LISTENER AUGUST 10 2019Vietnam War in the late 60s
and early 70s led to a vision
of a New Zealand with an
independent foreign policy,
not beholden
to any great
protector.
The
cam-
paignagainst French nuclear testing
and the refusal to accept
nuclear-armed or -powered
ships in 1984 heightened
this vision. Prime Minister
David Lange’s “I can smell the
uranium [on your breath]” at
the Oxford Union became the
symbolic moment. We were
no longer foot soldiers of theEmpire, but apostles for a more
peaceful world.
Foreign trade changed radi-
cally. In 1939, New Zealand
was Britain’s offshore farm,
with 84% of our exports by
value going to the UK in
the form of wool, butter,
cheese and frozen meat. Little
changed for 30 years. But afterBest-ever leaders
Most surveys put Richard
Seddon at the top of the
prime-ministerial rankings.
His 13 years in charge (1893-
1906) were phenomenal by
any political standard. Not
only did he dominate with
his aggressive personality,
but also his administrations
introduced a raft of far-
reaching legislative reforms.
In more recent times,
however, who would rate
as the best? The political
scientists tend to plump for
Peter Fraser (1940-1949) or
Keith Holyoake (1957, 1960-
72). The latter’s reputation,
in particular, gets rosier by
the year, as the wheels of
hindsight grind on, and few
would disagree now that he
has been the most success-
ful – and therefore the best- prime minister of the past
60 years. He was the one
deemed most in tune with
his time. And Barry Gustaf-
son, author of the major
biography Kiwi Keith, points
out that Holyoake was also
Foreign Minister throughout
his 11 years at the top, and
more or less ran finance as
well. More socially liberal
than posterity has so far
given him credit for, he kept
the country stable during a
time of increasing division
and diversity. “While he was
prime minister,” says Gus-
tafson, “by a combination of
luck or good management
or both, most New Zealand-
ers got what they wanted.”
80 YEARS