ROBERT MULDOON
1921 - 1992
Adored by his loyal supporters, tolerated by
the middle ground and detested by the rest, Robert Muldoon was the most divisive
New Zealand prime minister of the twentieth century. He was the consummate
politician - understanding the art like few before him and with unshakeable
confidence in his own, admittedly impressive, abilities. Humility was an
attribute unknown to him. He showed little respect for divergent opinions and
reacted aggressively when challenged in media interviews. His debating skills
were superb, he radiated a powerful presence and he commanded a grudging respect
even from his detractors. While he could be abrasive and downright rude, he
could also show strong empathy with the masses and saw himself as the people’s
prime minister. He won three elections – two of them against the popular vote
and all against a mild-mannered opponent who lacked Muldoon’s aggression.
While nearly all previous National or Reform
governments had shown an appetite for intervention in matters of economics and
trade, Muldoon took the practice to a new level. He was his own finance minister
and wielded tariffs, subsidies, interest and tax controls with abandon. He
introduced the concept of “mini-budgets” between annual budgets, enabling him to
continually tinker with the country’s finances. His cabinet colleagues became
increasingly concerned over his dominating style but he shrugged off the only
serious attempt to dislodge him. Nonetheless, it was the defection of one of his
own MPs that forced him to call an early election in 1984 and led to his demise.
Robert Muldoon was born on 25 September, 1921
in Epsom, Auckland. During war service between 1915 and 1918 his father had
contracted syphilis which caused severe physical disability and memory loss. He
played no part in Robert’s life after 1928 and spent his remaining 18 years in a
psychiatric institution. Two very strong women were key figures in the young
Muldoon’s upbringing – his mother Aimie (nee Browne), and his grandmother
Jerusha Browne who lived nearby. His early life was frugal, supported by his
mother working as an upholsterer and curtain-maker. Earlier Robert’s two parents
had built a house in Mount Albert and there was a mortgage to pay. His mother
sometimes took in boarders. While nothing more than the basics could be
afforded, as an only child Muldoon was supported almost to the point of
mollycoddling – his mother or grandmother even cleaned his shoes for him.
He was above average at school, enrolling at
Mount Albert Grammar in 1933 when the depression was at its peak. As a result of
his small size he was bullied and this led to an aloof and bookish school life
although he had the confidence to fight back (usually by scratching) and
eventually discovered the combative verbal skills that could deflate any bully
and would serve him well in politics. After passing university entrance he
secured clerical jobs while studying accountancy part time.
Muldoon’s grandmother and aunt were
left-leaning in their politics. Savage was riding high by 1939 and the social
security act of that year was of immediate benefit to the Muldoon household.
Muldoon served in the army during the war but
was exposed to fighting only briefly in Italy in 1945. He spent a year in
England where a Labour government had just replaced the popular wartime ministry
of Winston Churchill. But despite the high expectations for socialism prevailing
in England, Muldoon never seemed to get caught up in it. He returned to New
Zealand as a qualified accountant but went back to one of his previous clerical
jobs. Not satisfied, he joined a firm of accountants and became a partner in
1950. In this position of some status his arrogance began to manifest itself but
was balanced by (or perhaps was attempting to cover) a feeling of trepidation
and insecurity. He seemed to be in constant need of recognition.
He had declared his political colours three
years earlier when he had joined the Junior Nationals to assist in a local
by-election. Given his home background it could be asked, why National and not
Labour? He doesn’t answer this in any of his four autobiographies. His
accounting workplace would have been one influence, another his mother’s
right-leaning brother and businessman Wally Browne who had been the nearest
person young Robert had to a father figure while growing up. But a major factor
was that by 1947 Peter Fraser’s twelve year old government was running out of
steam. In contrast National members, the junior sector in particular, were
excited about the future of their party and brimming with new ideas. Muldoon was
caught up in this euphoria and within eighteen months had risen through the
chairmanship of the Mount Albert Junior Nationals to chairman of their Auckland
division. Those who knew him earlier would not have been surprised by such a
sudden rise. Despite being small, shy and bullied at school, he developed high
aspirations early and is reputed to have told a cousin at the age of only 12
that one day he would be prime minister.
