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David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd
prime minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
from 1984 to 1989. A member of the
New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...
, Lange was also the
minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...
and the
minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
alongside his term as prime minister. He was also the attorney-general of New Zealand from 1989 to 1990. Lange was born and brought up in Ōtāhuhu, the son of a physician. He became a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
, and represented poor and struggling people in
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
causes in the rapidly changing
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
of the 1970s. After serving as legal advisor to the Polynesian Panthers, Lange was first elected to the
New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...
in the Mangere by-election of 1977. He became a prominent debater within parliament, and soon gained a reputation for cutting wit (sometimes directed against himself) and eloquence. Lange became the leader of the Labour Party and
leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
in 1983, succeeding
Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...
. When Prime Minister
Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...
called an election for July 1984 Lange led his party to a
landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...
, becoming, at the age of 41, New Zealand's youngest prime minister of the 20th century. Lange took various measures to deal with the economic problems he had inherited from the previous government. Some of the measures he took were controversial; the
free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
ethos of the Fourth Labour Government did not always conform to traditional expectations of a
social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
party. He also fulfilled a campaign promise to deny New Zealand's port facilities to nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered vessels, making New Zealand a nuclear-free zone. Lange and his party were re-elected in August 1987; he resigned two years later and was succeeded by his deputy, Geoffrey Palmer. He retired from parliament in 1996, and died in 2005 from renal failure and blood disease at the age of 63. Prime Minister
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
described New Zealand's nuclear-free legislation as his legacy.


Early life

Lange was born on 4 August 1942 in Ōtāhuhu, a small industrial borough since absorbed into
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
. He was the oldest of four children of Eric Roy Lange, a general practitioner and obstetrician and grandson of a German settler, and Phoebe Fysh Lange, who trained as a nurse in her native
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
before she migrated to New Zealand. The family had lived in New Zealand for so long that the original pronunciation of their surname, ''lan-ge'', "had all but been forgotten"; Lange himself would pronounce it as ''long-ee''. Lange's autobiography suggests that he admired his soft-spoken and dryly humorous father, while his demanding and sometimes overbearing mother tested his tolerance. His cousin
Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...
reflected that Roy "knew how to avoid trouble rather than confront it", and David developed a similar aversion to conflict. Lange received his formal education at Fairburn Primary School, Papatoetoe Intermediate School and
Otahuhu College Otahuhu College is a secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand for students years 9 to 13. Location It is located in the suburb of Ōtāhuhu and is a co-educational school. The main campus entrance is on Mangere Road, the Memorial Field sport ...
, then at the
University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
in 1960, where he graduated in law in 1966. He attributed his talents with oratory to the need to compensate for his clumsiness during his intermediate school days. Lange worked from an early age and held a number of jobs; in the third form he performed a paper-round for ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
'' in Mangere East, and later changed from delivery-boy to collecting the money. The following year he delivered telegrams, before applying to work at the Westfield Freezing Works in the role that would initially pay his way through university. The poor work conditions at the freezing works provided an opportunity to identify with the misery of fellow workers, and an appreciation for the impact of strikes on ordinary workers. In 1961 he started a job as a law clerk at Haigh, Charters and Carthy, a role that had varied work and clients, including the Communist Party. On 13 March 1967 Lange was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. After his admission he spent months travelling across Australia, Asia and Britain. On 3 August 1968, he married Naomi Crampton. He gained a Master of Laws in 1970 with first-class honours, specialising in criminal law and medico-legal issues. Lange practised law in Northland and Auckland for some years, often giving legal representation to the most dispossessed members of Auckland society – he assisted the Polynesian Panther Party (and, by extension, the Pacific Island community) to disseminate legal rights information and legal aid during the '70s dawn raids. In July 1976 Lange was involved in the legal defence of former cabinet minister Phil Amos after he protested the visit of the 20,000 tonne American cruiser in his small yacht the ''Dolphin'' by impeding its entry to
Auckland Harbour Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
. The cruiser was forced to stop mid-stream to allow grappling hooks to be thrown to pull the ''Dolphin'' clear. Afterwards Amos had been arrested and charged with obstruction. He was convicted, but the conviction was overturned on appeal by Lange. Amos' protest instantly became a headline-grabbing piece of political drama, bringing public attention to the anti-nuclear issue. Lange was inspired by Amos' stand and following his example would later pass a law banning the visit by nuclear propelled or armed ships to New Zealand.


