Sir Roger Douglas is a former New Zealand politician and senior Cabinet minister, best known for his leading role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the New Zealand Labour Party government in the 1980s. He later founded the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers (the forerunner of the ACT New Zealand party) with Derek Quigley in 1994. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... The Association of Consumers and Taxpayers is a New Zealand lobby group promoting free market economics. ... Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ... Derek Francis Quigley (born 31 January 1932) is a former New Zealand politician. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Early life

Douglas was born on 5 December 1937. His family had strong ties with the trade union movement, and was active in politics. Douglas was educated in Auckland, and gained a degree in accountancy from Auckland University. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... Accountancy (British English) or accounting (American English) is measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about information that helps managers and other decision makers make resource allocation decisions. ... The University of Auckland is New Zealands largest research-based university by student numbers. ...

Early political career

After some experience in local body politics as a member of the Manukau City Council, his career in national politics began when he was elected to parliament as Labour Party MP for Manukau. He became involved in the party's policies on industry and economics. Manukau City is a city in the Greater Auckland region of New Zealand. ...

Labour under Norman Kirk won the 1972 election, and Douglas was elevated to Cabinet. During Labour's term in office, he was Minister of Broadcasting, Minister of Housing, and Minister of Customs. However, Kirk's unexpected death in 1974 (and his replacement by the ineffectual Bill Rowling) led to Labour's defeat by the National Party under Robert Muldoon in 1975. Douglas was Labour's spokesperson on housing until 1980, when he acquired responsibility for the trade and industry portfolio. In 1983, when David Lange became leader of the Labour Party, Douglas was made spokesperson for finance. Norman Eric Kirk served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974 and led the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1972. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The New Zealand Cabinet is, in practice, the highest body of the New Zealand governments executive branch. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Sir Wallace Edward Rowling KCMG, (15 November 1927 - 31 October 1995), often known as Bill Rowling, was a Prime Minister of New Zealand. ... Current National Party logo The New Zealand National Party currently forms the second-largest (in terms of seats) political party in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus functions as the core of the Opposition. ... The Right Honourable Sir Robert David (Rob) Muldoon KCMG CH (25 September 1921–5 August 1992) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable David Russell Lange (pronounced Long-ee), CH, ONZ (4 August 1942 Thames, New Zealand – 13 August 2005 Auckland, New Zealand), served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. ...

Minister of Finance

Labour returned to power in the election of 1984. Lange became Prime Minister and gave the Minister of Finance role to Douglas. The policies that Douglas began to implement were revolutionary. Known as "Rogernomics" (a coinage based on the term "Reaganomics", used to describe the economic policies of US President Ronald Reagan), the measures involved monetarist measures to control inflation, the slashing of subsidies and trade tariffs, and the privatisation of public assets. All of these policies were regarded as a betrayal of Labour's left-wing policy platform, and were deeply unpopular with those who supported the political left in New Zealand. Douglas's supporters defended the reforms as being necessary to revive the economy, which had been tightly regulated under National's Muldoon. 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. ... The term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of Roger and economics, was created by analogy with Reaganomics to describe the economic policies followed by New Zealand Finance Minister Roger Douglas from his appointment in 1984. ... The term Reaganomics, a portmanteau of Reagan and economics, was used to describe, and decry, the economic policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. ... ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Monetarism is a set of views concerning the determination of national income and monetary economics. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A tariff is a tax placed on imported and/or exported goods, sometimes called a customs duty. ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition...

The New Zealand Federated Farmers Association had proposed most of these reforms. For example, they supported the removal of farm subsidies as well as all the other trade barriers. However, because farmers were generally traditional National Party supporters, the reforms were applied to farmers first, so the subsidies were removed while they still had to pay for the protected machinery they needed. So many farmers were hit hard.

