Keith Holyoake

Early life

Holyoake was born at Mangamutu, a short distance from Pahiatua, a town in New Zealand's Wairarapa region, the son of Henry Victor Holyoake and Esther Eves. Holyoake's great-grandparents, Richard and Eliza Holyoake, settled at Riwaka near Motueka in 1843, and his maternal great-grandparents, William and Sarah Eves, arrived in Nelson in 1842. Relatives of the 19th-century secularist George Holyoake, the Holyoakes ran a small general store at Mangamutu, and then lived for a time in both Hastings and Tauranga, before settling on the family farm at Riwaka, following the death of Holyoake's grandfather in 1913.

Holyoake was raised in the Plymouth Brethren church, and his social life as a child was very restricted. At age 12, having left school after his father's death, Holyoake worked on the family hop and tobacco farm in Riwaka. His mother had trained as a school teacher, and continued his education at home. After taking over the management of the farm, he became involved in various local farming associations, something that increased his interest in politics.

Early political career

The Reform Party, which had strong rural support, selected Holyoake as its candidate for the Motueka seat in the 1931 election. The incumbent MP, George Black, held the seat, but died the following year. Holyoake was the Reform Party's candidate in the resulting by-election in 1932, and was successful. He became the youngest Member of Parliament at the time, at the age of 28. In 1935, he was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

In the 1935 election, Holyoake retained his seat under the motto "Follow England and Vote Holyoake" despite a massive swing against the United–Reform Coalition. In the aftermath of this election, he played a key role in transforming the coalition into the modern National Party. He very quickly gained considerable respect from his colleagues, and was regarded as a rising star in the new party. The 1937 electoral redistribution was unfavourable for him and when the boundary changes applied at the 1938 election, Holyoake lost his seat to a rising star of the governing Labour Party, Jerry Skinner. Holyoake had been discussed as a possible successor to the party's conscientious but lack-lustre leader, Adam Hamilton, but without being an MP, this was no longer considered an option.

In 1943 he returned to Parliament as MP for Pahiatua, having been lined up by National for that nomination. In 1946, he became the party's deputy Leader.

First National Government: 1949–1957

National won the 1949 election and formed the First National Government, new Prime Minister Sidney Holland appointed Holyoake as Minister of Agriculture. Holyoake was also for a year (1949–50) in charge of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and was Minister of Marketing until the department was abolished in 1953.

As Minister of Agriculture for eight years Holyoake enhanced his reputation as a level-headed good administrator. Farm mechanisation was encouraged, the "extermination policy" achieved nearly eliminated the rabbit pest. Dismantling of marketing producer controls was completed.

Holyoake twice went to London to re-negotiate price levels on meat and wool products, and in 1955 attended the Food and Agricultural Organisation conference in Rome. On his return to New Zealand he visited India and the Soviet Union to seek alternative markets for New Zealand, although his trip bore little fruit. In 1957 he led a delegation seeking to protect New Zealand's access to the British market without notable success.

As Deputy leader of the National Party, Holyoake was acting prime minister whenever Holland was overseas. In recognition of this was made a member of the Privy Council in 1954, only after the 1954 general election Holland made him the first person to be formally appointed Deputy Prime Minister.

Holyoake became Prime Minister two months before the 1957 election, when outgoing Prime Minister Sidney Holland retired due to ill-health, and also became Minister of Māori Affairs on the retirement of Ernest Corbett. The election was won by the Walter Nash-led Labour Party by a margin of one seat. Holyoake became Leader of the Opposition for the next three years.

Second National Government: 1960–1972

In the 1960 election, the National Party returned to power and formed the Second National Government. Historians attribute the victory to Holyoake's skilful campaigning, particularly his attacks on Minister of Finance Arnold Nordmeyer's so-called "Black Budget" of 1958, which had increased taxes on petrol, cigarettes and liquor.

The Holyoake government implemented numerous reforms of the public services and government institutions: for example, it created the Office of the Ombudsman and numerous quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations, and strengthened parliamentary scrutiny of the executive. Public broadcasting was removed from direct government oversight and placed under corporation control. Holyoake's government rewrote the criminal legal code, passing the Crimes Act 1961; the Act abolished capital punishment, though only ten National MPs voted for its abolition. In 1969, the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) was formally acknowledged to exist, and its minister, the prime minister, publicly acknowledged. That same year the New Zealand Parliament passed an Act covering the agency's functions and responsibilities: the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service Act.

