MICHAEL MOORE
1949 - 2020
When is a prime minister not a prime minister?
When he or she is elevated to the role a few weeks before a general election. In
those circumstances they’re not a prime minister. They’re a party leader engaged
in an election campaign. And in Mike Moore’s case it was a campaign he was never
going to win. His caucus had propelled him into the Labour leadership in the
hope that, despite their party’s forlorn chances, individual members might
survive and retain their own seats.
Mike Moore was prime minister for sixty days –
the third shortest tenure in the 20th century after Hall-Jones and
Dillon Bell. This takes nothing away from his overall career which was
commendable. He entered parliament in 1972 at the age of 23 (the youngest to
that point); served well as minister of overseas trade in the Lange government;
missed by one vote (to Geoffrey Palmer) in the caucus poll for deputy leader
under Lange in 1983; was ahead of Jim Bolger in preferred prime minister stakes
prior to the 1990 election; and later pursued an impressive international career
as secretary general of the world trade organisation and United States
ambassador.
In his youth Mike Moore was an avid reader
with a retentive memory. He began work in the printing trade, quickly becoming
interested in union activity and Labour politics. At the tender age of just
seventeen his union elected him as their representative on the Auckland trades
council and he was the first youth representative on the Labour party executive.
He rode into parliament on Norman Kirk’s 1972
tsunami but was swept out again on Muldoon’s in 1975. He moved to Christchurch
and easily won the Papanui seat in 1978. He was a key member of the group that
attempted unsuccessfully to replace Bill Rowling with David Lange in 1980. After
narrowly missing out on the deputy leadership in 1983 when David Lange finally
did replace Bill Rowling, Moore was a clear number three in the party’s
hierarchy and became overseas trade spokesman.
When the Labour government was elected in 1984
Moore was as jubilant as the rest of the caucus and, unlike some, never lost
faith in the financial reforms of Roger Douglas. He was a hardworking overseas
trade minister and took delegations around the world, paying particular
attention to emerging markets such as China. He was well liked by the business
community here and abroad and was a strong advocate for adding value to NZ’s
primary products.
Moore was an extraordinarily gregarious man
with the common touch that served him well with the wider party membership and
population in general. He was affable with a good sense of humour and boundless
enthusiasm. But despite his standing in the opinion polls he didn’t carry quite
the same sway within his caucus. When Lange resigned in 1989 and Moore contested
the leadership against Geoffrey Palmer, Palmer won easily: 41-13.
But, as has been recorded in the article on
Palmer, in September, 1990 the party decided that the time had now come to
replace the academic Palmer with the more down-to-earth Mike Moore in the hope
that he would serve them better at the 1990 election – particularly in regard to
the retention of marginal seats. But Moore, elevated to prime minister on 4
September, was never going to repair the deep rift in the Labour party that
Palmer had failed to deal with despite desperate attempts since January, 1988.
While Mike Moore continued to enjoy popular personal support, his party was
still in tatters. The election was lost. Moore was prime minister for less than
two months.
He remained leader through to the next
election in 1993 and, although Labour lost again, this time the result was much
closer. By now the wider party, especially the union element within it, was
turning its back on the policies advocated by the earlier reformers and forcing
Moore to soften his own views. Furthermore, 1993 saw an influx of new MPs who
were either more traditional Labour members, or who read the mood of the wider
party and saw the need to change direction. It was this movement that saw the
caucus vote Mike Moore out of the leadership on 1 December, 1993 (a mere three
weeks after the election loss) and replace him with Helen Clark.
He remained in parliament through the 1996
election, also lost by Labour, but had by then set his sights on the prestigious
posting of world trade organisation secretary-general. After several failed
attempts he won the position and left parliament for Geneva just before the 1999
NZ election. He served a three year term with the WTO, advocating free trade.
From 2009 to 2015 he was honoured with another high-profile posting – ambassador
to the United States.
He suffered a stroke just before his term in
USA ended and retired to live quietly in suburban Auckland.
From union representative at the age of 17,
member of parliament at 23, through to US ambassador at 60, Mike Moore’s career
can only be described as impressive. His service and achievements as overseas
trade minister, and appointment as WTO secretary-general are merely the high
points. Throughout his near 50 years of service in a broad range of public roles
he never lost his enthusiasm or capacity for hard work.
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