The Citizens for Rowling campaign was a campaign named after then Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand Bill Rowling in the lead up to the 1975 general election. Members of the campaign publically signed the "Citizens for Rowling" petition warning against a National government led by Robert Muldoon. The campaign was largely orgainised by David Exel, a former television show host. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ... The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealands head of government and is the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand. ... Sir Wallace Edward Rowling KCMG, (15 November 1927 - 31 October 1995), often known as Bill Rowling, was a Prime Minister of New Zealand. ... The New Zealand National Party (National or the Nats) currently forms the second-largest (in terms of seats) political party represented in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus functions as the core of the parliamentary Opposition. ... The Right Honourable Sir Robert David (Rob) Muldoon GCMG CH (25 September 1921–5 August 1992) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. ...

Central to the campaign was a booklet, in the form of a petition, which attacked Muldoon's leadership style, which was stated as being "divisive" and "moving towards factional strife". Many offshoot groups were formed, such as Lawyers for Rowling and Clergy for Rowling. Rowling's youngest son, Carl, also joined the campaign.

Prominent members

Prominent members of the campaign included:

• Geoffrey Palmer
• Sir Jack Harris
• Sir Edmund Hillary
• John Hinchcliff ^[1]
• Graham Nuthall
• Sir Paul Reeves

The Right Honourable Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer, AC, KCMG (born 21 April 1942), served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from August 1989 until September 1990, leading the Labour Party. ... Sir Edmund Hillary in 1957 after accompanying the first plane to land at the Marble Point ground air strip - Antarctica Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE (born July 20, 1919) is a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. ... The Right Reverend Sir Paul Alfred Reeves GCMG GCVO QSO (December 6, 1932–) was Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand and Bishop of Auckland from 1980 to 1985 and Governor-General of New Zealand from 1985 to 1990. ...

Outcome

Despite gaining a lot of press for Labour, the campaign was largely seen as having backfired on Labour, with Muldoon launching a public denial of the claims and stating "The average chap doesn't want to be told how to vote."^[2]

References