Even after substantial reforms that were unpopular amongst many sections of the community and were causing high levels of unemployment, the Labour government was reelected in 1987, with a substantial majority in the legislature (58.8% of the seats). Some argue that Labour's reelection was primarily due to the weakness of the opposition National Party and to public support for Labour's other policies (such as its stand against nuclear weapons). Douglas, along with his supporters Richard Prebble and David Caygill, maintained majority backing from the Cabinet to continue with their reforms, up until the conflict between Lange and Douglas. Shortly after the election and a major stock market crash, Prime Minister Lange moved to stop the changes. A protracted conflict between Lange and Douglas broke out in Cabinet. Eventually, after Richard Prebble was dismissed, Douglas resigned, leaving his ministerial positions at the end of 1988. 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Richard William Prebble (born 7 February 1948) is a member of the New Zealand Parliament. ... David Caygill is a former New Zealand politician. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Labour Party caucus, however, voted to return Douglas to Cabinet in July the following year. While Lange was obliged to accept the decision of caucus, he was not required to reappoint Douglas to his old post. Douglas became Minister of Police and Minister of Immigration, much more junior positions than his old role as Minister of Finance. The rejection by caucus of Douglas's original dismissal, however, had weakened Lange's position, and the Prime Minister himself resigned the month after Douglas returned. Lange's successors (Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore) did not, however, restore Douglas to his former position, and Douglas was not able to pursue his economic programme. Douglas did not stand for for parliament at the 1990 election, which Labour lost. His policies, however, were taken up by Ruth Richardson, the Minister of Finance under the new National government. A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ... 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. ... This page is about the New Zealand politician and Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ruth Richardson (born December 13, 1950) served as New Zealands Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993, and is known for her strong pursuit of radical economic reforms (sometimes known as Ruthanasia). Early life Richardson was born in southern Taranaki on 13 December 1950. ...

ACT New Zealand

In 1993 Douglas co-founded the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers with Derek Quigley, intended to serve as a pressure group promoting Douglas's economic policies. Shortly afterwards, the country switched to the MMP electoral system. (This change is sometimes attributed to public perceptions about betrayal by the established parties, with Labour's pursuit of non-leftist policies being the most major of those perceived betrayals). This meant that smaller groups had a much better chance of entering parliament, and encouraged the new association to establish the ACT New Zealand party. Douglas was the new group's first leader, but soon stood aside for Richard Prebble (his old ally from their days in the Labour caucus). 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Derek Francis Quigley (born 31 January 1932) is a former New Zealand politician. ... The Additional Member System (AMS) is a voting system where some representatives are elected from geographic constituencies and others are elected under proportional representation from party lists. ... Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ... Richard William Prebble (born 7 February 1948) is a member of the New Zealand Parliament. ...

Douglas has remained a strong supporter of the ACT party, although he has become somewhat unhappy with the party's alleged lack of focus on pure economic policy. In particular, Douglas had been critical of what he sees as populism within the party, claiming that some of its MPs are more committed to grabbing headlines than to developing policy frameworks. When Richard Prebble announced his decision to retire, Douglas spoke out in favour of Stephen Franks and Ken Shirley as possible successors - the other main contender in the leadership race, Rodney Hide, was widely seen as advocating the style that Douglas condemns. Rodney Hide won the leadership and is currently ACT party leader. Stephen Franks (born 1950) is a New Zealand politician. ... Kenneth Lex Shirley (12 August 1950 - ), generally called Ken Shirley, is a New Zealand politician. ... Rodney Hide (born 16 December 1956) is a New Zealand politician and leader of ACT New Zealand. ... Rodney Hide (born 16 December 1956) is a New Zealand politician and leader of ACT New Zealand. ... Current ACT New Zealand logo ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ...

On 2 December 2004, both Roger Douglas and Derek Quigley announced that they were stepping down as patrons of ACT. Their stated reason was that they wished to have more freedom to disagree with the party publicly. December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Later life

Since leaving politics when he surrendered leadership of ACT, Douglas has held senior positions at a number of prominent companies. He is now the managing director of his own group, Roger Douglas Associates.

External link

• http://www.rogerdouglas.org.nz/

References

• Douglas, Roger. "Completing the Circle" Seascape Press ISBN 0-473-03987-7