In 1960, the Holyoake government published the "Hunn Report", a wide-ranging summary of Māori assets, and the state of Māori in New Zealand at the time. The report was a damming indictment of past governments' neglect of Māori within society, and Holyoake endeavoured to act on its findings. By embracing the No Maoris – No Tour cause, Holyoake ended the practice of an apartheid sporting body dictating the racial composition of New Zealand rugby teams touring in South Africa. In a 1966 speech directed at the South African authorities, Holyoake delicately defended the principle of racial equality, stating "in this country we are one people; as such we cannot as a national be truly represented in any sphere by a group chosen on racial lines".

An anti-socialist, Holyoake sought to reduce the role of trade unions in industrial relations. The National government introduced a form of voluntary unionism. Holyoake's government was comfortably re-elected for a second consecutive term in 1963. Holyoake's second term featured by a long period of prosperity and economic expansion. However, moves by the United Kingdom to join the European Economic Community challenged his government. Holyoake deliberately played down the issue, and chose not to vocally oppose British membership of the EEC. A significant step towards diversification was a limited free trade agreement with Australia, negotiated in 1965 by Holyoake's minister of overseas trade, Jack Marshall, who later also negotiated the terms of the arrangements for New Zealand under which Britain joined the EEC.

More controversial were the Holyoake government's relations with the United States at the start of the Vietnam War. The National government's initial response was carefully considered and characterised by Holyoake's cautiousness towards the entire Vietnam question. The fundamental issues, Holyoake said, were simple: "Whose will is to prevail in South Vietnam the imposed will of the North Vietnamese communists and their agents, or the freely expressed will of the people of South Vietnam?" His government preferred minimal involvement, with other South East Asian deployments already having a strain on the New Zealand Defence Force. New Zealand's alliance with the United States was an issue in the 1966 general election, which the National Party won on the back of.

Beginning in mid-1960s, the New Zealand government protested France nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific region. In 1963, Holyoake announced the policy of banning the storage or testing of nuclear weapons within New Zealand territory.

Holyoake led his party to a narrow and unexpected victory in the 1969 general election. Holyoake appointed a rising backbencher, Robert Muldoon as Minister of Finance in 1967, although ranked him lowly in his Cabinet. In response to falling wool prices and balance of payment problems, Muldoon introduced mini-budgets with Holyoake's approval.

The National government was humiliated in early 1970 in a disastrous by-election. Political commentators speculated about when Holyoake would retire, and by the early 1970s his closest allies, including Jack Marshall, were privately encouraging him to retire. The government was perceived as careworn—two of its strongest ministers had died, and the party caucus was increasingly divided. After more than a decade in power, Holyoake's dogged conservatism appeared out of touch with an increasingly liberal society. However, it was not until 1972 that he resigned to ease the succession for Marshall. By then he had become the senior statesman of the Commonwealth. Holyoake remained in Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs until National lost office at the end of the year.

Retirement

When National under Marshall was defeated, Holyoake remained prominent in opposition. He played an active part in the 1975 election, which saw National regain power again under Robert Muldoon. Muldoon appointed Holyoake to the specially-created sinecure of Minister of State.

Governor-General

In 1977, Holyoake was unexpectedly and controversially appointed Governor-General by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. The announcement was made by the Queen at the end of her tour of New Zealand on 7 March 1977, from the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia in Lyttelton Harbour.

This choice was deemed controversial by some, as Holyoake was a sitting Cabinet minister and a former prime minister. Many opponents of Muldoon's government claimed that it was a political appointment. The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Rowling stated that he would remove Holyoake as Governor-General if the Labour Party won the 1978 general election, and openly suggested that he would have appointed Sir Edmund Hillary as Governor-General. That suggestion was, in turn, criticised by the Government, as Hillary had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.

As a result of the appointment, Holyoake resigned from Parliament, leading to the Pahiatua by-election of 1977. He was succeeded from his seat by John Falloon.

Holyoake's conduct while in office, however, was acknowledged to be fair and balanced. In particular, Holyoake refused to comment on the 1978 general election, which gave Labour a narrow plurality of votes but a majority to National. Social Credit leader Bruce Beetham said Holyoake as Governor-General had "a scrupulous impartiality that confounded the critics of his appointment". His term as Governor-General was only for three years, on account of his age. Usually, Governors-General serve for five years, but Holyoake was the oldest Governor-General to date. His term ended in 1980.

Later life

In 1980, Holyoake became a Knight of the Garter, a rare honour. He died on 8 December 1983, aged 79, in Wellington. His daughter Diane married National MP Ken Comber.

Decorations, awards and memberships