Robert Muldoon married in 1951 and that same
year set about fulfilling his prediction by contesting the Mount Albert
candidacy in the snap election. He was not yet thirty. He failed to win the
candidacy and would have been unlikely to win the seat anyway as Mount Albert
was deep in Labour’s heartland. In 1954 he saw a better chance in the newly
created seat of Waitemata but again failed in his candidacy bid. He had,
however, been successfully nominated that same year for Mount Albert and now had
his first chance to campaign as a candidate. He was humiliated when the Labour
majority was quadrupled from its 1951 result. Never deterred he turned again to
Waitemata and this time secured the nomination for the 1957 election. This was
the year of Walter Nash’s triumph and again a heavy defeat for Robert Muldoon.
These years were not wasted. Muldoon was
forming a picture of the electorate in general and developing his own political
philosophy centred on human rather than material values. It was the beginning of
his move towards the pragmatic populism which would serve him well. He would see
himself as being there to serve the “ordinary bloke”. In 1960 he sought, and
won, the party nomination for the more marginal seat of Tamaki which Labour had
won by 589 votes in 1957. A major trump card in his campaign was the
electorate’s memory of Nordmeyer’s “black budget” of 1958 and the devastating
effect it had on the working man’s pay packet and the cost of his beer and
cigarettes. He mingled with these very people at street corner meetings, turning
his back on the tried and true campaign strategy of looking after the core
support base first and only then working to convert traditional opposition
stalwarts.
He won the seat by a margin of 1,148 and
entered parliament in 1960 as a government member under Keith Holyoake. He and
Peter Gordon were the youngest of the new National intake – both aged 39. Along
with another newcomer Duncan McIntyre they were dubbed the “young turks” due to
their bold confident speeches of a type that Muldoon himself wouldn’t tolerate
from his own new MPs in later years. Muldoon was the most articulate of the
three and acknowledged later that Keith Holyoake had been an excellent mentor
and had given very helpful guidance to all his young MPs – another courtesy that
Muldoon failed to pay forward when he was prime minister. Muldoon and Holyoake
by and large maintained a good relationship throughout their political careers.
By the time of the 1969 election with the government starting to look stale and
questions circulating over Holyoake’s eventual retirement, it was Muldoon’s
absolute mastery of television and his barnstorming trips through the country
long before the official campaign started that almost certainly won the election
for National. Holyoake appeared to be acknowledging Muldoon’s value to him when
he supported him in his bid to overthrow Jack Marshall for the leadership in
1974. In return, Muldoon would eventually appoint Holyoake Governor General,
somewhat controversially.
But those events lay in the future. Robert
Muldoon retained his Tamaki seat handsomely in 1963 and during that term he
became a nationally known figure in his role as finance under-secretary in
charge of the introduction of decimal currency. He remained outside cabinet. As
the 1966 election approached the Vietnam war was raging. Muldoon strongly
supported New Zealand’s involvement but it was a controversial topic and his
Tamaki opponent was criminal lawyer Kevin Ryan – a man with excellent debating
skills. Muldoon’s majority was reduced but still comfortable and the government
was re-elected.
The 1966-1969 term was the make-or-break
period for Muldoon. His abrasiveness and sometimes blatant rudeness had been
plain for all to see during the 1966 campaign and Holyoake was mindful of this
when he came to appoint three new cabinet members. Muldoon was expecting to be
among them and the media predicted that Muldoon and Lance Adams-Schneider were
certainties given their roles as finance under-secretaries. But in fact both
were passed over and the places went to the other two young turks (McIntyre and
Gordon) and David Thomson. Muldoon’s biographer declared that he was “too
tactless, abrasive and undisciplined” for a cabinet role. Muldoon was angry and
disappointed and with typical lack of modesty he publicly declared himself to be
Auckland’s “bright young man” who deserved promotion.
As 1967 dawned it seemed that Robert Muldoon’s
prickly nature could confine him to the back bench for his entire political
career, despite his verbal skills and ease with which he related to the common
people. But how things can change! More than anything else Holyoake’s decision
to keep Muldoon out of cabinet demonstrated to the politically alert backbencher
that the prime minister wielded immense power. It was the kind of power he
wanted for himself and it made him even more ambitious. Holyoake may well have
picked up on this and in early February relented and appointed Muldoon minister
of tourism – a lowly rank within cabinet. But very soon afterwards came the
unexpected death of finance minister Harry Lake. For a replacement Holyoake
considered Jack Marshall, Tom Shand and existing finance under-secretary and
firebrand Robert Muldoon. The first two were heavily committed in other roles
(Marshall overseas trade minister and deputy PM; Shand labour minister) so he
decided to risk Muldoon. He knew it was indeed a risk with the economic
conditions rapidly deteriorating and Muldoon known to be uncompromising and
disorganised with an unrealistically lofty view of his own economic instincts.
