Bob Tizard
Robert James Tizard CNZM (7 June 1924 – 28 January 2016) was a Labour politician from New Zealand. He served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Health and Minister of Defence.
Bob Tizard CNZM | |
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Tizard in 1963 | |
6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
In office 10 September 1974 – 12 December 1975 | |
Prime Minister | Bill Rowling |
Preceded by | Hugh Watt |
Succeeded by | Brian Talboys |
34th Minister of Finance | |
In office 6 September 1974 – 12 December 1975 | |
Prime Minister | Bill Rowling |
Preceded by | Bill Rowling |
Succeeded by | Robert Muldoon |
22nd Minister of Health | |
In office 8 December 1972 – 10 September 1974 | |
Prime Minister | Norman Kirk |
Preceded by | Lance Adams-Schneider |
Succeeded by | Tom McGuigan |
5th Minister of Energy | |
In office 26 July 1984 – 16 September 1987 | |
Prime Minister | David Lange |
Preceded by | Bill Birch |
Succeeded by | David Butcher |
29th Minister of Defence | |
In office 24 July 1987 – 9 February 1990 | |
Prime Minister | David Lange Geoffrey Palmer |
Preceded by | Frank O'Flynn |
Succeeded by | Peter Tapsell |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert James Tizard 7 June 1924 Auckland, New Zealand |
Died | 28 January 2016 91) Auckland, New Zealand | (aged
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Mary Nacey (div.) Beryl Vignale (m. 1989) |
Relatives | Judith Tizard (daughter) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | |
Years of service | 1943–45 |
Rank | |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Early life and family
Born in Auckland on 7 June 1924, Tizard was the son of Jessie May Tizard (née Phillips) and Henry James Tizard.[1][2]
He was educated at Meadowbank School and Auckland Grammar School, and earned a university scholarship in 1940.[3] In March 1943 he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force. A navigator, he was commissioned as a pilot officer in February 1945,[3][4] and promoted to flying officer in August 1945.[5]
After the war, Tizard studied at Auckland University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and a Master of Arts in 1950.[6] His MA thesis was entitled Mr H.E. Holland's Blueprint for New Zealand and the World,[7] Harry Holland having been a previous leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.
While at university, Tizard met future wife Catherine Maclean, while he was president of the Auckland University Students Association. On their second date Tizard told Maclean he was "going into politics. And I'm going to marry you."[8] They married in 1951, and Tizard unsuccessfully ran for the Remuera electorate later that year at the general election and again at the 1954 general election.
He was finally successful at the 1957 election, winning in Tamaki, but was defeated three years later by Robert Muldoon. The couple moved to Avondale and started a family, with his wife having four children in six years starting at the age of 21 with Anne, followed by Linda, Judith and Nigel. They moved in 1957 to Glendowie in the Tamaki electorate. Tizard ran for and won the Pakuranga electorate at the general election in 1963. His wife then returned to university to complete her degree in zoology,[8] and later began teaching at Auckland university. The couple divorced in 1980.[8]
Catherine Tizard was Mayor of Auckland from 1983 to 1990 and Governor-General of New Zealand from 1990 to 1996. He is the father of former Consumer Affairs minister Judith Tizard, who succeeded her father as the Member of Parliament for Panmure in 1990.
Tizard later married Mary Nacey, with whom he had a son, Joe. They subsequently divorced. He married Beryl Vignale of Canada in 1989. The couple had been engaged during World War II.[9]
Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament | ||||
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
1957–1960 | 32nd | Tamaki | Labour | |
1963 | 33rd | Otahuhu | Labour | |
1963–1966 | 34th | Pakuranga | Labour | |
1966–1969 | 35th | Pakuranga | Labour | |
1969–1972 | 36th | Pakuranga | Labour | |
1972–1975 | 37th | Otahuhu | Labour | |
1975–1978 | 38th | Otahuhu | Labour | |
1978–1981 | 39th | Otahuhu | Labour | |
1981–1984 | 40th | Otahuhu | Labour | |
1984–1987 | 41st | Panmure | Labour | |
1987–1990 | 42nd | Panmure | Labour |
Tizard was the Member of Parliament for Tamaki from 1957 to 1960, when he was defeated by National's Robert Muldoon.[8][10] For the duration of the Second Labour Government Tizard was a backbencher. In the dying days of the government, Prime Minister Walter Nash overruled security services advice and approved the naturalization of a European emigrant living in Tizard's constituency who had in his youth been linked with Marxist circles, but had lived in New Zealand for many years and had a New Zealand wife and children. The police had not given him a clearance because, in their view, he had not accepted "New Zealand ideals". Nash minuted in 1960 that he should be allowed to naturalise. The file lay on his desk without action for many months however. Tizard found the file and took it to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bill Anderton (who was the only minister in Wellington during the 1960 election period because he was not standing) and he signed the necessary approval.[11]
He returned to parliament in a 1963 by-election in the Otahuhu electorate, but in the 1963 general election was elected MP for Pakuranga. When United States Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Wellington in mid-January 1970, Tizard along with several other Labour Members of Parliament including Arthur Faulkner, Jonathan Hunt, and Martyn Finlay boycotted the state dinner to protest American policy in Vietnam. However, other Labour MPs including Opposition Leader Norman Kirk attended the function which dealt with the Nixon Doctrine.[12] In 1972 he became MP for Otahuhu again. In 1984 he became MP for Panmure, until he retired in 1990.
