Personal details
Full Name:
- Michael Joseph Savage
Lifetime:
- 23 Mar 1872–27 Mar 1940
Prime Minister:
6 Dec 1935–27 Mar 1940
Age on becoming PM:
63
Electorate:
Auckland West
Political Party:
Labour
Michael Joseph Savage
Michael Joseph Savage, New Zealand’s first Labour PM, was probably also it's best-loved. His avuncular image hung in the homes of the Labour faithful for decades.
Read more...Events In History
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30 March 1940Funeral procession for Labour PM SavageSavage’s funeral procession set off from Parliament House at 9 a.m. on 30 March, starting what became the most lengthy funeral procession, and the most marked outpouring of public grief, in New Zealand’s history. Read more...
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25 March 1940John A. Lee expelled from Labour PartyLee's criticisms of dying Prime Minister M.J. Savage's leadership and his dissatisfaction with the government's economic policy led to his expulsion from the Labour Party. Savage died two days later. Read more...
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5 September 1939PM declares NZ's support for BritainIn declaring New Zealand's support for Britain in the war with Germany that had just begun, an ailing Michael Joseph Savage famously told the nation that, 'Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand'. Read more...
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2 February 1939Welfare plan gets baptism of fireA massive fire destroyed the nearly completed three-storey Social Security building. Just seven weeks later a replacement building was opened by prime minister Michael Joseph Savage Read more...
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14 September 1938Social Security Act passedThe cornerstone of the first Labour government's welfare policies, the Social Security Act overhauled the pension system and extended benefits for families, invalids and the unemployed. Read more...
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18 September 1937First state house opened in MiramarMost of the Labour Cabinet helped the McGregor family move into 12 Fife Lane in Miramar, Wellington. The government's aim was to rid New Zealand of sub-standard housing by building 5000 new homes a year. Read more...
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22 April 1936Rātana and Labour seal allianceThe alliance between the Rātana Church and the Labour Party was cemented at an historic meeting between T.W. Rātana and Prime Minister M.J. Savage. Read more...
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6 December 1935First Labour government takes officeThe first Labour government assumed office following the party's landslide victory in November's general election. Led initially by the charismatic Michael Joseph Savage, this government is best remembered for its significant social welfare reforms. Read more...
Articles
State housing
New Zealand's first state house was formally opened on 18 September 1937. But the government has provided rental housing for New Zealanders for more than a century. Explore the history of this country's various state housing schemes and their contribution to the New Zealand way of life.
- Page 2 - The first state housePrime Minister Savage helped out at the opening of the Labour government's first state house in 1937 at 12 Fife Lane, Miramar,
Housing the Prime Minister
Almost 150 years after the government purchased the first official premier's residence on Tinakori Road, Wellington, the address of Premier House remains the same. But in the intervening years the building has been extended, renamed, abandoned and refurbished.
- Page 3 - Unofficial prime ministerial housesFrom 1935 to 1975 our prime ministers lived in a series of 'unofficial'
Election Days
When New Zealanders go to the polls on 26 November 2011, they will continue a 158-year-old tradition of parliamentary democracy in this country. Politics may have changed beyond recognition since 1853, but the cut and thrust of the campaign trail, the power of advertising, and the drama of polling day remain as relevant as ever.
- Page 6 - Radio and TVElectoral advertising was transformed first by radio, and later by
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Main image: First State House
The first of the thousands of homes built under Labour's massive state housing programme was in Strathmore, Wellington.
