NZHistory, New Zealand history online - helen clark

Helen Clark

Official portrait of Helen Clark, 2005.

See biography of Helen Clark

Image courtesy PicsDigger

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

helen clark

Helen Clark

Prime Minister: 5 Dec 1999–19 Nov 2008
Age on becoming PM: 49
Electorate: Mt Albert
Political party: Labour

Jenny Shipley may have been our first female PM, but Helen Clark was the first elected one. In 2008 she became our fifth longest-serving PM and the first Labour leader to win three consecutive elections.

Clark came from a National-leaning rural family but developed her politics while studying and lecturing in political science at the University of Auckland. She won the Mount Albert seat in 1981. Clark served as a minister during Labour’s second term from 1987 and became deputy PM two years later, but she also benefited from working smoothly with the party machinery. In 1996, three years after ousting Mike Moore, she polled so badly that a coup was attempted, but she stayed, survived, succeeded. Labour won handsomely in 1999.

Underpinned by her deputy, Michael Cullen, and chief-of-staff, Heather Simpson, Clark re-centred policy, softening but not overturning the fundamentals of 'Rogernomics' (neo-liberal economics). Labour made some trade union and civil rights reforms, dropped titular honours and established a new Supreme Court. Clark, who climbed mountains on holiday, softened her austere style and even modelled a costume in the Wearable Arts Awards.

Helped by a strong economy and a weak opposition, Labour was initially competent and disciplined. It crushed National in 2002, but the opposition recovered and ran the government close in 2005. Although Clark still rated highly, public impatience with some domestic policies, minor crises and natural voter attrition denied her a fourth term. She resigned as leader on election night 2008 and early in 2009 left for New York to head the United Nations Development Programme.

Clark, sometimes compared to Peter Fraser, shared his mastery of international relations and his belief that culture shapes national identity. As minister of arts, culture and heritage, she increased arts funding and raised the profile of our military heritage.

Written by Gavin McLean

See also:

Biography of Helen Clark (Wikipedia)
Premiers and Prime Ministers of New Zealand

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

Prime Minister Helen Clark at Waitangi

Prime Minister Helen Clark with her escort, Titewhai Harawira, at Te Tii marae, Waitangi, 6 February 2002.

See biography of Helen Clark

Photo: Michael Cunningham
Northern Advocate, 7 February 2002

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

waitangi day

helen clark

Vogel House and Premier House - housing NZ's prime ministers

Vogel House

In 1976 New Zealand regained an official home for its prime minister for the first time in 40 years. Ten years earlier, Jocelyn Vogel had given Vogel House in Lower Hutt to the Crown to mark 100 years of Parliament in Wellington. Designed in 1933 by Helmore and Cotterill, it was one of the Hutt Valley’s last large houses designed for a family and domestic staff.

The Muldoons in Vogel House

Prime Minister Robert Muldoon rushed to refurbish Vogel House in time for a dinner for the visiting Queen Elizabeth II in February 1977. He was our first modern leader able to offer VIPs proper hospitality.

David Lange, who succeeded Muldoon in 1984, never liked Vogel House and kept his family in Auckland. He ‘camped’ in a tiny first floor apartment in the house, moaning about the staff folding the edge of the toilet paper in neat triangles, hotel-style. Finding it too far from the Beehive, he saw out his term as prime minister in a flat near Parliament.

Vogel House remains a ministerial house. In 2008 the governor-general moved into ‘Government House Vogel’ for four years while Government House Wellington was restored.

Tinakori Street becomes Premier House

After Michael Joseph Savage rejected Tinakori Street, it became ‘the murder house’, a children’s dental clinic. The Public Works Department raised seedlings at the front of the grounds. In 1977 the dental nurses moved out, leaving the property empty. In the early to mid-1980s the Ministry of Works repiled the building and fitted sprinklers, but it remained underutilised. Some wanted to redevelop the site, but the Thorndon Society and the Historic Places Trust defended its heritage qualities. It is a Category I historic place on the Trust register.

The Palmers in Premier House, 1990

In the late 1980s, Minister of Internal Affairs Michael Bassett decided to restore 260 Tinakori Road as an official prime ministerial residence. The conservation of Premier House, as they renamed it, was a 1990 Sesquicentennial project. That year Geoffrey Palmer and his wife, Margaret, became its first official residents.

Premier House has housed every subsequent prime minister. Some made it a family home, but Helen Clark and John Key kept their families in Auckland, using Premier House as a workday squat. ‘There’s a little corner which has the bedroom and the bathroom, and … I go into the bedroom somewhere around midnight or later,’ Clark said in 2002. ‘The alarm goes in the morning, I wander along to the kitchen, I turn on the jug and make a cup of tea. Then I’m out of there.’

Premier House, 2005

Nevertheless, Premier House hosts VIPs, such as Prince William, who attended a barbecue there in 2010. It is also used by politicians and officials for meetings and is the venue for events such as awards ceremonies. Premier House was one of the few Crown-owned ministerial houses retained by the government recently after it reformed ministerial expenses, terminated many leases and put ministers on to flat allowances to cover their Wellington expenses.