Cabinet minister
Tizard was Shadow Minister of Finance under leader Norman Kirk. Contrary to expectation, Tizard was instead appointed as Minister of Health and Minister of State Services when the Third Labour Government was elected in 1972. Tizard was unhappy when informed of the decision but vowed he would put his all in to the job he was given. When exiting Kirk's office he said to colleague Warren Freer "I'll show the bastard what can be done with health".[13] Both Freer and Deputy Prime Minister Hugh Watt had favoured Tizard for Finance, but Kirk thought he was not steady enough for the role and was suspicious of him as an "intellectual". Regardless, he soon proved one of Kirk's most effective ministers.[14]
Following the death of Kirk in 1974, Tizard was elected the Labour Party's deputy leader and consequently became Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand. Kirk's replacement as Prime Minister, Bill Rowling, appointed Tizard to the portfolio that he had wanted all along – Minister of Finance. As Minister of Finance, Tizard's 1975 budget introduced a number of progressive measures, such as an expansion of spending on education which provided a standard bursary for all students in tertiary studies.[15]
After the surprise defeat of the Third Labour Government in 1975 Tizard remained on the front bench as both Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister of Finance. on 1 November 1979 he was challenged for the deputy leadership by David Lange the new MP for Mangere. Lange succeeded in the challenge, narrowly defeating Tizard 20 votes to 18.[16]
In the Fourth Labour Government he initially held the roles of Minister of Energy, Minister of Statistics and Minister of Science and Technology during its first term from 1984 to 1987.[17] During the government's second term Tizard retained only the Science and Technology portfolio, but was also appointed Minister of Defence from 1987 to 1990.
Life after politics
In 2009, at the age of 85, Bob Tizard was asked to speak, as a historian, on aspects of World War II at a dinner held to honour Captain Jack Lyon, a New Zealand war hero and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. An mp3 recording of the 25 minute speech is available.[18][19]
In 2007 Tizard announced his candidacy for the Auckland District Health Board.[20] He was elected to the board, at the age of 83.[21]
Death
Bob Tizard died in Auckland on 28 January 2016, aged 91.[22]
Notes
- International Biographical Centre (1989). Who's who in Australasia and the Far East. International Biographical Centre. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- "Births". Auckland Star. 9 June 1924. p. 1. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "Untitled". Auckland Star. 27 February 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "New Zealand, World War II appointments, promotions, transfers and resignations, 1939–1945". Ancestry.com Operations. 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "New Zealand, World War II appointments, promotions, transfers and resignations, 1939–1945". Ancestry.com Operations. 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: T". Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "Mr H.E Holland's Blueprint for New Zealand and the World". Bob Tizard. 1949. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- Catherine Tizard (2010). Cat Amongst the Pigeons, A Memoir. Random House. ISBN 978-1-86979-300-5.
- "NZ minister finally weds war-time sweetheart". Straits Times. Singapore. 29 September 1989. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
- Sinclair 1976, p. 304.
- Sinclair 1976, p. 342.
- Rabel, Roberto (2005). New Zealand and the Vietnam War: Politics and Diplomacy. Auckland: Auckland University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 1-86940-340-1.
- Grant 2014, pp. 221–222.
- Grant 2014, p. 222.
- A Lifetime In Politics: The Memoirs Of Warren Freer by W. W. Freer
- Bassett 2008, p. 51.
- Wilson 1985, p. 98.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20111009095657/http://blog.labour.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/bob-tizard-on-jack-lyon.mp3
- "Jack Lyon – soldier, democrat, internationalist". Phil Twyford. Red Alert. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- Wayne Thompson (28 August 2007). "Tizard's fighting fit to campaign at 83". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 August 2007.
- Errol Kiong (15 October 2007). "Bob Tizard back in political leadership role at the age of 83". The New Zealand Herald.
- "Former deputy Prime Minister Bob Tizard dies age 91". The New Zealand Herald. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bob Tizard. |
- Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Grant, David (2014). The Mighty Totara: The life and times of Norman Kirk. Auckland: Random House. ISBN 9781775535799.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Sinclair, Keith (1976). Walter Nash. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-647949-5.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
New Zealand Parliament | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Eric Halstead |
Member of Parliament for Tamaki 1957–1960 |
Succeeded by Robert Muldoon |
Preceded by James Deas |
Member of Parliament for Otahuhu 1963 1972–1984 |
Vacant Constituency abolished, recreated in 1972 Title next held by himself |
Vacant Constituency recreated after abolition in 1963 Title last held by himself |
Constituency abolished | |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Pakuranga 1963–1972 |
Succeeded by Gavin Downie |
Member of Parliament for Panmure 1984–1990 |
Succeeded by Judith Tizard | |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Hugh Watt |
Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand 1974–1975 |
Succeeded by Brian Talboys |
Preceded by Bill Rowling |
Minister of Finance 1974–1975 |
Succeeded by Robert Muldoon |
Preceded by Lance Adams-Schneider |
Minister of Health 1972–1974 |
Succeeded by Tom McGuigan |
Preceded by John Falloon |
Minister of Statistics 1984–1987 |
Succeeded by Margaret Shields |
Preceded by Bill Birch |
Minister of Energy 1984–1987 |
Succeeded by David Butcher |
Preceded by Frank O'Flynn |
Minister of Defence 1987–1990 |
Succeeded by Peter Tapsell |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by Hugh Watt |
Deputy-Leader of the Labour Party 1974–1979 |
Succeeded by David Lange |