Political career

Lange joined the Labour Party in 1963, and helped in the campaigns of Phil Amos in 1963 and Norman Douglas in 1966. In 1974 his cousin
Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...
suggested that Lange should stand on the Labour ticket for the
Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...
. The Council was dominated by conservative interests and the only Labour candidates elected were
Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's pol ...
and Catherine Tizard; Lange was "...halfway down the field .... which was better than I expected." Lange's father Roy, who was a doctor at Ōtāhuhu, had delivered Bassett. The two would later have strong disagreements, prompting Lange to remark, "My father had delivered him, and it became plain in later days that he must have dropped him." Lange then stood for Labour in Hobson in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, and came third. In 1977 he entered the race for the Labour nomination in a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
for the safer seat of Mangere. He saw off more experienced candidates (some of whom were former MPs) to win the Labour candidacy. He won the Mangere by-election, retaining the area for Labour. Lange then represented Mangere, a working-class Auckland electorate with a large Māori population, in the
New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...
. On becoming an MP, Lange quickly made an impression in the House as a debater, a wit, and the scourge of Prime Minister
Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...
. In his
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
, he suggested that New Zealand children had fewer rights than animals received under the Animals Protection Act 1960, and complained of "appalling" rail service from Auckland to Mangere. After the Lange was elevated to the Shadow Cabinet. In December 1978 Labour leader
Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...
appointed Lange Shadow Minister for Social Welfare. On 1 November 1979 Lange, after encouragement from parliamentary friends Roger Douglas and
Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...
, challenged Bob Tizard for the deputy leadership. Lange succeeded in the challenge, narrowly defeating Tizard 20 votes to 18. In addition to becoming Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Lange became Shadow Attorney-General, Shadow Minister of Justice and Shadow Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. In 1980 Lange and a group consisting of Douglas, Bassett, Richard Prebble and Mike Moore tried to remove Rowling as leader of the Labour Party. Following the coup attempt Lange resigned as deputy leader in January 1981 to offer himself for re-election as a vote of confidence. At Labour's first caucus meeting of the year he was re-elected as deputy leader. After Labour lost the 1981 general election, the group, later known as the " Fish and Chip Brigade" (in reference to a picture published at the time showing the plotters eating
fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...
) succeeded in their second attempt in 1983.


Leader of the Opposition

Lange succeeded Rowling as parliamentary leader of the Labour Party and as
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
on 3 February 1983. Significant debate emerged within the Labour Party on the party's economic direction, following a paper by Roger Douglas to the party's policy council. Eventually a compromise was drafted by Geoffrey Palmer, which Lange described as "A manifesto which appealed to the right, the left, the centre and the totally bewildered. It was, in fact, anodyne." Muldoon unexpectedly called a
snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...
in 1984, as a result of Marilyn Waring voting for a
member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
introduced by Richard Prebble to introduce a nuclear-free zone. The timing of the election prevented Labour from creating a proper election platform, instead using the Palmer draft. Lange commented that the party went into the election with an unfinished argument for an economic policy. Lange led Labour to a landslide victory, helped by
vote splitting In social choice theory and politics, a spoiler effect happens when a losing candidate affects the results of an election simply by participating. Voting rules that are not affected by spoilers are said to be spoilerproof. The frequency and se ...
between the National Party and the New Zealand Party. However, before Lange was sworn in as Prime Minister a foreign exchange crisis arose, which led to a constitutional crisis. The
New Zealand dollar The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...
was overvalued and following the announcement of the snap election in June, traders started selling off the New Zealand dollar on the assumption that Labour would win the election and devalue the currency. Muldoon refused to follow Lange's instruction to devalue the currency, making the dollar's situation more untenable. Eventually on 19 July Muldoon relented, after his position as leader of the National party was threatened by members of his caucus.


