Roger Partridge: What Did New Zealand Do With Its Trillion Dollars?

A familiar lament has resurfaced in recent weeks: that Robert Muldoon’s decision to cancel Norm Kirk’s 1975 compulsory superannuation scheme cost New Zealand a trillion-dollar nest egg. The Government’s weekend signal of higher KiwiSaver contributions has given that argument new life, encouraging some to reach again for the comparison. New Zealand, we are told, might otherwise be an “Antipodean Tiger.”

Karl du Fresne: Echoes of Citizens for Rowling

Who remembers the Citizens for Rowling campaign? It was a concerted attempt by the Great and the Good to derail National Party leader Robert Muldoon’s election campaign in 1975.

The campaign’s backers didn’t like Muldoon’s combative, divisive brand of politics and argued that Labour’s gentlemanly Bill Rowling, who had assumed the prime ministership after Norman Kirk’s death in 1974, offered a far more desirable style of leadership.

Heather du Plessis Allan: Roger Douglas is right - we have too much debt

Today is 40 years to the day since Rob Muldoon called the snap election.  

Which then, of course, led to his defeat. Which then, of course, led to the incoming Labour Government, realised we were nearly broke as a country. Which then led to them embarking on the most amazing set of reforms which they do not get enough credit for to this day - and get way too much grief for.  

It is a really interesting anniversary for us to mark right now - as we find ourselves in a recession that feels like the worst that many of us have ever experienced. As we watch old names in New Zealand, like Smith and Caughey give up. As we see projections that the country's debt will just keep growing. 

Chris Trotter: Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?

Bill Rowling told New Zealanders that he felt as though he had been run over by a bus. The metaphor was apt. Rob Muldoon’s 1975 electoral victory represented one of the great turnarounds in New Zealand political history. Three years earlier, Labour’s Norman Kirk had sent the National Government of Jack Marshall packing. But, just three years later, Muldoon, Marshall’s populist successor, exactly reversed Kirk’s landslide. National’s majority in the House of Representatives was identical to Labour’s – a whopping 23 seats. New Zealand had voted for the nation they wanted – and Muldoon was determined to give it to them.

Matthew Birchall: The seduction of grandeur

New Zealand is small and relatively young, but it has a rich history that can help us think through today’s problems. Unfortunately, we often ignore the lessons of the past.

This historical amnesia has a cost, even if it is difficult to quantify.

Over the last several months, I have been exploring the history of our critical infrastructure. It has been a more enjoyable experience than it sounds! From Julius Vogel’s national rail network in the 1870s to the rollout of broadband in the new millennium, New Zealand’s past is littered with fascinating success stories.

Karl du Fresne: The problem with Luxon

Three days ago I heard Christopher Luxon being interviewed by Mani Dunlop on Morning Report. It was profoundly depressing.

Dunlop introduced the item by saying that with a by-election approaching in Hamilton West, the National Party was under pressure – she didn’t say from whom, but we can assume she meant media commentators – to “add diversity” to a “largely male” caucus.

RNZ had done the sums and calculated that National’s caucus was 33 percent female, 6 percent Maori, 3 percent Asian and “zero percent” Pasifika – a statistical breakdown that would have looked pretty good a few years ago, but which clearly doesn’t meet RNZ’s diversity threshold.

Maurice Newman: Land of the long white lie

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was born in 1980 and claims because of the poverty around her, by the age of 17, she was drawn to the Labour party.

One wonders which Labour party that was? The only Labour government she would have known was the one led by David Lange which stood out as a beacon for free markets and smaller government the world over.

Perhaps she confused Sir Robert Muldoon’s National party for Labour? He was prime minister when Ms Ardern was born and was a big government demagogue. His ‘New Zealand – The Way You Want It’ hubris, along with his statist ‘Think Big’ heavy industry programmes and compulsory superannuation scheme, left the country crippled with debt, a balance of payments crisis, high interest rates and rampant inflation.

Muldoon’s passion for control no doubt appealed to the young Ms Ardern. But the Labour party of her youth was the antithesis of the government she leads today. Indeed, she has been described as ‘Rob Muldoon with slogans and kindness’.

The Labour party she says she was drawn to was about deregulation. Prime minister David Lange and his finance minister Roger Douglas, corporatised several government departments and sold privatised state assets. They used monetarist measures to control inflation, floated the dollar and allowed markets to set interest rates. They slashed subsidies and trade tariffs and turned a moribund economy into one that was internationally competitive. New Zealand shifted from being one of the world’s most regulated economies to one of the freest.

Did she once support that?

Denis Hall: The real story of the “Squatter” at Oruawharo Homestead.

Hello all. Some of you will have seen the recent story on Stuff - about my home for 24 years - where they described me as a "Squatter".  Oruawharo Homestead - Orra Worra is how the locals pronounce it - still. 

I held a lease on the place for 24 years - and it was my home - and I did a lot to things there. 

It is interesting - and disturbing - when you see that people are trying to write you out of actual New Zealand history that you played a major part in.

I have sent the following to Stuff and maybe they will contact me - and maybe not.  But here it is - my reaction to a story in Stuff.
[See Update at the end]