer – “no
comment”.
Having listed they whom I think deserve mention in the quest
for best Prime Minister, the winner does surprise me. Rt Hon Helen Clark.
Afterall, it was Helen Clark who reasserted the supremacy
of parliament over the Courts.
In To Hold a Pen is to be at War, (4) I lauded Prime Minster Rt
Hon Helen Clark who demonstrated the acuity to identify and courage to
challenge dangerous developments in our country which (in my assessment),
largely emanated from speculative commentary by former Chief Justice Sian
Elias (for whom I have no respect) aka spouse of Hugh Fletcher, about the
sanctity of Maori Customary Law.
Sian Elias expression of personal opinion (or perhaps it was
obiter) led to what appeared to me to be a clash with Prime
Minster Rt Hon Helen Clark who demonstrated that in New Zealand, Parliament
is the ultimate authority when her Labour government in 2004 passed the
Foreshore and Seabed Act which deemed the title to be held by the Crown.
Helen Clark’s stand against false Maori interpretations of
the Treaty of Waitangi, put in place legislation passed by democratically
elected representatives. (5)
What is a lot easier to decide is, WORST PRIME MINISTER.
Cindy. Take a bow.
No comment required.
References:
(1) NZ Parliamentary Debates. Vol 483 PP 1-740. 16 Sept – 15 Oct. 1987, pp 403-406 relevant pages. https://www.vdig.net/hansard/archive.jsp?y=1987&m=10&d=06&o=43&p=57
(2) https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1809/S00055/red-squad-revisited-reflections-of-ross-meurant.htm
(3) https://www.nzcpr.com/the-big-lie http://tvnz.co.nz/content/423947/2556418/article.html
(4) https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2022/09/ross-meurant-to-hold-pen-is-to-be-at-war.html
(5) https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2022/10/ross-meurant-fundamental-flaw.html
5 comments:
In most cases the best PM is the next PM, either the incumbent who has done a good job and deserves another go, or the newbie who hasn't had the chance to royally stuff up yet.
The next election is the exception to that rule. Hipkins, who has already shown us what he can't do, or Luxon, who has already shown us what he can't do.
Hobsons' Choice!
Umm
DeeM
I was the Member for Hobson.
Just thinking like.
A freudian slip, Ross??
Hi Ross. 2 things really get me with Pollies these days
1. Ask them the time, they tell you how their watch works
2. There's no appreciation of their being public servants, who undertake to do the voters will as they promised pre election.
I would certainly plug for Helen. She is the only PM who seems to have fully understood maori. She took care not to promote any firebrand as Minister. Turia gave her an object lesson in maori ingratitude. It is a pity Labour became drunk with legislation; the proposed restriction on shower head output lost more votes than the realist approach to maori gained.
I am very indebted to Helen. On some tv interview she explained how she revived cups of tea in the microwave. I converted to tea bags and applying her recycling philosophy have made significant savings.
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