Waitangi Day in the 21st century

Waitangi and beyond

In 2000 Prime Minister Helen Clark was reported as saying that 'It is my strong belief that the days and events around Waitangi Day should contribute to the building of a sense of New Zealand identity and purpose.' In the 21st century the day has been linked more closely with New Zealand identity, and events have expanded beyond Waitangi itself. Protests have continued, and representatives of the Crown have not always been present at Waitangi.

Official ceremonies

Helen Clark and Titewhai Harawera

In 2000 the official ceremonies remained at Waitangi. Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark decided to attend a Waitangi Day function at Onuku marae, Akaroa, but Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys, some MPs and Jenny Shipley, the leader of the Opposition, were at Waitangi. The programme of events on the Treaty House grounds aimed to make the day one of spiritual observance, ceremony, family fun and entertainment. It was generally successful. An official welcome and forum at Te Tii marae did not run smoothly, and there was an assault on the Waitangi flagpole in the early hours of 6 February. Most media reports focused on these aspects and gave brief coverage to the rest.

The difficulties associated with events at Waitangi and Te Tii marae raised questions about whether official commemorations should continue to be held there. Cabinet decided that in 2001 there would be no official representation at Waitangi, but, in the end, two cabinet ministers were present. The Waitangi National Trust Board organised events to mark the day, including a church service. Although this was disrupted by 300 young people, the rest of the day passed peacefully with games and waka events.

The Crown returned to Waitangi in 2002, with the governor-general, attorney general and prime minister all in attendance. Protestors disturbed the welcome at Te Tii marae and an early church service in the Whare Runanga on the Treaty House grounds, but other events were held in a celebratory atmosphere.

Protests have continued at Waitangi, and the prime minister has not always attended events there on Waitangi Day. In 2004 some Maori used Waitangi Day to protest about the government's legislation regarding the seabed and foreshore. In the days leading up to Waitangi Day, National Party politicians were pelted with mud, and members of the government were jostled as they entered Te Tii marae.

Prime Minister Helen Clark did not return to Te Tii marae following the jostling incident in 2004 but did continue visit Waitangi. Over the next few years her annual Waitangi Day programme generally involved hosting a breakfast at a hotel near the Treaty Grounds and a walk around with dignitaries, before heading to Auckland to attend events there. When criticised for not visiting the lower marae in 2007 Clark responded that ‘the atmosphere is such that if I don't go, there probably won't be incidents and if I did, there would be’.

Maori Labour MPs continued to visit Te Tii marae in the years that followed, as did Opposition leader Don Brash and his successor John Key. Though protest groups continued to gather at the marae the atmosphere was not as heated as it had been in 2004. Many put this down to the growth of the Maori Party, established in July 2004 in protest against the foreshore and seabed legislation. In 2006, by which time the Maori party had won four out of seven Maori seats, Te Tii kaumatua and spokesman Kingi Taurua commented:

Many of those who used to protest at Waitangi have joined the Maori Party. They now believe they have a voice in Parliament for their concerns rather than having to confront politicians when they come here.

Following the 2008 general election the Maori Party joined a National-led minority government with ACT and United Future. Since forming the government National and Maori Party MPs have continued to attend Te Ti marae, as has Opposition leader Phil Goff.

In 2009 two men breached the Prime Minister's security cordon outside Te Tii marae and grabbed hold of his jacket yelling that they would not let him on to the marae. The incident was unexpected because of National's new relationship with the Maori party and Key's recent announcement that he would allow a Maori flag to fly on future Waitangi Days. It was quickly condemned by Maori Party MPs and kaumatua at the marae. Veteran activist Titewhai Harawira was reported as saying ‘that after 30 years of real hard struggle there was no need for physical protest at this time’.

Beyond Waitangi

Moves to commemorate Waitangi Day across New Zealand have expanded in the early 21st century. Functions and events are now held throughout the country. The government has made available funding to assist events and activities that acknowledge the signing of the Treaty. The Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund has supported dozens of events, ranging from a commemoration of Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson's journey from the Bay of Islands to Mangungu, where the Hokianga signing of the Treaty was held, to community tree planting, hangi and kapa haka performances on the West Coast. Events supported by the fund celebrate the positive aspects of Waitangi Day – the coming together of the peoples of New Zealand in a Treaty partnership.

Maori communities have used the day as an opportunity to discuss the Treaty. Some marae hold open days or run talks on the place of the Treaty in New Zealand. New Zealanders elsewhere also now mark the day. There have been concerts in London, as well as less formal activities.

Helen Clark planting rose at Crete, 2001

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark plants a ‘Lest We Forget’ rose from the New Zealand Returned Services’ Association at Suda Bay War Cemetery in Crete, 19 May 2001.

Kendall Langston, 2001

del.icio.us Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

helen clark

battle for crete