Sir William Francis Birch (born 9 April 1934), usually known as Bill Birch, is a New Zealand retired politician. He served as
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
from 1993 to 1999 in the
fourth National Government.
Early life
Birch was born in
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
on 9 April 1934, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Birch.
He was educated at
Hamilton's Technical High School and through Wellington Technical Correspondence School. He was trained as a
surveyor, and established a business in
Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...
, a small town south of
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
.
Birch quickly became involved in various Pukekohe community organisations. He served on Pukehohe's borough council from 1965 to 1974, and was deputy mayor from 1968 to 1974.
In 1953, Birch married Rosa Mitchell, and the couple went on to have four children.
Member of Parliament
Birch first entered parliament in the and would remain an MP for the next twenty-seven years.
At first, Birch stood in , succeeding the retiring National Party MP and
Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
Alfred E. Allen.
The name and shape of Birch's electorates changed regularly as required by post-
New Zealand census
The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...
boundary adjustments. Over Birch's career, the extreme borders of his electorate sometimes extended as far as north as
Beachlands, as far west as
Pirongia Mountain and as far east as
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
(though never all at once). However, no matter the name, Birch's electorate always included the town of
Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...
.
After his retirement in 1999, he was succeeded by
Paul Hutchison
Charles Paul Telford Hutchison, known as Paul Hutchison (born 1947) is a New Zealand politician and former health professional. He is a member of the National Party, which he represented in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2014.
Earl ...
as MP for
Port Waikato.
Third National Government, 1975–1984
Birch's initial term of Parliament was in Opposition, but under leader and finance spokesperson
Robert Muldoon, the National Party won the following three elections and formed the
Third National Government. After holding a number of internal National Party positions in his first six years as an MP, including
senior whip from 1976 to 1979, Birch was made Minister of National Development,
Minister of Energy, and
Minister of Science and Technology when National won its second term in government at the 1978 election.
As a minister in the Third National Government, Birch supported the Government's
dawn raids against overstayers, which disproportionately targeted the
Pasifika community. In response the
Polynesian Panthers
The Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was a revolutionary social justice movement formed to target racial inequalities carried out against indigenous Māori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded by a group of young Polynesians on 16 ...
activist group staged "counter raids" on the homes of Birch and the
Minister of Immigration Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to:
* Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton
* Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers
*Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politicia ...
, surrounding them with light and chanting with megaphones.
As Minister of Energy during the
1979 oil crisis, Birch oversaw the introduction of temporary petrol demand reduction measures including
carless days and the ban on petrol sales during weekends.
After the 1981 election, he swapped the Science and Technology role for the Regional Development portfolio. As Minister for National Development, Birch was closely involved in the
Think Big
In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...
project, a series of high-cost programmes designed to reduce New Zealand's dependence on imported fuel. When National lost the , Birch's ministerial career was interrupted, but he remained in parliament.
Opposition, 1984–1990
Muldoon kept Birch on in the Energy and National Development portfolios when he announced his shadow cabinet in July 1984. He then was one of four ex-ministers who
challenged Muldoon for the leadership of the party which resulted in
Jim McLay
Sir James Kenneth McLay (born 21 February 1945) is a New Zealand diplomat and former politician. He served as the ninth deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 15 March to 26 July 1984. McLay was also Leader of the National Party and Leader ...
becoming leader. McLay promoted Birch to replace Muldoon in the finance portfolio and third rank in the party caucus. McLay later dumped Birch as finance spokesman in an attempt to "rejuvenate" the party and instead allocated him the job of spokesperson for Labour and Employment and the twelfth rank.
This motivated Birch to support a successful challenge to McLay a month later. Under new leader
Jim Bolger
James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.
Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...
, Birch returned to his position as third-ranked in caucus and retained the Labour and Employment portfolios. In the second opposition term, from 1987 to 1990, he was additionally the spokesperson for immigration and state services.
Fourth National Government, 1990–1996
After National regained power in the , Birch re-entered cabinet as part of the
fourth National government. Over the next three years, he was to hold a number of ministerial roles, including
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
,
Minister of Immigration, Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Minister of Employment,
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
, Minister of State Services, and Minister responsible for the
ACC. As Minister of Labour, Birch introduced the Employment Contracts Act, which radically liberalised the labour market, most noticeably by reducing the power of trade unions by removing their monopoly on worker representation.
In 1992, Birch was made a member of the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom, an honour reserved for senior New Zealand politicians. Between 1992 and 1996 Birch was known as the "Minister of Everything" in acknowledgement that Prime Minister
Jim Bolger
James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.
Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...
relied heavily on Birch's capacity and ability for resolving problems.
During this period, Birch clashed a number of times with the controversial
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
,
Ruth Richardson
Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993. Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst ...
. The Prime Minister,
Jim Bolger
James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.
Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...
, had never been a supporter of Richardson's strong
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
policies, and preferred the more conservative Birch for the Finance portfolio. At the , which National nearly lost, Bolger chose for Birch to replace Richardson as
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
.
Birch's appointment to the Finance portfolio raised eyebrows, given Birch's association with the Think Big projects. However, he soon developed a reputation for a frugal finance minister, delivering a succession of
balanced budgets. He also privatised a number of state assets.
National-New Zealand First Coalition Government, 1996–1999
After the , National needed to form a
coalition with the
New Zealand First party in order to govern. New Zealand First's leader,
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, ...
, insisted on control of the Finance role as part of the coalition agreement, and National eventually agreed. The Minister of Finance role was split into two separate offices. The senior position was given the title "
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury ...
" and was assigned to Peters; Birch retained the title of Minister of Finance and its remaining responsibilities. Some, however, have voiced the opinion that whatever the official arrangement may have been, Birch still performed most of the job's key functions.
Mike Moore of the
Labour Party commented that "we are always impressed when Winston Peters answers questions, because Bill Birch's lips do not move."
During the compilation of the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First, Birch added the proviso to almost every page that "All funding proposals subject to being considered within the agreed spending policy parameters" which essentially rendered every policy agreement provisional, much to Peters' annoyance. When the coalition with New Zealand First broke down, Birch took over the role of Treasurer. For a short period he held both financial offices until
Bill English
Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...
was promoted to be Minister of Finance, leaving Birch with the senior role. In the middle of 1999, as part of the preparations for Birch's planned retirement, Birch and English were swapped. English became the Treasurer and Birch served once again as Minister of Finance.
Retirement
Birch retired from Parliament at the
1999 general election. His wife, Rosa, Lady Birch, died in Pukekohe on 22 June 2015.
In 2020 his biography, ''Bill Birch: Minister of Everything'', written by Brad Tattersfield was published.
Honours and awards
Birch was awarded the
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and the
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990.
In the
1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a
Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for public services as a Member of Parliament and Minister of the Crown.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Bill
1934 births
Living people
New Zealand finance ministers
New Zealand National Party MPs
New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
People from Hastings, New Zealand
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
People from Pukekohe
Knights Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Local politicians in New Zealand
21st-century New Zealand politicians
New Zealand politicians awarded knighthoods
Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand