Keith Holyoake
Sir David Beattie | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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26th Prime Minister of New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 12 December 1960 – 7 February 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Governors‑General | Charles Lyttelton Bernard Fergusson Arthur Porritt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Jack Marshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Walter Nash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Jack Marshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 20 September 1957 – 12 December 1957 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Governor‑General | Charles Lyttelton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Jack Marshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Sidney Holland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Walter Nash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17th Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 12 December 1957 – 12 December 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Walter Nash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Jack Marshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Walter Nash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Walter Nash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Pahiatua | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 25 September 1943 – 10 March 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Alfred Ransom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | John Falloon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Motueka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1 December 1932 – 15 October 1938 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | George Black | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Jerry Skinner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Mangamutu, New Zealand | 11 February 1904||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 8 December 1983 Wellington, New Zealand | (aged 79)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Reform National (after 1936) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Norma Janet Ingram (m. 1934) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent(s) | Henry Victor Holyoake Esther Eves | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relatives | Ken Comber (son-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake,
Holyoake was born near Pahiatua in the Wairarapa. He left formal education at the age of 12 to help on the family farm. Before entering politics, he was active in various local farming associations. He was first elected to Parliament in 1932 for the Motueka electorate, representing the conservative Reform Party. Having played an instrumental role in the formation of the National Party in 1936, he lost his seat two years later. However, he was then earmarked for the safe seat of Pahiatua, which he held from 1943.
Following National's first election victory, Holyoake entered
Holyoake's government rewrote the criminal legal code, passing the Crimes Act 1961. One of the main features of that act was the abolition of capital punishment, though only ten National MPs voted for its abolition. Among many conservative reforms, his government introduced a form of "voluntary unionism". In foreign policy, Holyoake supported the United States and sent troops to Vietnam. He led his party to four consecutive election victories (not since surpassed). In 1972, he resigned as prime minister to ease the succession for his deputy and friend, Jack Marshall.
In 1977, the National government of
Holyoake is the
Early life
Holyoake was born at Mangamutu,[2] a short distance from Pahiatua, a town in New Zealand's Wairarapa region, the son of Henry Victor Holyoake and Esther Eves.[3] Keith Holyoake's great-grandparents, Richard and Eliza Holyoake, settled at Riwaka near Motueka in 1843, and his maternal great-grandparents, William and Sarah Eves, arrived in Nelson in 1842.[4] Relatives of the 19th-century secularist George Holyoake,[5] the Holyoakes ran a small general store at Mangamutu, and then lived for a time in both Hastings and Tauranga, before settling on the family farm at Riwaka, following the death of Keith's grandfather in 1913.[3]
Holyoake was raised in the Plymouth Brethren church, and his social life as a child was very restricted.[4] From the age of 12, having left school after his father's death, Holyoake worked on the family hop and tobacco farm in Riwaka. His mother had trained as a school teacher, and continued his education at home. After taking over the management of the farm, he became involved in various local farming associations, something that increased his interest in politics.[3]
Early political career
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1932–1935 | 24th | Motueka | Reform | ||
1935–1936 | 25th | Motueka | Reform | ||
1936–1938 | Changed allegiance to: | National | |||
1943–1946 | 27th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1946–1949 | 28th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1949–1951 | 29th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1951–1954 | 30th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1954–1957 | 31st | Pahiatua | National | ||
1957–1960 | 32nd | Pahiatua | National | ||
1960–1963 | 33rd | Pahiatua | National | ||
1963–1966 | 34th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1966–1969 | 35th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1969–1972 | 36th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1972–1975 | 37th | Pahiatua | National | ||
1975–1977 | 38th | Pahiatua | National |
The Reform Party, which had strong rural support, selected Holyoake as its candidate for the Motueka seat in the 1931 election. The incumbent MP, George Black, held the seat, but died the following year. Holyoake was the Reform Party's candidate in the resulting by-election in 1932, and was successful. He became the youngest Member of Parliament at the time, at the age of 28.[2] In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[6]
In the 1935 election, Holyoake retained his seat under the motto "Follow England and Vote Holyoake"[2] despite a massive swing against the United–Reform Coalition. In the aftermath of this election, he played a key role in transforming the coalition into the modern National Party. He very quickly gained considerable respect from his colleagues, and was regarded as a rising star in the new party. The 1937 electoral redistribution was unfavourable for him and, when the boundary changes applied at the 1938 election, Holyoake lost his seat to a rising star of the governing Labour Party, Jerry Skinner.[7] Holyoake had been discussed as a possible successor to the party's conscientious but lack-lustre leader, Adam Hamilton but, because Holyoake was no longer an MP, that ceased to be an option.[8]
In 1943, Holyoake returned to Parliament as MP for Pahiatua, having been lined up by National for that nomination. In 1946, he became the party's deputy Leader.[9]
First National Government: 1949–1957
National won the
As Minister of Agriculture for eight years Holyoake enhanced his reputation as a level-headed good administrator. Farm mechanisation was encouraged, the "extermination policy" achieved nearly eliminated the rabbit pest. Dismantling of marketing producer controls was completed.[3]
Holyoake twice went to London to re-negotiate price levels on meat and wool products,[3] and in 1955 attended the Food and Agriculture Organization conference in Rome. On his return to New Zealand he visited India and the Soviet Union to seek alternative markets for New Zealand, although his trip bore little fruit.[3] In 1957, he led a delegation seeking to protect New Zealand's access to the British market, without notable success.[3]
As Deputy leader of the National Party, Holyoake was acting prime minister whenever Holland was overseas. In recognition of that, he was made a member of the
In 1953, in partnership with his friend Theodore Nisbet Gibbs and Gibbs' son Ian, Holyoake purchased a block of land on the northern shore of Lake Taupō from Ian's employer. The land, which had previously been purchased from Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi in 1884, was a block of 5,385 acres largely covered in scrub and fern.[10] Holyoake and Gibbs subsequently developed the land into a town called Kinloch, which became a holiday destination. On his deathbed, Holyoake said that Kinloch was his proudest achievement.[10]
First period as prime minister
Holyoake became Prime Minister two months before the
Second National Government: 1960–1972
In the 1960 election, the National Party returned to power and formed the Second National Government. Historians attribute the victory to Holyoake's skilful campaigning, particularly his attacks on Minister of Finance Arnold Nordmeyer's so-called "Black Budget" of 1958, which had increased taxes on petrol, cigarettes and liquor.[2]
Second period as prime minister
The Holyoake government implemented numerous reforms of the
In 1960, the Holyoake government published the "Hunn Report", a wide-ranging summary of Māori assets, and the state of Māori in New Zealand at the time.[14] The report was a damning indictment of past governments' neglect of Māori within society, and Holyoake endeavoured to act on its findings. By embracing the No Maoris – No Tour cause, Holyoake ended the practice of an apartheid sporting body dictating the racial composition of New Zealand rugby teams touring in South Africa.[15] In a 1966 speech directed at the South African authorities, Holyoake delicately defended the principle of racial equality, stating "in this country we are one people; as such we cannot as a nation be truly represented in any sphere by a group chosen on racial lines".[16][15]
Holyoake accepted the
Holyoake's government was comfortably re-elected for a second consecutive term in 1963. Holyoake's second term featured by a long period of prosperity and economic expansion. However, moves by the United Kingdom to join the European Economic Community challenged his government.[2] Holyoake deliberately played down the issue, and chose not to vocally oppose British membership of the EEC. A significant step towards diversification was a limited free trade agreement with Australia, negotiated in 1965 by Holyoake's minister of overseas trade, Jack Marshall, who later also negotiated the terms of the arrangements for New Zealand under which Britain joined the EEC.[3]
More controversial were the Holyoake government's relations with the United States at the start of the Vietnam War. The National government's initial response was carefully considered and characterised by Holyoake's cautiousness towards the entire Vietnam question. The fundamental issues, Holyoake said, were simple: "Whose will is to prevail in South Vietnam the imposed will of the North Vietnamese communists and their agents, or the freely expressed will of the people of South Vietnam?"[20] His government preferred minimal involvement, with other South East Asian deployments already having a strain on the New Zealand Defence Force. New Zealand's alliance with the United States was an issue in the 1966 election, which the National Party won on the back of.[2]
Beginning in mid-1960s, the New Zealand government protested against French nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific region.[21] In 1963, Holyoake announced the policy of banning the storage or testing of nuclear weapons within New Zealand territory.[3]
As the prime minister during the Apollo 11 Moon landing, he contributed to messages from 73 world leaders that were etched into a silicon disk left on the surface of the Moon. The disk was left in the Sea of Tranquility by Buzz Aldrin.[22]
Holyoake led his party to a narrow and unexpected victory in the
The National government was humiliated in early 1970 in
Retirement
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in New Zealand |
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When National under Marshall was defeated at the 1972 election, Holyoake remained prominent in opposition. Marshall retained him on the frontbench and appointed him Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs.[24] He became doubtful of Marshall's chance to regain government with time and threw his influence with the caucus behind Marshall's deputy Muldoon. In 1974 Marshall resigned as leader after realising that many of his colleagues (including Holyoake) no longer had confidence in him and Muldoon was elected in his place.[25] Holyoake played an active part in the campaign for the 1975 election, which saw National regain power again under Muldoon. Muldoon appointed Holyoake to the specially-created sinecure of Minister of State.[3]
Governor-general
In 1977, Holyoake was unexpectedly and controversially appointed
This choice was deemed controversial by some, as Holyoake was a sitting Cabinet minister and a former prime minister. Many opponents of Muldoon's government claimed that it was a political appointment. The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Rowling (himself a former prime minister) stated that he would remove Holyoake as governor-general if the Labour Party won the 1978 election,[27] and openly suggested that he would have appointed Sir Edmund Hillary as governor-general.[28] That suggestion was, in turn, criticised by the government, as Hillary had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.[29]
As a result of the appointment, Holyoake resigned from Parliament, leading to the Pahiatua by-election of 1977. He was succeeded from his seat by John Falloon.
Holyoake's conduct while in office, however, was acknowledged to be fair and balanced. In particular, Holyoake refused to comment on the 1978 general election, which gave Labour a narrow plurality of votes but a majority of seats in parliament to National.[30] Social Credit leader Bruce Beetham said Holyoake as governor-general had "...a scrupulous impartiality that confounded the critics of his appointment".[2] His term as governor-general was only for three years, on account of his age. Usually, governors-general serve for five years, but Holyoake was the oldest governor-general to date (at 73 years old). His term ended in 1980.[31]
Death
Holyoake died on 8 December 1983, aged 79, in Wellington. His state funeral took place on 13 December 1983 in Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.[32]
Personal life
Holyoake twice married Norma Janet Ingram: first in a civil ceremony on 24 September 1934, and again on 11 January 1935 at their
Holyoake also had a very close and somewhat paternalistic friendship with
Decorations, awards and memberships
- Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC), 1954 New Years Honours List
- Freeman of the City of London
- Honoris Causa, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- Honoris Causa, Seoul National University, South Korea
- Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH), 1963 New Year Honours List
- Knight of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem(KStJ)
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), 1970
- Companion of the Queen's Service Order
- Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter(KG), 1980
Coat of arms
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Footnotes
Notes
- ^ Sir George Grey served as both governor of New Zealand and premier of New Zealand in the 19th century, but Holyoake is the only person to have served in both capacities since the viceregal post was renamed governor-general in 1917.
References
- ^ "Keith Holyoake". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Richard Wolfe (2005). Battlers, Bluffers and Bully-boys. Random House New Zealand.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wood, G. A. "Holyoake, Keith Jacka". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ a b Gustafson 2007, pp. 2.
- ^ Geering, Lloyd. "In praise of the secular, part 3 of 4: The value of being secular" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ^ "Official jubilee medals". The Evening Post. Vol. CXIX, no. 105. 6 May 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 32.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 32f.
- ISBN 9780192518439.
- ^ a b Hamer, Paul (2010). "Kiwi Keith and Kinloch: A closer look at Holyoake's 'Proudest Achievement'" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of History. 44 (22): 157–173. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates; Volume 349. House of Representatives: New Zealand Parliament. 1966. p. 29.
- ^ a b c Gustafson 2007.
- ^ "New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Act 1969 No 24 (as at 13 July 2011), Public Act – New Zealand Legislation". legislation.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service to which this Act applies is hereby declared to be the same Service as the Service known as the New Zealand Security Service which was established on 28 November 1956.
- ^ "The Hunn Report | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ a b "'Politics and sport don't mix'". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ISBN 9781877242007.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Volume 329. New Zealand Parliament. p. 3683.
- ^ Gustafson 2007, p. 152.
- ^ Gustafson 2007, p. 97.
- ISBN 9781782893714.
- ^ "Nuclear testing in the Pacific". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages" (PDF) (Press release). NASA. 13 July 1969. p. 28. 69-83F.
- ^ "No. 45119". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 5 June 1970. p. 6405.
- ^ "Marshall lines up his men". Auckland Star. 2 February 1973. p. 2.
- ^ Gustafson 2000, p. 144.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 297.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 299.
- ^ Rowling: The man and the myth by John Henderson, Australia New Zealand Press, 1980.
- ^ Ross Doughty (1977). The Holyoake years. Feilding.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 301.
- ^ McLean 2006, p. 303.
- ^ "The state funeral of the Right Honourable Sir Keith Holyoake, Tuesday, 13 December 1983, 11 a.m., Wellington Cathedral". 1983. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Wood, G. A. (2000). "Holyoake, Keith Jacka". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 304.
- ^ "No. 48214". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 14 June 1980. p. 39.
- ^ Waring, Marilyn (11 May 2019). "How Marilyn Waring became an MP aged 23". The Spinoff. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ a b Screen, NZ On. "Encounter - Take a Girl like You | Television | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ Gustafson 2000, p. 196.
- ^ "Armorial Bearings, Sir Keith Holyoake". Nelson Provincial Museum. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
References
- ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- ISBN 978-1-86940-236-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86940-400-0.
- McLean, Gavin (November 2006). The Governors: New Zealand's Governors and Governors-General. Dunedin: ISBN 1-877372-25-0.