North & South – June 2019

122 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

happened– exceptit wasnothis

ownpartybutthe“kindofperson

etc”whoendedupgettingridof

Muldoonbycastingtheirballot

forJonesandsplittingthevote.

Withanelectioncalled,Jones

rosetothecampaigningoccasion.

Oldnewsfootageshowshim

intypicallycolourfulstyle,the

pugilisticplutocrat,pipeinhand,

enteringa town-hallcampaign

meetingtothethemefromRocky.

Whentheresultswerein,theNew

ZealandPartyhadtaken12%ofthe

vote.Thiscouldwellhavegiven

it severalseatsandconsiderable

influencehadtheMMPsystembeen

inplace.Asit was,thetotalachieved

Jones’aimoftakingenoughvotes

fromNationaltooustMuldoon.David

Lange’sLabourPartywasabletoform

a government,whichironicallyshared

manyofJones’free-marketviews.

Economicsaside,theNewZealand

Party’smanifestowasnotableforits

idiosyncraticdefencepolicy,reflected

inthechoiceofa doveforitslogo.

JoneswantedustogetoutoftheAnzus

alliance.Again,thiswassomethingthe

Langegovernmentmadehappen,albeit

unexpectedlybyrefusingtoallow

potentiallynuclear-poweredUSvessels

intoNewZealandwaters,althoughit

couldbearguedAnzusleftus.Labour

didnottakeuphisideaofdoingaway

witha defenceforcealtogether.

Hisworkdone,ashesawit,Jonesput

thepartyintorecess– butlikeMonty

Python’sBlackKnight,it refusedto

accepttheinevitable,andremnants

contestedtwomoreelections,gaining

less than 1% of the vote in each case. +

partytocontestthe 1984 election.

Itcameafterhegrewdisenchanted

withtheeconomicpoliciesofhis

erstwhilefriendPrimeMinister

RobertMuldoon,whoseheavy-

handedinterventionistapproach

Joneslikenedtocommunistpolicyof

thetime.Hesaidthecomparisonhad

beeninspiredbya visittoPoland.

Noneofthiswentdownwellwith

Jones’formerNationalPartypals.

SpeakinginParliamentin1983,

ThomasdeVereHunt(akaPat

Hunt),thememberforPakuranga,

describedmembersoftheNew

ZealandPartyforthosewhowere

unfamiliarwiththem:“Theyare

richwhingers,affluentknockersand

greedymalcontentstypicalofthe

kindofpersonwhocomesuptoone

ata partyorsomeotherfunction

andsays...‘I willnotvoteNational

untilyougetridofMuldoon.’”

Which is more or less what

MANYPEOPLEwillhaveforgotten
SirBobJonesonceputhimselfat
riskofbecomingthePrimeMinister
ofNewZealand.Historywillnever
geta chancetoshowwhether,like
DonaldTrump– withwhosepolitical
careerhishaselementsincommon

• hewouldhaveovercomethe
  initialshockofhisunlikelyelection
  tomakethemostofhisvictory.
  Joneswasnonewcomertopolitical
  hijinkswhenheformedtheNew
  ZealandPartyin1983.Hehad
  supportedcolourfulnightclubowner
  Carmenina bidfortheWellington
  mayoralty,andpaidin 1975 tohave
  thelegend“[Labourcabinetminister]
  MatRatareadscomics”emblazoned
  onthesideofa Wellingtonbuilding.
  Ina lettertotheSundayStar-Times
  a coupleofyearsback,theindefatigable
  correspondentprovidedsomecontext
  forthis,refutinganaccusationof
  racismbyMāoriPartyco-leader
  TarianaTuria:“Firstly,Matdidread
  comicsandneverdeniedit,which
  issolelywhythebillboardborethat
  message.”Interestingly,thereareno
  recordsofJonesusingpublicspaceto
  recordthereadinghabitsofotherMPs.
  Butthegrandestjapeofallwas
  Jones’ formation of an entire political

THE HISTORY BOYS

Then along came Jones...

PHRASEOFTHEMONTH

Underthepump:Ofenigmaticorigin,thisphrase,meaningunderpressure,

is increasinglyinsinuatingitselfintothevernacular.It mayderivefromthe

practice of punishing individuals by an early version of water-boarding.

LASTWORDS / P a ulLittle

THE GOOD LIFE

THE DOMINION POST COLLECTION / ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

BobJones(left),TheaMuldoon,

NationalPartycabinetministerWyatt

CreechandRobertMuldoonata

surprisedinnerfortheformerprime

minister, organised by Jones in 1992.