Only weeks earlier Muldoon had been a noisy
and meddling but highly articulate back-bencher languishing well beyond the
walls of the cabinet room. Now he was a senior minister on the front bench.
As it turned out, the risk paid off for
Holyoake and the two worked well together until National’s defeat in 1972. Not
that Muldoon was a great finance minister. He was constantly tinkering, highly
interventionist and appeared to lurch from one crisis to another with no real
long term or co-ordinated plan. On the other hand, he was a master at defending
his actions and disarming opponents. He had an excellent grasp of general
economic principles and became regarded as an authority on the subject even
beyond New Zealand. It was in the minutiae of day to day details that he was
found wanting.
How the problems confronting National in 1967
and 1968 were handled is covered in the article on Keith Holyoake. Muldoon led
the attack on those issues – falling export prices, inflation, a nil wage order,
etc. He initially refused to devalue the NZ dollar but was left no choice after
Britain devalued. He remained sceptical of this device for the rest of his
career, an obsession which would cause a major crisis in 1984.
As television entered more and more homes in
the late 1960s, political parties saw its potential in the right hands and
programme producers sought out any politician who showed mastery of the medium.
Robert Muldoon topped that list. His large face could dominate the screen and
his sharp tongue would lacerate political opponents and interviewers alike.
Added to this was a quick wit and highly entertaining turn of phrase. It was his
television talent more than anything else that caused his colleagues to see him
as a potential successor to the leadership when Holyoake finally retired in
February, 1972. Muldoon himself was certain, true to form, that he was the only
man to replace Holyoake and lead National into the 1972 election. So, needless
to say, he was surprised and bitterly disappointed that the caucus voted 28-16
in favour of Jack Marshall. Muldoon, the only other candidate, was made deputy
PM and retained the finance portfolio.
In the event, it was lucky Muldoon was not
leader for the 1972 election campaign. He was laid low by an attack of hepatitis
and was unable to make anything like the contribution he had made in 1969.
Despite improving economic indicators,
including a drop in inflation from its dizzy heights of 1970-71, National was
voted out after governing for twelve consecutive years and 20 of the last 23.
Although part of that government for the entire twelve years, Muldoon’s term as
deputy prime minister had lasted less than one year. He was now an opposition MP
– unfamiliar territory. He rapidly faded into the background as Labour leader
and new prime minister Norman Kirk dazzled the country with his positive outlook
and limitless energy. A powerful and articulate presence on television, almost
the equal of Muldoon, Kirk was a welcome fresh face after the Holyoake years.
But tragedy cut the Kirk ministry short when he died suddenly in August, 1974.
Only weeks earlier the National caucus had decided Marshall was a liability as
leader and that nobody other than Robert Muldoon was capable of defeating Kirk
in 1975.
So with Muldoon now leading National and with
Kirk now deceased there were fifteen months for the new opposition leader to
aggressively and relentlessly belittle the equally new and reluctant Labour
prime minister Bill Rowling. With economic conditions also putting Labour on the
back foot it was a free ride for National to win the 1975 election which indeed
they did and very comfortably. Robert Muldoon was now prime minister.
A minor digression is justified to examine the
degree to which Muldoon had dominated the political landscape from his elevation
to National’s front bench in 1967 through to the 1975 election win. It is no
exaggeration to say that all three election results during that period were
heavily swayed by his looming presence. As previously mentioned, National were
lucky to win in 1969. Muldoon’s tornado-like rampages through the country and
powerful television presence in 1968 and 1969 saved it for them. But come 1972
he was being remembered as a finance minister whose piecemeal tinkering with a
weakening economy was highly damaging. This, combined with his relentless
interference in the business of new prime minister Jack Marshall, surely tilted
swinging voters back towards Labour. Finally, in 1975 his merciless belittling
of his less experienced opponent brought National back into favour. Having
impacted on three elections, two in his party’s favour and one against, he now
embarked on eight and a half years as prime minister and as his own minister of
finance. All in all Robert Muldoon was the political figure from 1967 to 1984, only momentarily eclipsed by
Norman Kirk in 1973.
