RIP David Lange
Aotearoa lost one of our most important leaders of recent times of the weekend. David Lange took office in 1984 following the drunken call for an election from Nationals “Piggy” Muldoon to find a country on the brink of bankruptcy. With a great deal of input from Roger “the dodger” Douglas, Lange led the government which brought New Zealand back from the edge and is partly responsible for the economic stability New Zealand enjoys today.
At the time he became Prime Minister I was 10 years old and it was all difficult for me to understand. By the time I entered university all that had happened seemed to me to be an abrogation of the Labour Partys socialist roots. That and student loans strongly influenced me politically, pushing me further left. While now I support the Green Party, and am still strongly against the travesty of the student loan system, I can now understand the necessity of what they did. They had to act, and they delivered and Lange in a large part is responsible for Aotearoa as we now find it.
More than the economic effect of the reforms, it is Langes anti-nuclear stance which I remember most fondly. His Oxford Union debate is one of the most brilliant oratorical offenses in the history of New Zealand public speaking. And standing up to the United States and their questionable policies is truly laudable. New Zealand has lost a great statesman.
BBC story here.
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