Former NZ PM David Lange Passes Away After Long Illness

[althecat]

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00105.htm



David Lange Passes Away After Long Illness
By Selwyn Manning - Scoop co-editor

Former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange died at 10pm last night at Middlemore Hospital in south Auckland. His brother Peter and son Roy were at his side.

David Lange had been in hospital receiving dialysis after his kidneys had failed due to complications arising from diabetes. He lapsed into unconsciousness on Friday.

David Lange received surgery on August 2 where a leg was amputated. He was conscious during the surgery. His wife Margaret Pope had been at his side until 6pm. She quickly returned to Middlemore Hospital after hearing the news at 10pm.

....

The Lange government rewrote how New Zealand ought to see itself both on the world stage and domestically by removing farming subsidies, opening markets, floating the New Zealand dollar, removing varying sale and producer taxes and replacing with a goods and services taxation regime. His government also pioneered social and human rights reform such as the New Zealand homosexual law reform legislation, Resource Management Act, and bill of rights legislation.


...

RIP David

Al

[oscar111]

1. LW or RW? the polite article made it hard to tell

anyone?

[struggle4progress]

2. Nation owes Lange nuclear-free commitment - Peters

15 August 2005

David Lange's ultimate legacy will be New Zealand's nuclear-free status, Winston Peters said today.

The New Zealand First leader said the former prime minister had a unique combination of wit, intelligence and warmth.

"Lange set great oratorical standards on the world stage. He made a small nation proud while standing up for our views, particularly on the nuclear-free issue, often in unwelcome environments," Mr Peters said. <snip>

"Ultimately though it will be his nuclear free legacy for which Lange will be remembered by future generations - and this nation owes the memory of David Lange an enduring commitment to our nuclear-free status."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3378347a14735,00.html

[oscar111]

3. Not clear. Anyone else able to say if he LW or RW? anyone?

his economic plans are the defining thing

[althecat]

4. His life was a contradiction.... but he was LW

As PM he enabled a bunch of orrible RWingers to pursue a neo-liberal economic agenda under the cloak of his populism. I don't think he really understood what they were about.

In 1989 (I think) he realised his mistake and called for a "cup of tea" meaning a break from the reform agenda. He was then ousted and in the 1990 election the NZ tory party (national) was elected and they continued to pursue the agenda started under his administration.

In the end he felt betrayed by the people he worked with, and I think quite bitter.

[pacifictiger]

7. Interesting comments althecat.

A 6th generation kiwi by birth, I recently returned to NZ after being in the US for many years, and am horrified by what has happened to much in this country over the past 20 years.

Lange (labor pm) was instrumental in beginning radical government changes around 1986 - and since then both the national and labor parties share equal blame for a royal screwup... The anti nuclear stance is the only good thing that came out of his leadership, but that was pressure from the greens and their support enabled him to maintain majority lead. He began the road to privatization and over the top 'political correctness'. Privatization was supposed to foster greater efficiency, but the manner in which it was done was not thought out and the end result has been abdication of a clear reponsible chain of accountability, closed down fiscal transparency, and driven up the costs.
These days, the consultants and career politicians are the tail wagging the dog to the detriment of the entire middle class. The winners are the large multinational companies who are lobbying politicians to pass laws that favor them, the few at the top on the government consultancy gravy train, and masses of new immigrants and maori looking for handouts.
I grew up with no race issues between pakeha and maori - now there are huge problems - all very complex, but much unnessary angst has been created by some who have been adept at stirring up chaos for their own benefit.
Lange may have personally been a nice guy, but he was the one that opened pandora's box. Theoretically he was left (Labour), but in reality NZ was always was pretty far left in terms of social programs. Any changes Lange brought moved the country waaaay more to the to the right than it has ever been. Now medical care and education is suffering, the railways, forests, telephone & postal services have all been sold off to transnational companies who are making billions each year off the backs of hard working kiwis and shipping most of the profits out of the country.

[althecat]

5. A much longer portrait of the great man...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00109.htm



He is hugely missed here in NZ.

[Nostradamus]

6. i met him in strange circumstances...

when I was a student in auckland, in the early 70's, i used to see this HUGE fat man wobbling between the magistrate's court and the supreme court, often with serious druggies and criminals in tow..every once in a while he would take part in a debate in the university where he displayed his ability to destroy any argument a debating opponent put forward, and i mean really destroy, with a witty one-liner..and it wasn't malicious..

i didn't see him again, in person, until the late 80's in a remote churchyard in the Hokianga district north of Auckland. I was attending the baptism of my godson at the Whirinaki church. We were all gathered outside the church when a helicopter landed, quite unannounced in a nearby field . Lange, now the prime minster strode across the field and came into the church and after the ceremony, talked to everybody for a few sentences, returned to the chopper and left..

[oscar111]

8. seems to have been like our Carter- ushered in the orrible RW goons

Unintentionally in both cases, i think.

Wot arr 'e odds of a LW return anytime 'oon, me laddies?