Jim Bolger

The Right Honourable  James Brendan Bolger  ONZ
Jim Bolger at a foundation of KiwiRail press conference, July 2008
35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 2 November 1990 – 8 December 1997 (7 years)
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor–General	Dame Catherine Tizard Sir Michael Hardie Boys
Deputy	Don McKinnon (1990-1996) Winston Peters (1996-1997)
Preceded by	Mike Moore
Succeeded by	Jenny Shipley
Constituency	King Country; later renamed Taranaki-King Country
25th Leader of the Opposition
In office 26 March 1986 – 2 November 1990
Preceded by	Jim McLay
Succeeded by	Mike Moore
Born	31 May 1935 (1935-05-31) (age 74) Taranaki, New Zealand
Political party	National
Spouse(s)	Joan Riddell (married in 1963)
Children	Nine
Profession	Politician, businessman
Religion	Roman Catholic

James Brendan "Jim" Bolger, ONZ (born 31 May 1935) was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was elected on the promise of delivering a "Decent Society" following the previous Labour government's economic reforms, known as Rogernomics. Shortly after taking office, his government was forced to bail out the Bank of New Zealand and as a result reneged on a number of promises made during the election campaign. His term in office saw the introduction of the MMP electoral system in 1996.

Early life

Bolger was born in Opunake, Taranaki, one of five children^[1] born to immigrants from Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. He left Opunake High School at age 15 to work on the family farm.^[2]

In 1963 he married Joan Riddell, and they moved to their own sheep and beef farm in Te Kuiti two years later.^[1] During this time Bolger became involved in local farmer politics. In the late 1960s he was asked to accompany the then Minister of Finance Robert Muldoon to see for himself the difficulties faced by farmers in the area. As Bolger traveled around the district, he became experienced with Muldoon's adversarial style.^[1]

Member of Parliament

Bolger entered politics in 1972 as the New Zealand National Party Member of Parliament for the King Country electorate. He represented this electorate, renamed Taranaki-King Country in 1996, until his retirement in 1998. In 1975 he was made a cabinet minister under Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, first as New Zealand's Minister of Fisheries and Associate Minister of Agriculture (1977), later as Minister of Labour following the 1978 election.^[3]

After the defeat of National at the 1984 general elections, Bolger and deputy leader Jim McLay challenged Muldoon for the leadership of the party. McLay succeeded, making Bolger his deputy, but in 1986 Bolger made another attempt and unseated McLay. Following an unsuccessful election in 1987, National under Bolger went on to win the biggest landslide in New Zealand history in 1990. As a result, Bolger became Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

Three days after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Bolger's government was forced to bail out the Bank of New Zealand, then the largest bank in the country. The total cost of the bail out was $380 million, forcing the government to borrow $740 million.^[4] This was to have an immediate impact on Bolger's direction in government, with the first budget of his premiership being dubbed the "Mother of All Budgets" to deal with the crisis.^[5]

Economic policy

Bolger's government initially continued the economic and social reforms of the previous Labour government, with Finance Minister Ruth Richardson implementing drastic cuts in public spending, known as "Ruthanasia", particularly in health and welfare. The first budget specifically reversed National's election promise to remove the tax surcharge on superannuation.^[5]

Following the close 1993 general election Bolger demoted Richardson to the back benches and appointed Bill Birch, who was seen as more moderate. During Birch's tenure, spending on core areas such as health^[6] and education increased.

His government also introduced the Building Act 1991, which is seen by some as the most crucial factor leading to the leaky homes crisis in the decade following its introduction.^[7]

Foreign policy

Bolger's government continued the previous Labour government's anti-nuclear policy.

Electoral reform

In spite of his party's opposition, Bolger held a referendum on whether or not New Zealand should change from the British-style electoral system of 'first past the post' to one of proportional representation. In 1992, New Zealanders voted to change to the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. This was confirmed in a binding referendum held at the same time as the 1993 general election, which National won. Bolger had originally proposed a return to a bicameral system, with an elected Senate, but this proposal was dropped in the face of support for electoral reform.