Among his loyal supporters Muldoon was
extremely popular. He was stridently anti-communist which brought a large swathe
of the population on to his side with Labour viewed by many as a little too
pinkish. He also mixed well with the lower classes, even as far as working with
gang members. He helped Black Power set up trusts and find accommodation. He had
a soft side, supported the social welfare system and was a captivating speaker
in the house and on the hustings. He was a true populist politician. The media
respected him but were constantly wary that he would turn on them savagely if
they dared to cross or challenge him.
Muldoon’s control over his own caucus was
anchored by unfailing support from three of his most able ministers: Brian
Talboys (his deputy), Duncan McIntyre and Bill Birch. This enabled him to bring
his cabinet and the full caucus around to supporting even his more unorthodox
ideas though very rarely with unanimous support. One common factor throughout
Muldoon’s ministry was his consistent application of electoral considerations to
economic issues, and most other issues as well, resulting in actions and
policies falling short of, or deviating from, the advice of officials. Two
flagship policies were national superannuation and his growth strategy, dubbed
“think big”. The former (a fixed payment to all persons aged 60 or over without
means testing) was extremely generous and a huge factor in National’s 1975
election win. Before long he had to resort to taxation measures to cut back the
cost of the scheme as it rapidly became unaffordable. The think big projects,
designed initially by energy minister Bill Birch, were largely intended to
reduce New Zealand’s reliance on imported oil but required massive
infrastructure and large amounts of borrowed money. While there had been two
sharp rises in the cost of oil (1973 and 1979), by the early 1980s prices had
levelled off and then declined. This rendered many of the projects uneconomical
and caused the next Labour government to rid itself of some of the huge
liabilities by selling them off, losing capital. Muldoon genuinely believed it
had been a well thought out scheme and he likened himself to Julius Vogel who
had borrowed enormously to develop major infrastructure in the 1870s. He
predicted the programme would generate employment on a huge scale which it did.
It also seemed to be a device to keep day to day financial difficulties out of
the headlines.
Another distraction was rugby. Norman Kirk had
correctly read the mood of the country and international opinion when he
cancelled a South African rugby team’s visit to New Zealand in 1973. Muldoon
showed no such concern in allowing a New Zealand team to visit South Africa in
1976, accepting no responsibility for the inevitable protest reaction by black
African countries who detested South Africa’s system of apartheid and refused to
participate in the 1976 olympic games if New Zealand attended. New Zealand
did attend of course and were viewed as largely responsible for sabotaging the
games. Athletic stars from Kenya in particular were missed from the glamour
track events.
Far worse protest action, the worst over a
sporting event ever seen in this country, disrupted a tour of New Zealand by
South Africa in 1981. Muldoon’s only attempt to intervene was publicly urging
the NZ rugby union to call off the tour. They were never going to unless
instructed by the government so the tour proceeded. The anti-apartheid movement
mobilised, blood was spilt, two matches were cancelled and the protests and
violence were reported throughout the world.
The decisions to allow the 1976 and 1981 tours
were based entirely on electoral considerations. Many National voters were rugby
supporters.
With national superannuation, “think big” and
rugby tours at the forefront, given less publicity but far more important were
constantly shifting economic conditions and it was Muldoon’s handling of these
that remain his lasting legacy. It was inconsistent and isolationist with little
consultation with his wider circle of colleagues. A by-election showed a swing
away from the government when David Lange, a popular and charismatic Auckland
lawyer, won the Mangere seat for Labour in March, 1977. Labour out-polled
National in the 1978 general election but the eccentricities of the electoral
system plus the increased influence of Social Credit saw National retain office
by 51 seats to Labour’s 40. Social Credit won one seat.
Three more years of Muldoonism were marked by
the “think big” projects seeming to bring growth but at the cost of heavy
government debt. In 1980 Muldoon himself forced a by-election in East Coast Bays
by sending the sitting member to Washington as ambassador, feeling the seat was
safe with high profile economist Don Brash as their candidate. But after a
disastrous campaign the seat went to Social Credit. By now more and more cabinet
and other caucus members were questioning the party’s leadership. Also by now
Muldoon was no longer conducting regular post-cabinet media conferences. He
continued to ignore expert advice if it differed from his own wisdom and was
developing a bunker mentality. Late in 1980 a group of senior cabinet ministers
attempted what became known as the “colonels’ coup”. It failed, largely due to
Muldoon’s silver tongued address to caucus and the defection from the coup of
Jim Bolger, the man most favoured to replace him (Brian Talboys was also in the
running). Muldoon’s behaviour and attitude showed no change after what was
surely a clear warning. Many National party branches no longer supported him.
