It's Time was a successful political campaign run by 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 ...

under

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until h ...

at the 1972 general election. The Labour Party promoted its initiatives with advertisements featuring the lines "It's time for a change, it's time for Labour." The campaign was ultimately successful and marked the first time Labour was in government since losing the 1960 election to the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

History

The catchphrase "It's Time" was first conceived by campaign organiser Bob Harvey. With an accompanying song for television adverts, Kirk was relatively sceptical of the phrase initially. However, Kirk warmed to the idea upon recalling his lack of enthusiasm for Labour's

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

campaign advert "Make Things Happen", which performed better than expected. The "It's Time" campaign was used for television, radio, newspapers and billboards. It promoted on a growing need for political and economic change after 12 years of

government. In an economic recession and rising unemployment, National was lagging in polls. Labour's accompanying slogan was "Time For A Change, Time For Labour", expertly captured the nation's mood. Claire Robinson, a Professor of Communications Design at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

, stated it was New Zealand's best election slogan "It had so many meanings – it's time for Labour, it's time for Norman Kirk, it's time for a change ... It was really good, and it was actually one of the best campaigns oo Mind you, we'd ew Zealandhad four terms of a National Government by then, so it was definitely time for a change." Later, the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

successfully ran a similar "It's Time" campaign in that year's

Australian federal election Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar princ ...

Notes

References

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External links

It's Time for Labour
{{Norman Kirk 1972 New Zealand general election Political history of New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party 1972 works Election campaigns New Zealand political phrases 1972 quotations Political terminology in New Zealand