The Second National Government of New Zealand (also known as the Holyoake Government, after

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Keith Holyoake) was the

government of New Zealand The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifi ...

from 1960 to 1972. It was a conservative government which sought mainly to preserve the economic prosperity and general stability of the early 1960s. It was one of New Zealand's longest-serving governments.

Significant policies

Economic policy

*Compulsory unionism was relaxed. *Negotiated continued access to United Kingdom markets following the UK's acceptance into the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

Treaty of Waitangi and Māori policy

*Responded to the increasing urbanisation of the

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

with a policy of

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

, which aimed to integrate Māori into

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

lifestyles. This policy included the abolition of the Native School system in 1969. *Amended the Waitangi Day Act 1960 to make Waitangi Day a public holiday in the Northland region.

Other

*On 12 October 1961 ten National MPs voted with the Opposition and removed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

for murder from the Crimes Bill that the government had introduced, by a vote of 41 to 30. Ralph Hanan, the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

who had introduced the bill was one of them. * Family maintenance allowances were introduced (1968).Pragmatism and Progress: Social Security in the Seventies by Brian Easton * In 1967 after a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on 23 September, bar closing times were extended from 6pm to 10pm on 9 October. * In 1968, emergency benefit was systematised into a discretionary Domestic Purposes Benefit (this was replaced by the statutory Domestic purposes Benefit in 1973). * In 1969, the general medical services benefit was raised for beneficiaries, while specialist benefit was introduced. * A rural incentives scheme for doctors was introduced (1969). * Income abatement on benefits was simplified (1971).

Foreign affairs

*New Zealand troops committed to the defence of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. *Committed a small number of New Zealand troops to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. *Re-established

compulsory military training Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

Constitutional

*Appointed the first New Zealand born

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

in 1967 (Sir Arthur Porritt) and the first New Zealand born and New Zealand resident Governor-General, Sir Denis Blundell in 1972. *Voting age lowered to 20, from 21.

Formation

The key issue of the 1960 election was the ' Black Budget' of 1958, in which the Labour government had raised taxes on alcohol, petrol and cigarettes. Although the government argued that it was necessary to address a

balance of payments In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., a ...

crisis, National continually attacked the government for it, and most historians consider that it lost Labour the election after only one term in office. Another, less important factor, may have been the age of Labour's leadership. Prime Minister Walter Nash was 78 in 1960, and had been

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

in the first Labour government 25 years earlier. Voters probably considered him and many of his team old and out of touch in contrast with National leader Keith Holyoake, who in 1960 was only in his mid 50s. The phrase Young Turk was used by Ian Templeton to describe three of the new National MPs elected in 1960, Peter Gordon, Duncan MacIntyre and

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 ...

. The description stuck ( Zavos).

The 1963 election

In many ways the 1963 election was a re-run of the 1960 election. No new major issues had arisen, and Labour continued to be damaged by the ' Black Budget' of 1958. Although five years had passed since the budget, its architect,

Arnold Nordmeyer Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer (born Heinrich Arnold Nordmeyer, 7 February 1901 – 2 February 1989) was a New Zealand politician and Presbyterian minister. As a member of Parliament (MP) he played a crucial role in the Labour Party, serving fr ...

, was now Labour Party leader following the retirement of Nash earlier in 1963. Voters continued to associate Nordmeyer, and therefore the party, with the unpopular budget. It is normal for governments to lose some support during their term, but National's share of the popular vote was only 0.5% less than in 1960, and it lost only one seat, retaining a majority of 10.

The 1966 election

Shortly before the 1966 election, Labour had replaced Nordmeyer as leader with

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 ...

, but Kirk had insufficient time to consolidate his position and the party was damaged by this and division over economic policy. The main difference between the parties in terms of policy was commitment to the

. The National government had committed a small number of troops, seeing support for American wars as a necessary payment for America's commitment (through the

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a collective security agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that was signed in 1951, and from which New Zealand has been partially su ...

pact) to protect New Zealand. Labour was opposed to New Zealand involvement in the war and made troop recall a major platform. However the strongest anti-war sentiment was probably amongst young people, and at this stage the voting age was 21. The election resulted in National losing 3.5% of the popular vote, and one seat, to

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

. This marked the first time since 1943 that a seat had been won by a party other than Labour or National.

The 1969 election

Before the 1969 election the voting age was lowered from 21 to 20, and the number of electorates was increased from 80 to 84, to reflect population growth. These changes seem to have benefited National, as its share of the popular vote rose by 1.6% and it regained the seat it had lost ( Hobson) to Social Credit. This is a rare example of a government increasing its share of the vote while in power.

Defeat

Like Labour in 1960, National in 1972 appeared old, worn-out and out of touch. Holyoake had been in Parliament for all but one term since 1932. He had been a founding member of the National Party in 1936, and had been on National's front bench since the 1940s. His conservative bent was seen as a poor fit for the times. His resignation in favour of deputy

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

did little to revitalise the party. Marshall lacked the charisma of Labour leader

, and had little time to establish himself before an election later that year. The government was defeated less on any particular policy than on a general feeling that, as Labour's campaign material put it, it was time for a change.

Election results

Prime ministers

Keith Holyoake was

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

for almost the entire term of this government, from 12 December 1960 until 7 February 1972 when he resigned. He was replaced by

, with the terms of other ministers commencing on 9 February 1972. The Marshall Ministry stepped down on 8 December 1972. File:Keith Holyoake 1960 (cropped).jpg, Keith Holyoake
served 1960–1972 File:Jack Marshall, 1972.jpg,

served 1972