Prime Minister (1984–1989)

David Lange was sworn in as New Zealand's 32nd Prime Minister on 26 July 1984, becoming, at the age of 41, New Zealand's youngest prime minister of the 20th century, a record later surpassed by only one other, Mike Moore in 1990.


First term: 1984–1987

During his first term of office as Prime Minister, Lange also held the position of
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
.


Rogernomics

The currency crisis and devaluation of the New Zealand dollar spurred on the reform drive of Roger Douglas, who Lange made Minister of Finance in the new government. These reforms were soon dubbed ' Rogernomics', in a similar vein to Reaganomics. Upon coming to office, Lange's government was confronted by a severe balance of payments crisis, as a result of the deficits fuelled by Muldoon's imposition of a two-year freeze on wages and prices, and stubborn maintenance of an unsustainable exchange rate. Such economic conditions prompted Lange to remark: "We ended up being run very similarly to a Polish shipyard". Their first move was to hold an Economic Summit on 14 September 1984, similar to the one held in Australia by Bob Hawke the previous year, to create a feeling of consensus and to lay out the underlying problems in New Zealand's economy. The summit however was dominated by advocacy of radical economic reforms similar to what had been proposed by the Treasury Department, foreshadowing the Lange government's propensity to approach issues from a fundamentally economic standpoint. Margaret Wilson, the Labour Party's president, was deliberately not invited to the summit, a sign of the speed and intolerant approach to opposition that would characterise Rogernomics. Douglas himself saw the summit as a theatrical preparation for his first budget. Lange and Douglas engaged in a rapid programme of deregulation and the removal of tariffs and subsidies. The first sector affected was New Zealand's agricultural community, a traditionally National-supporting community. The loss of subsidies hit some farmers hard. Other changes brought criticism from many people in Labour's traditional supporter base. The Labour Party also lost support from many elderly people by introducing a
superannuation A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "Defined benefit pension pla ...
surcharge after having promised not to reduce superannuation. Douglas also deregulated the finance markets, removing restrictions on interest rates, lending and foreign exchange. In March 1985, with Lange's blessing, the New Zealand dollar was floated. From 1 April 1987, several government departments were corporatised into
state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
s, with massive loss of jobs. On the role of Government Lange said "It is there to be the securer of its citizens' welfare. Where the market works well, it should be given its head. Where the market results in manifest inequity, or poor economic performance, the Government must get involved."


International affairs and nuclear-free policy

Lange made his name on the international stage with his steadfast leadership in the anti-nuclear weapons movement. His government refused to allow nuclear-capable ships into New Zealand's
territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...
, a policy the country continues to this day. In February 1985, Lange famously rejected the arrival of the USS ''Buchanan'', supported by a recommendation from the acting prime minister Geoffrey Palmer. The ship was not armed with nuclear weapons but was capable of carrying them. This displeased the United States; in response, all intelligence flow to New Zealand was stopped and joint military exercises were cancelled. In 1985, there were 22 programmed exercises cancelled or restructured, resulting in approximately 6,000 man-days of training being taken away. During a televised
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...
debate in March 1985, Lange gained an extraordinary international reputation. Lange argued for the proposition that "Nuclear weapons are morally indefensible", in opposition to the American televangelist
Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...
. Lange regarded his appearance at the Oxford Union as the high point of his career in politics. His speech included the memorable statement:
"There is no humanity in the logic which holds that my country must be obliged to play host to nuclear weapons because others in the West are playing host to nuclear weapons. That is the logic which refuses to admit that there is any alternative to nuclear weapons, when plainly there is. It is self defeating logic, just as the weapons themselves are self defeating, to compel an ally to accept nuclear weapons against the wishes of that ally is to take the moral position of totalitarianism which allows for no self determination."
His speech also included an often-quoted statement made in response to a question posed by another debater: In 1987, Lange's government passed the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987. This Act effectively declared New Zealand a nuclear-free zone and banned all nuclear-capable ships from entering New Zealand waters. The United States regarded this legislation as a breach of treaty obligations under ANZUS and announced that it would suspend its treaty obligations to New Zealand until the re-admission of U.S. Navy ships to New Zealand ports, characterising New Zealand as "a friend, but not an ally".