Republicanism

In 1994 Bolger caused surprise by suggesting that New Zealand should became a republic, as had been suggested in Australia by Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating. Bolger denied that his views relate to his Irish heritage.^[8] Bolger's call for a republic was publicly disavowed by three Cabinet ministers (John Carter, John Banks and Simon Upton), and support for a republic remained around one third of the population. Proposals to end the status of the Privy Council as the country's highest court of appeal also failed to gain popular support, however the Fifth Labour Government abolished the right of appeal in 2003. Bolger's government also ended the awarding of British honours in 1996, introducing a New Zealand Honours System. At a conference on the "Bolger years" in 2007, Bolger recalled speaking to the Queen about the issue of New Zealand becoming a republic: "I have more than once spoken with Her Majesty about my view that New Zealand would at some point elect its own Head of State, we discussed the matter in a most sensible way and she was in no way surprised or alarmed and neither did she cut my head off."^[9]

MMP politics

In 1996 New Zealand had its first election under MMP, and Bolger became caretaker Prime Minister until a coalition with a majority in parliament could be formed. Both Bolger and Labour leader Helen Clark sought the support of New Zealand First, which held the balance of power in the new House. Its leader, Winston Peters, had left the National Party to form his own party, and opposed many of the free-market reforms implemented by National, and Labour before it. In December a coalition was formed between National and New Zealand First, with Peters being appointed to the new post of Treasurer (senior to the existing post of Finance Minister, which was given to National's Bill Birch).

Treaty of Waitangi settlements

Bolgers' government settled three major claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. Largely due to the work of Bolger's Minister of Justice and Treaty Negotiations, Sir Douglas Graham, the Ngāi Tahu, Waikato-Tainui and fisheries settlements were reached. However, the creation of the so-called "fiscal envelope" of $1 billion for all settlements of claims - an effective limit on what the Crown would pay out in settlements - by the Bolger government was an unpopular move with Māori.

Resignation

Growing opposition to Bolger's slow pace led Transport Minister Jenny Shipley to stage a caucus coup in 1997. Bolger was out of the country at the time, and when he returned he found that he did not have enough support in his caucus to remain as party leader and prime minister. He resigned on 8 December, and Shipley became New Zealand's first woman prime minister. He was subsequently made a junior minister in Shipley's government.

Life after politics

Bolger presides over a student's graduation at the University of Waikato.

He retired as MP for Taranaki-King Country in 1998, prompting a by-election in that electorate and was subsequently appointed to the position of Ambassador to the United States. On his return to New Zealand in 2001, he was appointed Chairman of the state-owned New Zealand Post and its subsidiary Kiwibank. He also chairs Express Couriers Ltd, Trustees Executors Ltd, the Gas Company Ltd, the Advisory Board of the World Agricultural Forum, St. Louis, USA, the New Zealand United States Council, and the Board of Directors of the Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy. Bolger was made a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1997.

On 1 July 2008, almost 15 years after his National-led Government sold New Zealand Rail Ltd, the Labour-led Government repurchased its successor Toll NZ Ltd (less its Tranz Link trucking and distribution arm), having repurchased the track network in 2003. Bolger became chair of the company, renamed KiwiRail. Some people, including Winston Peters, view this as hypocritical. In response, Bolger acknowledged his involvement in privatising New Zealand Rail, remarking that "my life is full of ironies." ^[10]

Bolger was elected Chancellor of Waikato University on 14 February 2007, succeeding John Jackman. In April 2007 Bolger revealed at a conference that he suffers from the painful nerve disease trigeminal neuralgia, which is not life-threatening.

Bolger and his wife Joan are Roman Catholics with nine children. Bolger voted pro-life whenever the issue came up in a conscience vote. He is a member of Collegium International.^[11]

Trivia

• Bolger is the only New Zealand Prime Minister to be born in Taranaki.^[1]
• Bolger was quasi-affectionately nicknamed "Spud" because of his facial features and Irish ancestry. The Royal New Zealand Air Force nicknamed his Boeing 727 "Spud One". Bolger disliked the "Spud" tag but he answered to it when journalist Bill Ralston addressed him in a press conference, "Yo, Spud".
• During a public appearance with an Irish Prime Minister, Bolger (who tended to mirror those he was talking to) spoke in an Irish accent.^[1]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jim Bolger

• Prime Minister’s Office Biography

 

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