The 1981 election again saw Labour out-poll
National but National remained in power with 47 seats against Labour’s 43. The
final result was on a knife-edge as Social Credit had retained their two seats
and the result in the Taupo electorate (won on the night by National) was being
appealed. Until the court ruled in National’s favour there was a possibility
that the government would collapse without support from Social Credit. It was a
long, anxious wait for National with the final High Court decision not delivered
until 21 April, 1982.
Having weathered the crisis Muldoon now began
his third term subdued but no less determined to do things his way (“My Way” was
the title of his third autobiography published in 1981). Prior to the election
he had eased monetary conditions (after tightened them in 1976) and the
resulting private sector expansion generated growth but caused inflation. In
June, 1982 he arbitrarily imposed a wage and price freeze against the advice of
officials who knew how difficult that measure would be to eventually remove.
More and more advice was being ignored and his relationship with the media
deteriorated still further. His tendency to resort to personal abuse when
cornered, an aspect of his nature since his earliest days in politics, seemed to
be worsening. He refused to be interviewed by television journalist Simon Walker
and banned satirist Tom Scott from his, now rare, press conferences.
There were constant urgings from within
National and among economists for NZ to devalue its currency but devaluation was
no longer in Muldoon’s lexicon. As election year dawned in 1984 the financial
markets could see a change of government looming accompanied by an almost
certain devaluation. New Zealand dollars were moving offshore at an alarming
rate.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for the
teetering government was a nuclear-free bill introduced by Labour but supported
by two National MPs (Marilyn Waring and Mike Minogue). This left Muldoon
convinced that he no longer had the numbers to govern, with Waring in particular
seen as unreliable. In calling an early election he placed all blame on her when
clearly it was the state of the government, the country and the noticeably
deteriorating health of Muldoon himself that led to his decision on 14 June to
go to the country. The election was scheduled for exactly one month later.
With the popular and entertaining David Lange
now leading Labour and warnings from the results of the previous two elections,
National was never going to win. In the event Labour won 56 seats, National 37
and Social Credit 2.
Despite being at the forefront of NZ politics
for fifteen years, Muldoon had enjoyed only two moments of genuine election
triumph: 1969 and 1975.
A serious constitutional crisis arose as
Muldoon continued to refuse to devalue during the interregnum before the new
government was sworn in. The flow of NZ currency became a torrent and the
Reserve Bank suspended trading, advised the Governor General that the solvency
of the country was at risk and urging him to consider removing Muldoon from
office should he continue to hold out against devaluation. Muldoon finally
relented and the currency was devalued by 20%.
It took only until November, 1984 for National
to overthrow the man who had led them for ten years. His replacement, Jim McLay,
lasted less than two years throughout which Muldoon cruelly needled him from the
back bench. Jim Bolger then took over as opposition leader and would become New
Zealand’s next prime minister after six tumultuous years of Labour government.
Robert Muldoon’s final ten years were dogged
by health problems. Under stress in his later years as prime minister he took to
excessive drinking; he already had diabetes and in 1984 suffered a kidney
infection. Two heart operations followed but he recovered remarkably and was
re-elected twice more, in 1987 and 1990. He continued to see himself as a
financial expert both at home and abroad. As early as 1982 he had attempted to
reform the international financial system and throughout his final years was
still giving speeches on financial matters.
He hosted talk-back radio and even took to the
stage as narrator in the Rocky Horror Show.
In 1991, with National back in government, ill
health finally forced him to resign from parliament. He gave his final speech in
the house on 17 December and died less than eight months later aged 70.
As mentioned in the opening, Robert Muldoon
was probably New Zealand’s most controversial prime minister. That he was
ambitious was abundantly clear. His declared support for the average “Kiwi
Bloke” was also borne out by his constant reference to the working class and his
disdain for elitism. In day to day contact with officials he was usually polite
and his softer side revealed itself even dealing with opponents. He was
passionately anti-communist and had little patience for militant unions and yet
he was one of only a few political figures to visit radical union leader Toby
Hill when he was hospitalised in the 1970s.
In stark summary, Robert Muldoon was a
dedicated man with a ruthless ambition to reach the top and to do things his way
when he got there, if necessary walking roughshod over opponents in the process.
But at the same time he cared deeply for his people and genuinely believed
everything he did was in the best interests of the entire country.
Return to Prime Ministers Menu