''Rainbow Warrior'' affair

Relations with France became strained when French agents of the DGSE bombed and sank the
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
ship the '' Rainbow Warrior'' on 10 July 1985 while it lay moored in
Auckland Harbour Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, killing photographer Fernando Pereira. In June 1986 Lange obtained a political deal with France over the '' Rainbow Warrior'' affair, presided over by
United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. France agreed to pay compensation of NZ$13 million (US$6.5 million) to New Zealand and also to apologise. In return, Lange agreed that French authorities could detain the convicted French agents Alain Mafart and
Dominique Prieur Dominique Prieur (born 1949) is a French military officer who was convicted of manslaughter over her part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. Biography Prieur joined the military in 1974 and was recruited as a secret agent in August 1977. ...
at the French military base on Hao Atoll for three years. However, both spies were freed by May 1988, less than two years later, in violation of the agreement.


Social reforms

During Lange's first term in office, the Lange government implemented many social reforms. On 8 August 1986, the Lange government enacted the Homosexual Law Reform Act which legalised consensual sex of males 16 years and older and allowed them to enter into sexual relationships with one another without the fear of being prosecuted. On 1 August 1987, the
Māori Language Act 1987 The Māori Language Act 1987 was a piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of New Zealand that gave official language status to the Māori language (), and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as courts. It also establi ...
was enacted making te reo Māori an official language of New Zealand.


1987 general election

Lange's government was re-elected at the August 1987 general election, the first time a Labour government had won a second term since
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
. The government increased its share of the popular vote, although this may have been due to less vote splitting. Lange toured the country throughout the campaign and faced, for the first time, protests against his government, especially in provincial areas. Unusually, Labour did not produce a
manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
for the election, primarily due to disagreement between Douglas and Lange over the direction the government would take if re-elected. Lange sought to focus on social services in the second term, and declared in his victory speech, "I'm proud that we are now, in the next three years, going to seal those conomicgains, in health and education and social welfare progress." On the night, Labour's candidate
Judith Tizard Judith Ngaire Tizard (born 3 January 1956) is a former New Zealand politician, and a member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party. Early life and career Tizard was born at Auckland's St Helen's maternity hospital in Pitt Street in 1956. ...
came within 406 votes of winning the traditionally National-held seat of Remuera; she had been forecast as the winner by initial vote counting. Labour had never come remotely close to winning the wealthy east Auckland seat before, even at its high-tide victories in 1972 and 1984. Tizard's near-win fuelled Lange's misgivings about the direction his government was taking. He commented, "That election night was a great revelation for me. That was an apprehension on my part that we had actually abandoned our constituency. And it set me to think what on earth have we done that we come within 400 votes of winning the true-blue ationalseat of Remuera. And that struck me as being a dangerous flirtation, and an act of treachery to the people we were born to represent."


Second term: 1987–1989

Following the 1987 election, Lange made himself
Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...
. He stated that he gave himself the portfolio to "draw a line in the sand" against the influence of the "Treasury " (Douglas, Prebble and David Caygill), and in accordance with his wishes to emphasise social policy in his second term.


Fijian coups d'état

Lange was criticised for his reaction to the coups d'état in Fiji in May and September 1987. Later, in his autobiography, Lange stated:
There was never any question that New Zealand might use force to restore the democratically elected government, since we were not asked to intervene by its representatives and had we been, we did not have the military resources. I did however ask our military leaders to ready themselves to come to the assistance of any New Zealand citizens who might be endangered, and I met with considerable obstruction.


Stock market crash

The stock market crash of 19/20 October 1987 damaged confidence in the New Zealand economy, which went into a prolonged recession from December of that year, and remained so until June 1991. During that time unemployment skyrocketed 170%, the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in the September 1987 quarter to 7.5% in the June 1989 quarter. Lange noted with bitterness that Douglas took advantage of the crash to "rubbish" his stated ambitions to have the government focus on social policy, and push for more economic reforms.


Tomorrow's Schools

As Minister of Education, Lange pushed the introduction of ''
Tomorrow's Schools "Tomorrow's Schools" is a term based on the white paper ''Tomorrow's Schools: The Reform of Education Administration in New Zealand'', used in reference to changes in New Zealand education in the 1980s. The changes suggested in the white paper, ...
'', a radical restructure of New Zealand's primary and secondary school education system. The Department of Education was downsized to become the Ministry of Education and have a supervisory role, education boards were abolished and parents at each school elected their own boards of trustees. The reforms were criticised for the influence of New Right ideas and their effect of introducing market mechanisms and notions of competition in the education system. Lange's appointment of businessman Brian Picot to head a
task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...
into educational reform was taken as a sign of the government giving too much priority to economic and competitive concerns over the social aspect of education.


Leadership challenge and resignation

In 1988 consensus on economic policy amongst the Labour leadership finally broke down, with Douglas resigning after Lange overruled his radical flat income-tax and
universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...
proposal. Douglas continued his campaign against Lange through public statements, the unauthorised release of cabinet papers and on 21 December 1988 an unsuccessful challenge against Lange's leadership in the Labour caucus. To date it is the only instance when a sitting Prime Minister has been challenged for leadership. The radical economic reforms had alienated much of the Labour Party, and it fractured; in April 1989
Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's pol ...
, a backbench MP, formed a breakaway NewLabour Party, taking approximately one third of Labour's membership. However, the caucus re-elected Douglas to the Cabinet on 3 August 1989, and Lange interpreted this as a vote of no-confidence in his leadership. He tendered his resignation five days later on 8 August 1989. Lange became the first elected Labour Prime Minister who neither died in office nor was voted out in an election.


Leadership

Lange's leadership abilities were mixed and at times contradictory. As one of the most media-capable New Zealand prime ministers, he was a quick-witted orator and able to speak inspirationally to topics, yet was sensitive to criticism and averse to conflict. He often became caught up in how he was seen to perform and would often avoid confronting angry ministers by using a rear entrance. Despite being media-savvy, Lange's political skills were judged to be poor by political scientist Stephen Levine.


Motor racing

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Lange engaged in competitive
motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
, appearing in the New Zealand One Make Ford Laser Sport series.


Post-premiership


Cabinet minister: 1989–1990

Geoffrey Palmer succeeded Lange as Labour party leader and Prime Minister in 1989, Lange became
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
, Minister in Charge of the Serious Fraud Office and a Minister of State. Palmer was then replaced by Mike Moore as Prime Minister shortly before the 1990 general election in November, which Labour lost by a landslide. Lange was re-elected at this election (and again in
1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
) as the member for Mangere.


Opposition and resignation from parliament

After the government was defeated in 1990, he was appointed Shadow Attorney-General by Moore. After Moore led Labour to narrow loss in the 1993 general election, Lange backed deputy leader
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
for the leadership against Moore. Clark replaced Moore as Labour leader and made Lange Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister of Racing. In 1991 and 1992 he wrote a Monday column in ''The Dominion'', published alternately with Simon Upton who, Lange commented, "writes erudite obfuscation tempered by occasional attempts to explain the arcana of the health reforms." Lange was a supporter of changing New Zealand's flag, and wrote in 1994: " stranger who saw the Australian flag and the New Zealand flag outside adjacent buildings would assume that some British hotel chain was advertising deluxe and standard rooms". Lange also expressed support for a New Zealand republic, stating: "Do such things matter? They certainly do. We suffer in this country from a lack of emotional focus... New Zealand will become a republic just as Britain will be blurred into Europe". In failing health, Lange retired from Parliament before the 1996 general election. In his valedictory speech, he reflected on the pain caused by his government's economic reforms: "I want to thank those people whose lives were wrecked by us. They had been taught for years they had the right to an endless treadmill of prosperity and assurance, and we did them. People over 60 hate me. They hate me because I was the symbol of what caused that assurance of support and security to be shattered. That is something that has always been part of my burden." His Labour Party colleague Taito Phillip Field succeeded him as the member for the Mangere electorate.


Life after politics

Lange was a
New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...
board member and served as the organisation's Vice-President. In an interview with ''The New Zealand Herald'' (published on 3 July 2004) the reporter asked Lange: :''Do you think if the election of 1984 had not been a snap election, there would have been time for the opposing forces within the party to have successfully blocked the reforms or to have severely limited them?'' Lange replied:


Litigation

In 1996 Lange sued the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
over an alleged defamation that it broadcast about him. The ABC used the defence that there exists in the
Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...
an implied right to
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
on political matters, but the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
found against them, reversing the then existing law (see '' Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation''). The case was later settled on terms favourable to Lange. In a key New Zealand defamation case ('' Lange v Atkinson''
000 Triple zero, Zero Zero Zero, 0-0-0 or variants may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * 000, the size of several small List of screw drives, screw drives * 0-0-0, a Droid (Star Wars)#0-0-0, dro ...
3 NZLR 385), Lange sued
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
Joe Atkinson for representing him in the magazine '' North & South'' as a lazy prime minister. In a 1998 judgment, and on appeal in 2000, the courts affirmed a new qualified privilege for the media to discuss politicians when expressing the criticisms as the "honest belief" of the author.


Accidental release of secret report

In January 2006, Archives New Zealand released to the '' Sunday Star-Times'' newspaper a box of David Lange's previously classified documents. They revealed New Zealand's ongoing involvement in Western alliance espionage, and a threat by the United States to spy on New Zealand if it did not back down from its ban on nuclear ships. Archives New Zealand chief executive Dianne Macaskill said the paper did not have the authority to access or print the report, and wrote to the paper revoking permission to publish it. In response, the ''Sunday Star Times'' said the information had already been released into the public arena and hence could not be retracted. The release of the document prompted a high-level inquiry to investigate how the top-secret report ended up in Lange's personal papers, in breach of security protocol. A secret diplomatic cable leaked in 2010 covers the accidental release of the document.


Personal life

Lange was raised in a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
family. In the 1960s he worked alongside Methodist theologian Donald Soper at the West London Methodist Mission in England. He was deeply influenced by Soper's interpretation of
Christian socialism Christian socialism is a Religious philosophy, religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...
. Lange later became a Methodist lay preacher. In 1989 Lange announced in a brief press statement on 10 November that he was separating from his wife of 21 years. On 12 November Naomi Lange named his speech-writer, Margaret Pope, as "the other woman" in a ''Sunday Times'' article, and said that she had been told by her husband five or six months beforehand that he planned to leave the marriage. Lange's mother Phoebe also publicly criticised him, but they later reconciled. He had three children, Roy, Emily, and Byron, with his first wife Naomi, and one daughter, Edith, with his second wife Margaret. Lange married Margaret in Glasgow on 12 January 1992 while holidaying in Britain. Lange's brother
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
is a widely respected New Zealand potter. He has won numerous arts awards and has exhibited widely in New Zealand and overseas. Lange's third cousin
Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...
became a fellow Cabinet-minister. Bassett published a book in 2008 about the Lange government entitled ''Working With David: Inside the Lange Cabinet''.


Health issues and death

Lange suffered all his life from
obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...
and the health problems it caused. By 1982 he weighed about , and had surgery to staple his stomach in order to lose weight. In the 1990s Lange's health declined, with
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
and kidney disorders. In 2002, doctors diagnosed Lange as having
amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weigh ...
, a rare and incurable
blood plasma Blood plasma is a light Amber (color), amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains Blood protein, proteins and other constituents of whole blood in Suspension (chemistry), suspension. It makes up ...
disorder. He underwent extensive medical treatment for this condition. Although initially told he had only four months to live, Lange defied his doctors' expectations, and remained "optimistic" about his health. He entered hospital in Auckland in mid-July 2005 to undergo nightly peritoneal dialysis in his battle with end-stage kidney failure. On 2 August, he had his lower right leg amputated without a general anaesthetic, as a result of diabetes complications. Lange's declining health resulted in the bringing-forward of the publication of his memoir ''My Life'' to 8 August 2005. TV3 broadcast on '' Campbell Live'' on the same day an interview; John Campbell had interviewed him just before he went into hospital. In his last interview, given to the '' Herald on Sunday'' from his hospital bed, he made a potent intervention in New Zealand's 2005 election campaign by saying he "wanted to get out of bed and get a wheel-chair to Wellington" to stop any relaxation of his ban on nuclear ships. Lange died of complications associated with his
renal failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...
and blood disease in
Middlemore Hospital Middlemore Hospital is a major public hospital in the suburb of Ōtāhuhu, Auckland, New Zealand. The hospital has approximately 800 beds. There are 24 operating theatres across two sites. History In 1943, during World War II, construction com ...
in Auckland on 13 August 2005, just five days after the publication and interview, and nine days after his 63rd birthday. He is buried at Waikaraka Cemetery and the headstone has the simple inscription "David Lange 1942 ~ 2005". The David Lange Memorial Trust erected a memorial sculpture by Virginia King in Ōtāhuhu, which was unveiled by the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand in 2008.


Honours and awards

Lange was bestowed with the mātai, or Samoan chiefly title, of Tagaloa, a title from the village of Le'auva'a. In the 1990 New Year Honours, Lange was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a
Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...
, the country's highest civil honour. He turned down the knighthood that is customarily offered to former prime ministers. Lange received the Right Livelihood Award in 2003 for his strong fight against
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s.


See also

* Electoral history of David Lange


Notes


References

* * * * * * * *


External links


David Lange Memorial Trust

PM David Lange Resigns (1989)
Network News News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or tele ...
,
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
, 7 August 1989
Audio recording of speech that "Nuclear Weapons are Morally Indefensible"
Oxford Union debate, 1 March 1985
Interview
with John Campbell, TV3
Obituary
by Jonathan Milne, Herald on Sunday; an
tribute
by political correspondent John Armstrong,
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...
.
Amyloidosis Australia
Information on Amyloidosis in Aust/NZ
Tribute
from
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
at memorial service.
Account of memorial service
by Jonathan Milne and Amanda Cameron, Herald on Sunday
Personal Reflections Of South Auckland's Statesman
by
Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The Scoop may refer to: Artefacts * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (theater), a type of wide area l ...
's Selwyn Manning * from the ''
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online ...
'' , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, David 1942 births 2005 deaths Politicians from Auckland Prime ministers of New Zealand 20th-century prime ministers of New Zealand Attorneys-general of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Leaders of the opposition (New Zealand) New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers of education of New Zealand Ministers of foreign affairs of New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand Labour Party leaders New Zealand people of German descent New Zealand Methodists New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand Rugby League board members New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Nuclear weapons policy University of Auckland alumni People educated at Otahuhu College Burials at Waikaraka Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Members of the Order of New Zealand New Zealand Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Diabetes-related deaths Deaths from amyloidosis Deaths from kidney failure 20th-century New Zealand lawyers